UV light for Bacteria bloom

[KevinM]

Question ? Has anybody ever used a UV filter to clear tank water that is experiencing a bacteria bloom, ie white cloudy water? If so how long did it take to clear? I have a 180g tank w/ 2 large sponge filters, a magnum 350 and a rena xp3. I drained and refilled the tank last weekend because I couldn't get rid of the cloudy water. My ammonia was and is now 0 as well as nitrites. Ph is 8.3. The sponges have been in for about 2 weeks and the canisters have been in use for around 4 months. I feed cbw,on-1 and was feeding frozen bw,bs but have stopped all frozen foods for now. The tank has about 1" of gravel and some plastic log type things from Petsmart. Fish load is 8- 3" discus,10- black tetras,15 - bloodfin teras and 8 - assorted cories. I change 45 gallons every 3 days. :banghead:
thanks for any answers
KevinM

[Ardan]

Hi,
I have never used a uv.
I think the best thing is daily wc's 50%.

I had one tank that was more algae than bacteria, i kept thinking it was bacteria bloom. (oscar tank)
Maybe check nitrates, continue to test ammonia/nitrite.

hth

[browneu]

A UV sterilizer is an excellent way to keep your water polished crystal clear. It kills both bacteria and algae so it shouldn't matter which type of bloom you have. The rate the water clears depends on the wattage of your UV filter and pump size. I would say that at the most it would take a day for your water to clear.

I use a UV sterilizer on my tank that I age water in. This ensures that the water is free from bacteria, algae, and parasites.

[Nightowl]

I don't use a U.V. light, but I need to clarify something here....in order to kill parasites with ultraviolet sterilization, the water must pass through the unit more slowly....each unit gives you recommended flow rates. The point is , if you're at the higher end of the allowable flow rate, you're getting the bacteria but probably not the critters...takes them longer to cook. hth J.T.

[ronrca]

I dont use UV either! For a bacteria bloom, find out why your experiencing the bloom first (if its a new tank-to be expected). Correct the problem, do wc's and it will clear up by itself in a couple of days to a couple of weeks! ;)

[KevinM]

Thanks everyone,
Looks like wc's did the trick. I had pulled out a lot of gravel plus I had removed one of (2) large sponges to cycle another tank. It took changing 75g a day for a week for it to clear and putting the sponge filter back in. Here's a couple of pics (I hope). Do I need to say which is the before pic? 8)
Kevin

[KevinM]

Can you see them now?
Km

[KevinM]

Ok - now the clear pic.
Km

[browneu]

Very nice! Good job in getting rid of the green water. It is quite a pain to get rid of.

[Nightowl]

looks like you might have had a unicellular algae bloom......... excess nitrates and light, but there is even a type that feeds on ammonia, believe it or not.

Did you remove the gravel and sponge b4 the green water occurred?
This is one case where a UV light would have worked, or a diatom filter, but having a balanced healthy tank is the best solution in the long run. J.T.

[ronrca]

Id have to agree also that you were having a algae bloom rather than a bacteria bloom. Lots of wc's for sure but Im glad that it did clear up for you. Matter of fact, I just finished up also with green water. I didnt do anything at all except regular maintance and stopped ferts. After 2-3 months, green water is gone! LOL! ;D

[KevinM]

J.T. - The cloudy pic I posted doesn't look that greenish in person. It may be from the camera setting I was useing and yes I had taken the sponge out about a week before I removed the gravel. I think while taking out the gravel alot of nutrients got into the water column. I also put diatom powder in my Magnum 350 which I think has had a good effect. Dittos on having a balanced tank. 8)
Kevin

[browneu]

Sometimes green water will look white like a bacterial bloom. You can just tell it is algae by the way the bloom behaves. (Increases as the day progresses and is almost clear after night.) I got rid of mind with a diatom filter.

[ronrca]

Good point! I forgot about that! Thats exactly what happened in my tank, clear at night and a little just when the lights came on but it clouded up during the day! ;)

[KevinM]

As for my tank I noticed the cloudyness was 24/7 that's why I was leaning towards a bacteria bloom.
Kevin

[KARINA]

guys what do you do if its bacterial bloom i have my tank milky color for about two days now i did three time a day water changes for the past two days i can't get rid of this stuff and it smells so bad :-X on the surface looks like something of the same structur but heavier then the rest and it's floating ( oil on the water kind a thing) and of curse i have the ammonia spike as well can give the wright readings because i used the ammo lock 2 just in case and it shows way to high, which is not possible with this much water changed about 80% , what to do? :-\

[browneu]

usually bacterial blooms clear themselves up in several days as the nutrients supplying the bloom are exhausted. some more information would be helpful. is this a new set up, what are the reading for ammonia, nitrate, etc

[Carol_Roberts]

I think it should clear up on it's own once your tank is back in balance

[KARINA]

no nitrites no nitrates just ammonia detected , how often should I do the water changes?

[ronrca]

Hi Karina,
how often should I do the water changes? As often as you can to keep the ammonia as low as possible. Also, there may be a cause as to why the ammonia spike. Overfeeding or left over food that the fish cant get or something. When was the last time you cleaned your filters? ;)

[KARINA]

no food remain in the filter sponges i wash it to often and there is only two fish in the tank now and they get just a little food once a day since it's hard for me to see in the tank anything ::) and the ammonia problems i don't know if i should put the biospira since the ammo lock won't work when i do that , what to do will this stuff go away and why it smells so bad is it from cleaning the age tank with the tea tree oil i used maybe to much and it killed off the bio bacteria in the tank?

[ronrca]

I dont know about ammo lock but Seachem Prime also 'locks' or binds the ammonia rendering it harmless to fish however the bio will still 'process' it. So, adding BioSpira should actually help bring down the ammonia levels and build up the bio again.