Bacteria Bloom?

[LtGhost08]

How do i get rid of this? My water was perfectly fine last night and i woke up this morning to find my tank cloudy white. i tried changing some of the water this morning and a lil bit went away but now i can barely see my background on my tank. how can i get rid of this? my water parameters are fine and my fish seem perfectly fine. please help!

[xrayjeeper83]

how long has it been up and running?

Water changes is going to be your best bet

[Brandon8521]

If your phosphates or nitrates are high then it will take as long it takes for the bacteria to consume them for it to go away. Water changes will help if its either of those. What are your nitrates at? Fine doesnt really help us figure out exactly what is causeing the bloom, but that is my best guess from what information you have posted.

[LtGhost08]

its been up about a week. i used safe start from tetra that instantly cycles a tank. Amonia, nitrates, and nitrites are all at 0

[JRC3]

I hoping there are no fish in the tank. If there are and you over fed in the slightest, that is probably the problem.

But please say there are no fish in the tank.

*edit*

Well I missed the fish in the OP. What kind of and how many fish do you have, and what size is your tank.

[Brandon8521]

Your tank isnt cycled so there is your culpret. Read both of these articles for current and future help.

library/water-filtration/emergencycycle/
library/water-filtration/fishless-cycling/

[LtGhost08]

theres a few neon tetras in there

[LtGhost08]

10 gallon and 3 neons

[jmiller]

Don't to surprised if you lose those neons. They are not very hardy and do best in a mature tank.

[xrayjeeper83]

Yep its not cycled, all that stuff in a bottle doesnt work. The only "instacycle" is to move a filter that has been up and running on a established tank. Keep up on the water changes, your neons are going to go through heck while the tank cycles and possible wont survive

[JRC3]

Do you have other tanks? What model filter do you have on the 10 and other tanks?

[RTR]

The effect of water changes on a bacterial or algal bloom in an immature tank is unpredictable. They may help by removing some of the free-floating cell mass, but that mass can be quickly and easily replaced by growth and division of the remaining cells. Partials also may actually hurt by increasing the replacement of needed minerals in the make-up water.

But, and a very big but, if the tank is not yet cycled, blooms are to be expected, or at least are completely unsurprising. Immature tanks are far more expected to suffer blooms until all the bacteria, both nitrifying and heterotrophic, are in balance with mature and stable populations. It is all but impossible to avoid population bloom and bust among at least some bacterial or algal overgrowth in very new tanks. Do you have liquid-based ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate test kits test kits? You really need to do routine and frequent patrials to reduce the ammonia and nitrite to undetectable levels if at all possible. Any hobby-kit detectable levels are potentially or actually harmful to the fish. Your first responsibility is to protect the fish.

There are articles already in the library here which include cycling info, including two on Aquarium Microbes - Part 1 is on the nitrification bacteria, Part 2 is on the others. There is also an Article in process on the Library listing in these forums on NTS, New Tank Syndrome, which is what you now have in your tank.

HTH

[LtGhost08]

i just have one tank and the filter is the one it came with its a tetra power filter

[JRC3]

i just have one tank and the filter is the one it came with its a tetra power filter

Do you know anyone else with an aquarium that maybe you could get some used filter media from. If you can get an old cartridge, a piece of sponge, or anything from their up an running filter, it will help you get your filter going faster. Or, I've heard of fish shops giving starter media. Call around and ask.

[jmiller]

Read up on the emergency cycling post. It can be done with no or minimal loss. I had a filter crash and had to go through it. Liquid test kit and plenty of water changes.