This blog post discusses the importance of eliminating heterotrophic bacteria in aquariums to restore crystal-clear water. Heterotrophic bacteria, which consume phosphate and nitrates, are essential for obtaining energy from oxidizing organic carbon, which is essential for the nitrogen cycle. There are three types of heterotrophic bacteria: parasitic, saprophytic, and symbiotic.
Heterotrophic bacteria can improve water quality and clarity by rapidly breaking down and consuming dissolved organic compounds like proteins and acids that would otherwise cloud the water. They reproduce by splitting in two, known as binary division, which can double every 7-20 hours depending on the water conditions in the tank. However, this process is not fast, as anaerobic (heterotrophic) bacteria can split in 20 minutes.
Nitrifying bacteria that break waste down in fish tanks are different from those found in our guts. Enzymes can help both naturally occurring and augmented bacterial populations flourish and digest organic matter. Heterotrophic bacteria may grow again, but it should be short-lived. They eat ammonia/nitrites temporarily but eventually die off and may inhibit the growth of proper bacteria by making oxygen less available. Fish tanks are breeding grounds for bacteria and other microorganisms, so it is beneficial to use enzymes to speed up waste degradation.
When sufficient carbon is available, faster growing heterotrophic bacteria outcompete nitrifying bacteria for ammonia. The development of nitrifiers in culture can help eliminate heterotrophic bacteria from the water column. FritzZyme 7 contains live freshwater-specific strains of live nitrifying bacteria proven to reduce fish loss due to toxic levels of ammonia and nitrite.
| Article | Description | Site |
|---|---|---|
| Stress Zyme = Bacterial Bloom? – Aquarium Advice | It is inaccurate to describe Stress Zyme as a bacterium. It is recommended that Bio Spiral and NitroMax be stored in a refrigerator after the packaging has been opened. | www.aquariumadvice.com |
| Out of Control Heterotrophic Bacteria Blooms.. | The most effective method for eliminating the bacteria is to allow it to complete its life cycle. During this process, the bacteria will consume all available food sources and subsequently die. Given the severity of the bloom, it is necessary to… | www.reddit.com |
| Bacterial bloom help | The growth of heterotrophic bacteria may be stimulated by the removal of waste, but this phenomenon is likely to be short-lived. | www.plantedtank.net |
📹 How to Fix a Bacteria Bloom
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📹 Bacterial Bloom And Cloudy Water – The What, Why and How to Fix it (SIMPLE)
Cloudy fish tank water from a bacterial bloom mostly happens during new tank setups. But a bacterial bloom can also happen in …
Ive just started a new tank and its gone extremely cloudy uts seemed alright on the first day but now i can barely see the back of the tank, ive add a water cleaner to make the particles easier to be picked up by the filter and aqua balls but its seem to be the same not sure if I should wait or start it all over again
I’m not sure I can do nothing. I get huge bacterial blooms that coat everything in white slime, even to the point of clogging the filters & killing the live plants. One fish store owner told me “This is a negative bad bacteria from your home.” Some saltwater fish keepers on YouTube told me b/c I clean things around my apartment w/ rubbing alcohol, the fumes could accidentally be carbon dosing the tank causing bacteria blooms. I just tried to cycle a tiny tank w/ no fish & ammonia chloride drops + Fritz Turbostart 700 & sure enough, white water & clime clogged filters again.
Man! You are a lifesaver! I was trying to stay on top of my tank, and this bacteria bloom happened. I did 50% water changes every day, but it came back then next morning always. I am so impressed with how detailed, effective, and short and to the point your articles are! You are truly just trying to help people take care of their fish. I bought some beneficial bacteria and put it in the tank, and I stopped the water changes. It’s already looking better!
Super helpful. I now understand what’s been going on with my new tank. Classic story. Pets at home in the UK misadvised and sold us a tank (19L… very, very small) and suggested fish-in tank cycles were easy. Cloudy water on day 4, with our 3x little Platys gasping at the top of the tank… meanwhile, no Ammonia or Nitrites were found during testing. Those heterotrophic bacteria are stealing the Oxygen. At least we can now help them and attend to the ecosystem properly! A bigger tank is on order, as are some live plants. I’ll agitate the surface to keep them going.
Hi, Kev, I am fascinated by this stuff as well. I got so frustrated yrs ago with my african cichlid tank that i just gave up and put all my stuff away. tank,pump everything. But, I have always missed having my aquaruim. So, I recently brought it back out, cleaned it out and got everything up and running again with no fish yet. I have been perusal all your articles and found that i was doing alot of things wrong. Thank you for your articles they have been so helpful. You must have been some kind of teacher in the Marines because you know how to explain things. Thanks again and excuse me while i go check my tank. Soo Lets go!. Johnny!!
Thank you so much Kaveman! This article just solved my issue. My daughter wanted a beta fish and we got everything we needed and the first fish died. It was the bloom. Other articles said to change the water and start over adding chemicals. Boom, second fish died. I watch this article and left the water for a week until it cleared up and now the 3rd fish is doing great. You the man, and earned my sub for sure. Thanks again!
Good timing, I was about the do a more massive water change to clear this out. Newish tank 29 gal tank (2 months or so). I have been battling this for a week. No live plants, found some dead fish, changed filter, cleaning substrate, new air stone, filter creates a nice agitation as well. I will hold off the water change for now. The gravel vacuum and maybe some chems to clean out cloud. The good news is the tank testers show everything within range.
Got my cloud tank clear in 1 week with a few of your suggestions!!…I created DIY filter layers plant holder with dual density filter pad, activated carbon bag, and then bio media 15 in 1 bag and guess what!?!?!? Clear water in less than 24 hours!!…I used a waverider to filter water throught this DIY layered filter plant holder and it worked. Tested ammonia with the seachem alert pad. ALL GOOD! Totally agree to keep using also the prime and stability (or I used API quickstart or FRITZ)… Algae grew which also meant my bacteria is also kicking….TOTALLY WORKS!…Thanks! This was for the 10 gallon tank. Gonna try to set up next my 20 gallon tank with the same planted, fisn in cycle, previous sponges and then PRIME and STABILITY…boom….Hopefully it will be in 1 week again! Yes i added neon tetras and shrimp and nerite and mystey snails at day 4 of 7 week. Fed them to let them provide ammoia and let the bacteria get to work!…Day 8 today water is clear!! Also I could used an ammonia pad to the layers to help with ammonia!
Thank you! My new tank was all set up yesterday, and BAM I woke up to cloudiness. I had a major panic attack that I did something wrong. I felt so much better when you told “me” not to panic! Love your website, you are amazing. I always feel like you are talking directly to me in a language I can understand 🥰
Sheeeew! Thank you for that! I’m a novice and learning all the things new aquarium owners learn as they begin their saltwater journey. I was pacing in front of my tank wondering if I needed to do another water change. Glad to hear the solution is just to keep perusal it as it clears up! I believe my cloudy bloom was because of my second water change ever. Your explanations are great.. thank you!
Dude! Your article was perfect timing. I kept thinking 🤔 🤔 that it was cloudy because of the aquarium salt and the Melafix. This makes so much sense. I have been using seachem prime recently in my water changes. I thought water changes would change the cloudiness but it never left. Although it’s going to be tough to just leave the water there while using aquarium salt and just waiting for the goldfish to heal from ammonia burn. Slowly but surely my knowledge grows thanks to genuine person like you in the aquarium community.
Brother, I watch your content all the way from Melbourne, and I just got into this crazy fun hobby a few weeks back. I just cycled my 400ltr tetra tank and I’m telling you. I’ve watched all your articles to breakdown what I need and what I dont need to do. Love your work and thanks for sharing the knowledge 😊
It’s 6:10 a.m., searching for explanations on cloudy water in my new (3 wk young aquarium now experiencing a bacteria bloom) and you had me laughing out loud with your “funny bunnies”. Seriously! But thank you for a great vid on how to combat bacterial bloom in my two 5 gallon tanks of Tetras. You always come through, K!
lol So that my Granddaughter could see one of Nature’s transformations, I let her put a breeder cup of frog eggs from our pond into my tank. We had a blast perusal jelly balls turn into tree frogs! However, now that the little froggies are back to the pond, Grammy has to deal with a horrid bloom situation that seems to have emerged almost a week later. Thanks for the “stay calm”, & great advice…glad you popped up. 🙂
Bro I love your energy, and love your articles you go straight to the point and the way you explain is so much better then other websites. Every time I search for something and see that you got a article about it, I always check your article out first and then don’t even need to watch any other websites keep doing what you do best man👍🏼👍🏼
Great article, I enjoy learning new things through your website! I currently have bacterial bloom, but I am also dosing Prime and Stability as the tank has just been set up. (I watched your article on fish in cycling). Should I continue with Prime and Stability, or stop and do nothing as this article instructs? Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!
Hi, just wanted to say this article is SUPER helpful! I’ve had a betta tank before, and sadly all the betta fisb i’ve had ended up dying, so i said screw that tank and bought a 5 gallon tank (just the tank, lol) and the light, filter, and heater separate. this time, i put all live plants, including bamboo, some grasses, a fern, and a few other leafy plants, and a little hiding cave. once i got it running, it got suuuuper cloudy and i got nervous as this was my first live planted tank and thought i had done something all wrong. your article was a big sigh of relief 😮💨 hoping to let it filter for a few weeks then i’m going to get my betta 🙂 thanks so much for your help!
I just dosed my 75 gal with Paracleanse yesterday due to a parasite issue with my fish. I used the measured amount for 50 gal to account for displacement (decor,etc). Woke up this morning and I have a light bacteria bloom. My tank is established. I’m worried now that the medication could crash my tank. I did not think to add Prime in the meantime while it clears up, so thank you that was a great idea, makes sense. I wish there were more vids on this reason to cause a bacteria bloom. Or at least doesn’t seem readily available after numerous searches.
Great stuff, love it! Ha I think I have a bacterial bloom in my tank. After moving things around, it created a sand cloud and everything else. Now it’s a bacterial bloom and yes hard to admit, overfeeding. I have lots of fry and have to feed multiple times. I’m cutting back on the feeding and added prime, as you said. How many times do you add the prime and how long will it be to clear? It’s been almost a week for me.
Been pushing against a lot of stuff you’ve been putting out for a while. This article provided me with the insight I needed to narrow down this issue. I’m calm now lol. How long should I wait in between my water changes?(larger established tank with random bloom with fish that eat everything in sight) Should I remove all of the decor when it’s time to change the water just to see if a small feeder died and made its way under a rock?
Hi Kev! Much love from the UK 🇬🇧 I really enjoy perusal your articles, they’re so informative and interesting. It’s nice to be able to view your beautiful fish in the background in your articles too. A lot of fish keepers on YouTube don’t get straight to the point, but you do and I truly appreciate your knowledge and wisdom. I have a quick question though, as a relatively new tropical fish keeper myself, how come we never see any fish waste on your substrate? Do you have an under gravel filter? How do you keep your substrate looking so wonderfully clean at all times? 😍 Thanks again for everything, Katie 🐟
You are the best instructor, dad vibe, best friend on YT. Thank you for helping me with my first fish (as an adult SIP childhood pets 🥲). I do have a question at the end of this brief summary: I know what’s probably causing my bacterial bloom: I added a new plant to my tank, that is the only new organic material. I also removed a dying plant that same day, agitating the dead rhizome. Could that have contributed? Unsure there. But I don’t want to remove the plants- can the fish and plants wait out the suffocation of the an/aerobic bacteria?
Great article. I’m worried I have a dead fish, as I can’t find my other two Neon Tetras that I bought. I put a lot of decorations for this 20 gallon tank, and I am afraid they are underneath one of them. I am thinking I need to take everything out and check. But, this is also a fairly new tank. I’ve only had it for a few weeks set up and I have tested my water and it tested good. This is why I wonder if I should leave it be or take it all out and see if the cloudiness will clear up. I bought four Neon Tetras, 2 have died and I got them out and the other 2 are MIA since the second day I put them in the tank. Which was about a week and a half ago. I thought maybe they are hiding. I hope those two are not dead also. I didn’t know stress from not buying them in a group of 8 or more could kill them and I think that is what happened to the other two. Another YouTube article said that stress from separating them could kill them. I’m worried I lost all 4. But, it’s so cloudy, I can’t see through the tank. Makes me sad.
Amazing content ✊✊ I’m in the middle of a new tank cycle & I’m doing an “in fish cycle” like you taught us how to do. I have a planted tank with drift wood. I have a bacterial bloom going on right now bc I have cloudy water/ I also have that white algae fungus crap growing on sand/ wood that I’m assuming is also related to a bacterial bloom?? I haven’t panicked at all due to your articles. I’m going to continue my fish in cycle like normal & only do a water change once I hit 40PPM nitrates. Hopefully by that time my tank is cycled & the bacterial bloom is gone but if not I’ll continue the fish in cycle & make sure i have proper water agitation & just leave it be. Not even sweating!! Thanks for great content!!
For my new set up would it be better if i turn off the air pump and filter or leave it on. I feel like if i deprive the heterotrophic bacteria from oxygen the autotrophic bacteria will survive after the heterotrophic dies off. I understand i shouldn’t panic but now I’m panicking lol. Please help. My tank is fishless at the moment, I’m trying to cycle the tank but I’m having a hard time understanding other people explanations. Luckily I came across this article. Keep up the great work your articles are great 👍
Hi Kave, I know the article is a few weeks old, but I hope you will take a moment to help answer this question. My situation is that my tap water is high in ammonium. Prime doesn’t get rid of ammonium, what it will do is convert ammonia into the not-so-toxic form ammonium – which I all ready have an abundance of. What this means is that at the end of the ammonia-to-nitrite process, I have a pretty high nitrate level (80+ppm) that my plants and bacteria can’t tackle fast enough. The solution given for a nitrate spike is to do a water change, only for my situation, it’s just continuing this bacterial bloom, and subjecting the fish to a yo-yo effect with the water condition (my tank will cycle the ammonium to nitrite to nitrate within 2 days). I know many people will say “Get an RO filter!” only I can’t afford it, nor do I have a place to install it since I live in an apartment. You spoke of the anaerobic bacteria, so my thought is: What if I add more of it? Is this going to also produce a bacterial bloom? and is there a product out there that only has anaerobic bacteria and not the typical cocktail sold as “quick start” bacteria? Thank you for taking the time to read this, and thanks for the articles, they are a great help
Hello, the product you called Prime is it the same as the two products that I have? Aqueon water conditioner and Aqueon water clarifier. I had in my starter tank some Salvinia and the larger duckweed with red roots the larger duck weed with red roots started to melt away and it smelled to high heaven shortly the Salvinia started to grow hair algae to it’s roots and all of this is on the surface water at the end of the tank. The aroma was a bit much so I removed it. In a separate I bowl treated it with liquid algae remover. Now I notice my Cabomba plant has yellowed and has traces of some hair algae. on it. I do weekly water changes my tank is the Top Fin hydrochange for a Betta community tank. 1 Betta, 2 Mystery snails, 3Khuli Loaches. This murky water is not green but like a white film. Also when I feed my guys its out of a glass bowl what remains is taken out the next day. All veggies are blanched in hot water pellet food also in the bowl. I will replace the filter today hopefully it will help. Sorry for the lengthy question but my head is spinning not knowing what to do.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!! I have been fighting a bacterial bloom for months now and can not seem to get it under control. My facebook help group has been ‘no help’ :/ but after perusal only a few of your articles I’m now addicted, AND it seems I’ve come closer to a solution for my bloom. I am so SO sick of having cloudy yucky looking water and barely being able to see my fishies. I am so close to just giving up on the hobby.. I will now be adding a wave maker and sponge filter to see how much this improves, I just have on question though. Since I have an established tank and I am going through this bacterial bloom just how often do you suggest using Prime in my tank? I did a 50% water change Saturday and dosed it with Prime ….all that work just for my tank to look WORSE 😞
What’s up Kev? Thank you for the information. I got the new 65 gallon acrylic and had it cycling right at 4 weeks. I was worried about the little cloudiness in the tank. I did everything possible trying to clear up the cloudiness. I have 2 Tidal 110 HOB filters on the aquarium with 2 large sponge filters and 2 nice size wavemakers. In both filters I have the sponge that comes with it, Matrix, Purigen, Chemi Blue, Fluval Clear X filter pillows, and Poly Fill. Looking at your article I know what I was doing wrong. I was changing the water every week with about a 30% to 40% change. From what you were saying, that just keep restarting the process. My water parameters were good. All the numbers were up to snuff. My question is, do I clean the filters and just let the water take care of itself or do I leave everything alone and let the tank take care of itself all together filters and all? Dude at my local aquatic spot said to go ahead and add some fish and the eco system will balance itself out. I plan on doing Mbunas. My plan is to have 24 in all. I want to do 12 at first and then another 12 in about 3 months. Any help and information you can give me is greatly appreciated. I value your opinion. You’re the one who got me serious about this hobby so I take what you say to the good. I appreciate it.
thanks a lot man! im 14 and i want to get into fish keeping and i love perusal my fish swim, And i got scared cuz i woke up 1 morning and saw my fish tank was cloudy and had left over food particals and 1 of my fish were dead (a guppy) so i thought all of my fish were just gonna die from the water, so i looked up articles and they were so long, boring and didnt help at all, but once i watched your article i felt calm again! So thanks now my tank is clean. And i have a question that some people might be able to answer why does my tank smell like rotten eggs or something, and anohter thing is why do my corydoras randomly book up and down every so often? thx.
I have a question. I have an established tank 210 gallon. I added 2 fish 2 wks ago on the 12th Sept a blue acara and firemouth. On the 20th I lost 2 fish small ones on same day. I tested my value and Ammonia was 0 and Nitrites were 0 and PH was acidic. So I added baking soda to bring it up. I have not seen any dead fish since. I feed the same as I always have no difference at all. I noticed 1 day later a milky cloudy look to my tank. I did a 20% water and gravel cleaning 2 days later. It is still cloudy today on the 1st of Oct. I did add aqua clear and stability to try to help. And it has done nothing. I can try the prime but when I did the water change I added prime then. I do have aeration with 2 wave makers one of each side and 2 big bubblers in the middle of the tank that go out over the surface. The fish seem fine but I don’t understand!! Any ideas? Anything else I can do? I was going to do a 20% water change with gravel cleaning and also filter cleaning this Saturday should I do this or leave it alone? I did check the values again 3 days ago and the PH was 7 and the Ammonia was 0 and Nitrites were 0 also.
So I am Cycling my tank and I just reached the algae phase and my tank is green…. Are you saying in this article to just leave it alone and let it work itself out? Or do I need to do a water change right now? Also, thank you so much for your articles! They are very helpful and you are too by responding to everyones questions and concerns! So thank you, we appreciate you!
Hi I just changed my media. I have a fluval 407 filtering a 46 gallon bow. I changed new foam pads the bottom sponges I added the fluffy stuff lol at your suggestion removing 2 bags of carbon. Added two new bags of carbon. New sponge pads. I waited a week then did my weekly water change. Now my water is cloudy. What do u suggest. Thanks so much. Christy
I definitely think this is the issue with my office tank. No whatever what I do, this continues. We just set up the tank and only have a few small corys and an about 6 other small wish till we decide what dish to go with. But the water heater kept aquarium temp at about 85, maybe higher, can’t remember, and maybe I’m over feeding. For the two corys I add two sinking pellets a day. Maybe that’s too much and flakes for the regular fish and maybe this excess food lingers in the tank.
I have just started a betta tank. I have 4 females one male 2 albino catfish 2 ghost shrimp and a ton of plants even bought the betta balls for plants and moss balls. I Haven’t seen any results with the betta balls. Could these have caused a heterotrophic spike? No dead fish that I know of. As of yesterday, all fish and shrimp have been accounted for. I also have a water pump with a sponge filter on the tank. Thanks for any advice you could give.
So glad i found this article – my tank is coming up on two weeks into a fish in cycle, and just got fairly cloudy. Do i continue to dose to dose with prime? I did 8 days of prime and stability and have been continuing prime now. If my ammonia and nitrites are zero and 40ppm nitrate before the bloom ends – do i do a WC or wait for the bloom to end first? Thanks!
So this’s my first week of our new fx4 fluval filter for 75 gallon and We have bacteria bloom .. So my levels are good .. Can I add poly fil to my hang bags in the filter (still got them in the box) cause we didn’t know what was they there for 😂 until we started perusal your articles .. to help my process speed up ? No water change .. We was feeding our cichlids to much too We follow you by stability and prime we added them too .. We have two wave makers in our tank too ..
2 of my janitor fish died this morning. My betta fish and 5 neon tetra is still going strong but yes I am getting this cloudy aquarium problem. The water was changed recently but not after the fishes have died.. Thanks for telling me to not panic. I’ll wait it out! Would it be a bad idea to pour more beneficial bacteria (the instruction says 3ml-5ml per day for 5 days in a row) but is there a faster way to clear out the cloudiness? Thanks!
Hi dude I’ve liked and subscribed! Awesome article as always.. bit of info for you and hoping you can help me as mine is a little tricky. Firstly I’ll start with my parameters. Established tank of over 1.5 years. Stocked African cichlids. 4 foot wide tank holding around 320 litres water. P.h always stable at 8.0 all other levels such as amonia are tested using api kit and perfect… so I’ve never had a problem with a bacteria bloom, however the other day I was in the process of moving home and as you can imagine the tank was the last thing to move. Emptied the water into brand new unused drums and switched everything off whilst transporting the fish in oxygenated tub. The tank was set back up at the new property within 45 minutes however due to a rubbish removal driver my filter was actually left at the old property, filter is an FX6 by the way.. any how managed to get the filter to the new property which meant by now the filter had not been in use for a total of 3 hours. Still wet media not emptied. Upon setting up the filter and switching the plug on there was an initial burst of water into the tank out of the outflow pipe, this water was absolutely full of a green cloudy matter which turned my water cloudy. After around 6 hours this had completely gone and my water was back to its normal clear self tested all parameters and still perfect, (stay with me lol)! Thought all was well, came back this morning and my tank again is that cloudy now I cannot even see into it! I have added 2 more air stones and dropped the water level slightly to cause much more surface agitation to supply more oxygen.
Wish i saw this sooner. Just lost all the fish in my community tank. Sucks man, i had guppies, red minor tetras, betta fish, mollies, assasin snail, ottos’s all dead. I had rummynose tetras that died. I fed the tank in the morning and it was crystal clear all fish swam fast to the food all good. I come home around 5pm see this white cloudy tank im like wtf. Majority of the fish already dead and the rest looked bad and eventually died. Had no time to save them. Great vid though man, right to the point and easy to understand.
Hey Kev! My 10 gallon tank was crystal clear. At first. My filter is a Marina s15 and I set it up for 5 days with water being dechlorinated and some bio support to jumpstart the filter. I added my first 4 fish (2 guppies and 2 platys) after 5 days. The water was testing great and water still clear. So 2 weeks later I added 4 more fish (3 guppies and 1 platy). The water was testing great with these 8 fish so 3 weeks later I added 4 more fish (1 molly and 3 neon tetras). A total of 12 fish in my aquarium right now. I was doing weekly water changes and vacuuming the gravel substrate and switching one filter cartridge every 2 weeks (to try to keep beneficial bacteria) but then my tank was cloudy one day. I did my weekly water change hoping it would help clear up the water and nope! Still hazy! I searched for an answer and saw your article. (I’ve watched so many as you give great, clear and to the point advise). I have been dosing the aquarium with Seachem Prime and Stability for 10 days now (no water changes/no vacuuming) and the tank is still cloudy. Is this “bacteria bloom” a long process? Am I doing something wrong? Is my filter too small for the 12 fish in my 10 gallon aquarium? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance! By the way, I think I’m going to get MTS as you are motivating me towards a possible 75gal African Cichlids tank…….if I can get my first tank under control!!! 🤣
I am battling a bacterial bloom in my well-established tank. Failing. Ammonia and nitrites are low, nitrate begins to increase. So far, so good. Two questions: 1) How do you siphon organic matter that may be hiding in the substrate if you have to replace water (nutrient rich), which causes more bloom? 2) If you don’t siphon at all, how high can you let nitrates get?
I used a Brita Pitcher to start out my 10 gal. tank. 2 weeks later I added fish. I had use a cartridge filter and didn’t rinse it out first (didn’t know I should), Therefore, my water turned cloudy. I replaced 1/3 of the water, and 4days later I took out the cartridge and replaced it with Poly Fill. How long will it take to clear up the tank? Do I need to do a another water change?
Damn… why couldn’t I have found this article yesterday?! You know… before I drained my newest 40 gallon (no fish yet) with just buckets and one of those trigger operated gravel vacuum hoses!!!! Don’t panic you say?! LOL 😅 I literally spent 10 hours rewashing the new substrate separating the gravel and sand and setting up the tank all over again. I had sparkling clear water for about 4 hours and thought everything was great. Well lesson learned! Mostly with my back from carrying buckets and rewashing substrate! I feel like a dummy, but already ordered the Python for the next water changes. …Regular water changes! Not crazy panic water changes! 🤪 And Definitely going to continue working my way through your incredible playlist!!! I’ve been out of fish keeping for about 15 years and started back a few months ago with a little 10 gallon for my granddaughter. I didn’t have this cloud issue with that one. Any clue why it’s different? Again… thank you!
Hi. I had 180 gal for 5 6 year already. Payaras barracudas and big ornates in it. First time i had bacteria bloom. Water like murky white and all fish gasping air. I right away added water agitator and take out 30 percent of water. I suppose to change water but as soon as i saw your article i did not continue. I leave it less 30percent water. . Now fish are ok. Back to normal Question when do i add water?
I have an already established tank & have a bacterial bloom. I messed up & changed filter types, but since my tank is planted & only a 10 gal I didn’t leave the old filter in until the sponge filter could catch up. Been 2 or more months & I am now losing shrimp daily. My ammonia however, is at 0. Should I still use Seachem Prime? Thanks.
Hey so i have a couple questions 😂 So I have a 10g with a bacterial bloom and I know the best option is to do nothing and wait but since I have uneaten food and lots of fish poop that means I have to take most of it out. Is it a good option to add more bacteria (I have safe start) ? when adding seachem is it the full dose for a 10g straight into the fish tank or should I do a partial water change? later on when the bacteria bloom clears how do you recommend changing the filter for fish tanks without breaking the cycle? Thanksss 😭
Hey been perusal for a while, ill start by saying I have 3 ottocinclus catfish and 1 Betta in a 10 gal tank. The tank is well established but I got the “pea soup” and “cloudy milky water” often, I do a 25% water change weekly so I’m wondering if I’m doing g that way to much and causing it myself like you were saying. Thanks
@KaveManAquatics had an issue with a 125 with small fish. I had a bunch of sponge filters. the air pumps were failing and my tank clouded up very bad. water change did not matter it clouded right back up. purchased 2 new canister filters which came with carbon, I added purigen to each. no water change and it cleared right up. what caused this? thoughts? thanks.
Thank you so much!!! Love your articles. I’m setting up a new 5gallon tank for a betta, and am using Stability and Prime (just like your other article lol). So should I just keep doing the 7-day process with the Stability even though I’m having the cloudy water? I don’t have any living things in there yet, I mean other than plants and moss balls. I’m also using StressZyme from API
I am pretty much only relying on your articles, currently, for proper tank care/set up and rescue and a couple others for specific care for my 2 tuxedo mollies, 2 mystery snails, and 2 yellow guppies. I have the ammonia strip saying worst color toxic and I did a few things you said could cause new tank syndrome. I added everything in beginning to tank in a couple hours thinking API quick start was fine. Added new fish and filtered tap, ignorantly replacing pump that had 2 weeks beneficial bacteria with brand new one and slight over feeding…all within 2 days. I’m also thinking I should have gotten a 20 gal instead of a 5.5. Should I simply start over with a used cheap 20 gal and cycle the tank properly and then transfer whatever fish have survived my ignorant start or really put full effort into the current setup? Any help from anyone brings my eternal gratitude and may save lives.
So I have had my tank for two weeks now and it went through it’s cycle by the fish store giving me water with the beneficial bacteria. After about a week of that I put fish in and they’ve been doing great after week of the fish being in there now I see a cloud. So is that just a new tank problem and I should leave it alone? Or take care of it as an established cycle tank thanks for any help.
I did what you said and it helped me . Non of my fish died ! But i think the store where i buy my fish from has a problem as my beautiful albino pleco died 🙁 … anyways actually i have a question: my tank is 112 liters and the pump im using filters 2300 liters / hour, if i turn off my main pump like 8 hr a day and turn my secondary sponge filter 40 liters / hr one for the rest 8 hour will it kill my fish ? Or make the bacteria to bloom again ?
Hey KaveMan I am brand new to hobby, I started with 10 gallon tank and followed you Prime and Stability (and a pinch of food) approach. I still have not added fish I am on day 7 of cycling tank, it has gone cloudy (assuming bacteria bloom ) I have tested levels still no signs on N02 or N03, should I keep adding Stability and wait, or add fish and just add capful of prime each day with Stability? Thanks
Your the best yo seriously I love how u explained everything in every way that anyone can understand But I do need to understand more about the actual process of doing it like step by step what to do next type thing I did water changes even bought a new canister! I’ve Checked for anything dead vacuumed gravel. But still cloudy and I’m clueless now on what to do next really
So, I am in the process of cycling my new 5 gallon betta fish tank. It’s been cycling for about 2 weeks and yesterday I added a heater. This morning I went to check the temperature which is 84 degree. But I notice this cloudy/slimy like film hanging from the moss ball purchased with the tank. Should I worry? Is there anything I need to do?
My tank is a 5 gallon tank and we have 4 fish in it. The tank is 3 days old and the water looks cloudy white like in your article. So, shoukd we just do nothing like you suggest or is it a spike in ammonia and need prime? Also, to know exactly what is wrong can we take a water sample and test it to see if there is a spike in ammonia to know exactly if it is ammonia or not?
I don’t know why, but I have little mini fish bowl in my room and it is made of plastic and it’s walls are becoming cloudy! Even though I have changed the water and cleaned it but no results yet. i think The plastic is not made with good quality. What do I do? Do you have any solutions? Mr. Kaveman.?
hey Kev, I had to come back to this vid. Its been a few years since ive had a BB and i knew youd have the answer. My question is in relation to the can filter. I use an Oase 600 on a 250L(60gal) tank with 17 AC’s. This filter has a pre filter I clean every week. Recently Ive had to setup a quarantine tank so I remove a portion of the bio media out of the 600. The 600 has 5 layers of matrix. I replace 1 layer, so still plenty left. During this i noticed there was a lot of bio film throughout the media and internal filters. You taught me in a previous vid that beneficial Bacteria can live in dirty bio media. Could an excess of this bio be a root cause of a Bacterial Bloom too?
Hi there awesome vid Can u help I’ve had issues with one tank in my collection I have 6tanks the culprit is the 50litre Aqua One I have the all pond solutions HOB 500 (Or in America sunsun hob) Houses 5 chamber trays of media I have 500grams of matrix Medium sponge coarse sponge n filter floss I cycled the tank n have Java ferns ludwigia rotala It’s for my oldest Betta n him alone I had an amonia spoke think dodgy drift wood So do partial water changes n added prime n stability went form 1.25 too 0 N now I have a bacterial bloom day 3 I’ve removed the drift wood Just frustrating n amonia has gone back up Do I add prime n still leave the tank to clear on its on Help lol Thankyou from UK
hey man, i have a question. I set up a new aquarium a few days ago and it is cloudy since then i guess its a bacterial bloom. I have a filter running right now and soil on the ground but i havent planted my plants yet. What should I do now just let the filter run? Will it clear my aquarium from the bacterial bloom or should I plant my plants? Please reply if you see this
Hey Kev I had my tank for a year I seen two dead fish and my tank was leaking I went n got a whole new 36 gallon tank with a hob starter kit for now I had a canister but I like the hob better lol but I have two more fish left and it’s been two weeks the water still cloudy and I did everything you said I want to put new sand in there I think I was over feeding them over the year but can I put new black diamond blaster sand ?
I have kept a reef for about a decade, but this is my first freshwater tank, I’m at the point bacteria is growing, and my water turns brown, I change it and it turns brown again over time. Should I hook up my uv sterilizer. I am buying another 3-stage filtration for water changes. It started after getting plants.
Cheers mate, had non stop cloudiness issues with my new tank (Under 3 weeks old at this point) and Added a fish within the first few days (Ryukin) using your advice on instant cycling. Ive been doing water changes all the time to try and help out- along with water cleaning chemicals that do nothing, turns out those may be a detriment! My tank has been pretty cloudy for 3 weeks now, and my ammonia is always at a safe level, no spikes etc so I wasnt sure what was going on. Im going to try and just leave the tank for a few weeks without major water changes and see what happens.
Please help! .I have 0 ammonia. 0 nitrate and 0 nitrite. And my water keeps getting mikly white. Like a cloud. I can see the clouds moving. This happened after water change, and ever since, it keeps coming back. Every 5 days, it goes cloudy. Is a 90 gallon with an Fx6 fluval and other 2 generic Double cascade filters on it rated 75 gal each. Should i DO NOTHING? I tried everything else.
Hey!! I am hoping to get some help. I am mid cycle on my tank. I am waiting so patiently. Ammonia and nitrite look good, my.nitrates are around 10ppm now! I was adding prime and stability for a whole week. During the week, I got an algae bloom and it is thick. I have 5 critters in a 29g tank. I haven’t seen a frog for a day or two I will look for him. In the mean time, it’s.been 6 weeks since I vacuumed gravel. should I do that? Will replacing the water then make it worse? I don’t want to mess up this cycle. Thank you in advance!
I use pillow stuffing in my filter systems and it works great, but recently i have been doing water changes and the tank wont clear up all the way and then the next day its even worse! Im not feeding any different and i even added another filter system and it is still cloudy! I think i have figured out why tho. Im pretty sure that ever since we started using our window ac, which is right where the tank is, is when the problem started. I think a bunch of organic materials are being pushed into my tank and its feeding the bad guys lol. Im gonna do another water change and then cover any holes in the back of my tank and see if this stops happening. I HATE cloudy water! I also have big goldfish and loaches in this tank and it is so hard to keep it clear cus these very active critters are so messy! They constantly stir up the tank. Wish me luck plz!
Goodmorning Good afternoon Kev, My water has been lightly cloudy for almost 4 days now and its a brand new tank setup( it will be a week in 2 days) I did a test yesterday and everything was good but my thing is I feel like its still cloudy because maybe not enough oxygen(Im currently only running two medium Aquarium Co-op sponge filters with airstones in a 65 gal. right now. I also have a wavemaker coming just incase I do need it.) I have no fish in the tank right now because of the cloud showing up. I have been dosing the tank with prime and stability everyday aswell to so should I just take your advice and just leave it and let it do its thing or would more oxygen be needed? Thanks.
Should I actually do nothing? I care for my fish very much I don’t want anything wrong and my fish dying because I fed him probably a little bit too much😢 so I don’t know what to do, and I’ve been trying to scoop out the bloodworms he didn’t eat for hours and used a fisher please help me because I have little time invade the fish gets sick, I’ll, or dies
I am the mother to a neglected, just rescued beta fish, I got a 2 gallon tank, set everything up the way it should be, I put some water conditioner, betafix, I am about 36 hours later I came home – last night – in the tank is very cloudy !! Now I’m scared. Today I’m getting a new kind of filter and a water heater, but should I keep putting betafix into the tank? (it says to add the drops every day for seven days, then clean the tank/change the water, etc..) I am at the start of day three, and I’m scared because of how cloudy it looks. I ended up turning on the little filter, I had more of a “bubbler because I didn’t want to create any waves current too stressed out the fish anymore. Today I put his water heater in or should I start it over w/fresh water & stuff like that? Thank You so much Should I get some thing to make sure the ammonia levels stay down while all of this is doing its thing or will that wreak havoc with the fishy medication Blue gets every day ?
Hi Kev I’ve been in the aquarium hobby a while now and just upgraded my tank to a 210 gallon. I’ve brought some new Caribsea eco complete cichlid sand 280lb of it I added it to the tank but didn’t rinse it as it said not to on the packaging. The water was absolutely crystal clear for the first 3 days but has now turned a cloudy greyish colour that bad that I can’t even see my 3d background. I did add 2 trays fulls of bio media from my old tank to the new tank. So not sure if its a bacteria bloom or just cloudiness from the new substrate?? Many thanks Andy
I know this is an older article, I just came to say after 2 weeks of cloudy water that I couldn’t even see the back of my tank, I literally just left it alone. Yesterday was somewhat clear, today is back to crystal clear. That was a close one considering the tank is a year old, and it hasn’t had a bacteria bloom since I started it
Thank you. I have a bloom in an established year old goldfish tank. The culprit was floating plants that I thought the goldfish were eating but actually it disintegrated into a mass behind a rock and clouded up the tank. Despite cleaning it, I have been left with cloudy yellow waters. Putting in prime daily until it resolves. Do you recommend stability too? Thanks for this article.
Hey there just found this article and am loving it man, but I have a question. I have just finished setting up a new tank (no fish in it yet) and it’s cloudy I have an air stone in there but it’s not turned on, should I turn it on and let it run and should I wait till the water is clear before adding my fish ?
Hello! I’m wondering, how many times should I dose the aquarium with the Seachem Prime? I am new to aquariums and experiencing the bloom because I failed to switch filters properly when my filter that came on the tank failed, so I was unsure if this would be considered a new or established tank. Do I treat x1/day as long as the bloom is around? Only treat when the ammonia is reading higher?
Great article. I have a bacterial bloom that is thicker than I’ve ever seen in any photos online. Can’t see through it hardly at all. Also, the water is turning yellow-ish (no driftwood). How long will it take to subside? Fish are doing fine, eating well, not gasping, etc. (at least when I can see them, that’s how thick the cloud is). Could the yellow water be from adding too many chemicals? Seachem prime, Seachem stability, and a little API ammo-lock when ammonia rises slightly. Thanks!
Kaveman my phosphate is off the charts like black with an ap test kit with blue being 10 Now I have tried everything even emptying the tank of everything even gravel and filling with my tested water and distilled water ok great for one day then next day half way up then and now off the charts. I have tried every liquid and granular phosphate remover they make and nothing. Any thoughts? Five fish are fine but it’s always got that white cloud. Fresh water.
Actually, all you need is an Unscripted Aquarium Clarifier (UAC) and routine doses of tap water conditioner to control ammonia and nitrites. Much safer than UV sanitizing filters. It’s a tiny device that also removes green water algae just as well as 100- or 50-micron filter felt, which by the way works way better than Poly-Fil. 😊
Hi Kev. Great articles, subscribed. I think I am going through a bacterial bloom at the moment in my 350 litre. It went through a cycling stage and ammonia and nitrites have read 0 for about 6 weeks now. I first added 6 X Columbian tetra 3 X weeks ago, and then another 6 2 X weeks ago. And then 3 X Geo redheads a week ago. It was around this time it started to get cloudy. I did a water change before perusal you article and the cloudness just came back. I’ve just down feeding, sand looks clean. Is it possible that the 3 pieces of mopani wood are causing some organic waste matter and hence the bloom? Thanks 👍
My tank is cycled. I got 0ppm nitrites, 0ppm ammonia and surprisingly 0ppm nitrates. I have a planted aquarium, so I’ve been told this helps with the nitrates naturally. Anyway, the thing I can’t get rid off is cloudy water. I’ve tried everything. I do unnecessary water changes since I have 0ppm nitrates. And I still have cloudy water, any ideas you may have as to why? By the way I have a wave maker, a sponge filter, poly fill in my filter (all your tips).
Hey man love your article very informative. My question is this. I have 4 african cichlids and my waters been crystal clear for time. Yesterday i added two placos and they are getting along fine. But since i got them i have been using algae wafers and now my water is cloudy. Also.. i forgot a piece of cucumber in the tank for 4 days. Could this be the problem also i just bought the prime stuff you suggested ill keep you updated if it works! Thanks in advance
I just transferred everything from an old tank to a new bigger tank. Was super careful to be quick and use the same substrate and cycled filters. Used 25% tank water the rest was new tap water. Added a bunch of prime/quick start and the next day we have the foggy water again. Ugh. Here we go with a mini cycle. Yaaaaay me get to treat everyday with aqua essential to numb the ammonia
Hi! I’m new to the hobby. Do you still feed the fish in that time period? I got an ammonia and nitrite spike after adding fish. It’s been about 5 days since I been dosing the tank with prime and stability every day. Today I woke up and the water was cloudy. I’m in panic mode now. My levels are: PH: 8.0 Ammonia: 0.25 Nitrite: 0.50 Nitrate: 10 ppm.
Need help. I added 6 new guys almost 2 weeks ago. I did a 50 percent water change yesterday with no ammonia no nitrites and 40ppm nitrates. Today i woke a little cloudy water and 0.25ppm nitrites. I immediately dosed seachem prime and stability. Nitrates are at 5-10ppm also. Should i leave the tank alone to see if tge bacteria catches back up? Or do small water change? Theres no dead fish and i feed once a day where they eat in less than a minute. Its a 125 gallon tank.
I need some real advice please, i started a new tank 25 gallon freshwayer tank let it take its cycle, I added my freshwater fish and it got a lil White cloudy and then went away, now my whole tank has cloudy yellow water, i waited and it didnt go away, did water changes. Filter changes, could it be the fake coral decoration? (Putting off tanis) im at a loss and will the yellow go away on its own? Thanks Kave man!
Hey kev, I did a filter cartridge change 4 days ago. I rinsed the filter in tank water to get the carbon dust off, then placed it in my filter. I put my old filter behind it for the bacteria. The next day my water became cloudy. It’s been cloudy ever since. I did a 20% water change today since it wasn’t clearing up and I was noticing white film building up on the filter tube and on the waterfall. I have a 20 gallon long tank with a tetra whisper iq 30. I run a 40 gallon air pump with two airstones. I use Seachem Prime and Seachem Stability when I change water. My pH is 7.4, less than 0.25 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm Nitrites, and around 10 ppm Nitrates. Do you have any advice? I also have a Bio Stone in the tank for beneficial bacteria.
I have a tank that’s been set up for about month. I’ve had many guppy deaths. think I have a bacterial bloom. I used britta filtered water since our city water is extremely hard. I did another water change, water was nice n clear and then an hour later it was all cloudy. This time I had added 5ml of fluval biological booster and today 1ml and tomorrow another ml. I’ve also added aquarium salt. I have 2 neon tetras and 2 guppies left. Also 3 nerite racing snails. It’s a 10 gallon tank. I am now using the expensive filters for my Marina S15 filter machine because I tried pond floss and rigid pond filter media. I am so confused and have spent too much and am needing your help.
So my situation and question is this: I have just set up my first tank and used some bottled nitrifying bacteria on it. I’ve left the water to sit for 1 or 2 days now. The water has become extremely cloudy and I was planning on getting the fish today but is it better for me to leave it longer for the water to clear up?