Author Topic: Fishless Cycling and Bacterial Bloom - I am confused (not unusual) (Read 27776 times) 54 replies

Skittler · « **Reply #40 on:** April 29, 2015, 09:33:30 PM »

Thanks Fishcake,

Much appreciated. My somewhat limited computer skills are just about doing the best that they can !!

It is now about 9 hours since the last w/c, and already I can see the creeping white mass starting to form in the middle of the tank.

Does anyone remember "The Day of The Triffids"? Will it spread outside the tank? Am I in danger? .... just in case, I'm off to the pub......

Skittler

PS......What's "Responsive Design"?

Robert · « **Reply #41 on:** April 30, 2015, 09:00:35 AM »

Quote from: Skittler on April 29, 2015, 09:33:30 PM

Thanks Fishcake,

Much appreciated. My somewhat limited computer skills are just about doing the best that they can !!

It is now about 9 hours since the last w/c, and already I can see the creeping white mass starting to form in the middle of the tank.

Does anyone remember "The Day of The Triffids"? Will it spread outside the tank? Am I in danger? .... just in case, I'm off to the pub......

Skittler

PS......What's "Responsive Design"?

I remember day of the triffids - great book and film, Wyndham I believe...

Responsive design is where a web page flexes to work on all devices in a way that doesn't limit the users experience - if you're reading this on a phone for example then you'll find that it will be (almost) as useable as it would be on an iPad or a laptop.

Hope that helps!

Skittler · « **Reply #42 on:** April 30, 2015, 09:59:48 AM »

Thanks Robert,

I WILL get there one day. The thought of me, in the near future, having to deal with Windows 10, a new more powerful and complicated search engine, etc., scares the living daylights out of me.

And the idea of a "flexible web page" ...... whatever happened to flat? ...... mind you, the Flat Earth Society didn't last long, did it?

I do understand that without progress we will all decline, but sometimes my brain really hurts!

Keep up the good work,

Skittler

Skittler · « **Reply #43 on:** May 02, 2015, 11:02:10 AM »

Hello All,

eSHA have replied, recommending their product Gastropex for a bacterial bloom, but suggesting vacuuming the gravel before, a 50% w/c, and passing tap water over fresh active carbon to remove chlorine. They say nothing about the white deposit. I think I'll give that a miss!

The tank is now clear (at last), so I thought that I would test my photography / attaching skills ....
so that you can all see the "White Triffid". Here goes ...

Skittler

Sue · « **Reply #44 on:** May 02, 2015, 03:59:58 PM »

I don't think I'd use gastropex either. If it kills snails and hydra I wouldn't trust it with shrimps. The instructions say it is safe with tropical and coldwater fish but don't mention shrimps. And some meds can hang round in the tank for quite a while.

And I have no idea what your triffids are.

(The book is much better than the film, though the 1970s BBC serial stuck to the book pretty closely)

Skittler · « **Reply #45 on:** May 02, 2015, 07:24:53 PM »

Hello Sue,

Weren't they eventually killed with seawater? ......... I was very small when I watched it .... honest! Perhaps I should try some aquarium salt ..... ?

The tank is now as clear as my 125L. At the last check NH3, NO2 and NO3 were all zero, two days after adding the NH3 !! So, I added another 1ppm NH3, and checked NH3 2hrs later - 1ppm. So, we will see what day 2 brings ....

Skittler

Sue · « **Reply #46 on:** May 02, 2015, 09:47:41 PM »

That's the film which altered the whole story. In the book they were never defeated. It ends with the hero, a man who worked with triffids when they first appeared, being recruited to help find a way to kill them, with humanity living on a few islands which were kept clear of triffids by culls in spring when the airborne seeds began to germinate.
Did you know that in the book, triffids were more or less GM organisms? The book was written in the 1950s, well before the term had been coined, and triffids were developed behind the iron curtain to provide a nutritious food supply. The stings were just an unfortunate side effect.
John Wyndham's novels were a product of his time, the depths of the cold war with nuclear war hanging over the world as a potential future. No-one expected the world to continue without some sort of conflagration.

Good news about the tank

Hopefully the cycle will continue well from now on.

Skittler · « **Reply #47 on:** May 07, 2015, 02:15:49 PM »

Hello All,

Just an update. I removed the mature bogwood 4 days ago, and continued on with the Fishless Cycle, checking and adding NH3 every 2 days. The last 2 tests have shown both NH3 & NO2 zero, with just a hint of nitrate, but still less than my tap water. So, the nitrate is still being eaten. The white growth in the tank has reduced in size, but now appears much more dense in the middle. I have also added a new filter foam into the vacant compartment in the filter. This foam has spent some time in the filter in the 125L

My guess is (and it really is a guess after what has happened), is that the cycle has finished, but the remaining heterotrophic bacteria are still enjoying the nitrate. I have just completed w/c no.15 (now 50%).

I have done a lot more research on the web. I have noticed that some people have had bacterial blooms in mature tanks, when changing just the filter, or adding a new filter to the tank to run in parallel with the original mature one. So, it seems that Sue's original thoughts about organics in plasticisers in filters, heaters etc. may well be the source of the problem.

If anyone thinks that it will help, when this saga has come to an end, I will try to write a short summary, so that the next poor soul doesn't have to read all the detail.

Skittler

Anne · « **Reply #48 on:** May 07, 2015, 07:56:38 PM »

Glad to hear you are winning the battle against the triffids, as least you now won't have to move to a small island to get away from them and the human race is saved. . . Yay, 3 cheers for skittler.

One unforeseen outcome of your saga is that it has slightly dampened my urge for another tank as the bacteria bloom could happen to anyone, there seems no rhyme or reason to when it happens.

As I said earlier I would have stopped at the smell and slime.

Anne

Skittler · « **Reply #49 on:** May 08, 2015, 08:40:25 PM »

Hello Anne,

Please don't let my experience reduce your level of MTS ...... aaaaargh!

What happened in my tank must be absolutely exceptional. I found little evidence during my many searches of anything quite the same. I think many tanks have a slight bacterial bloom, when everything is new. My 125L certainly did ...... I had slightly "milky" water for two days, and that was all. I didn't think anything of it. My guess is that it probably comes down to the type of plastics used in this tank, filter, heater etc. and the bacteria from "who knows where". I would also "guess" that the better quality the tank etc., then the lower the chance of it happening, but that is only speculation.

Go on, buy another one!

Skittler

Skittler · « **Reply #50 on:** May 12, 2015, 04:09:00 PM »

Hello All,

Update on the White Triffids! Just done my first 50% w/c for 4 days. NH3 & NO2 still zero. NO3 is 5-10, which is my tap water level. It seems the level is very slowly increasing as the white growth declines. It is now much smaller, and seemed much easier to remove with the siphon this time. Hopefully I am nearing the end.

I do wonder why it's always been in the middle of the tank, and almost nowhere else?. You would wonder if it didn't like glass!

Skittler

Skittler · « **Reply #51 on:** May 16, 2015, 11:11:48 AM »

Hello All,

AT LAST !! The creeping white triffids are no more.

It took 16 w/c's in 37 days. Thank heaven it is a small tank! The tank is now beautifully clear. Also, I have put the bogwood, Java moss coconut, and the lone piece of bacopa back in, just to check that they are not involved. NH3 & NO2 are still zero, after adding 1ppm NH3 every 2nd day. The even better news is that as the triffids have declined, the nitrate level has slowly risen from 0 to 20ppm. This proves to me that whatever bacteria were causing the triffids (and probably the slime), they were also eating the nitrate.

So, now I can start thinking about planting and making the filter inlets shrimp proof ........ but more of that under "shrimps".

If anything changes, I will let you know. Unfortunately, it is not yet "beer o'clock", but I will be celebrating later

Skittler

Anne · « **Reply #52 on:** May 16, 2015, 11:30:06 AM »

Yay, now the fun part - buying stuff and setting up your tank.

Isn't it always beer o'clock somewhere?

Anne

Sanjo · « **Reply #53 on:** May 16, 2015, 12:50:11 PM »

Happy planning and very well done for your patience.

Skittler · « **Reply #54 on:** May 17, 2015, 09:14:22 AM »

Thank you ladies for your encouragement. However ........... I think that the fish/shrimp God has decided to test me again

........ I now have a large and sudden outbreak of planaria AND hydra in the "empty" tank!

Why is it always me ?? (I know it isn't .... it just feels that way!) I will raise a new thread under "shrimps". Oh, woe is me .......... but, at least I am learning.

Skittler

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Fishless Cycling And Bacterial Bloom - I Am Confused (not Unusual)

Fishless Cycling And Bacterial Bloom - I Am Confused (not Unusual)