How To Get Rid of Bacterial Bloom in Aquarium?

If you have an aquarium, it is a given that you will go through your tank being cloudy. It is a common occurrence, and there is no need to get afraid. Mostly cloudy water doesn’t affect fish, although it can make your tank look dirty and murky. The most prominent cause of dull water is Bacterial Bloom. When bacterial bloom occurs, your aquarium will become gloomy and clouded with a greyish or whitish tint. The most upfront effect that it will have on your aquarium is that your aquarium will become an atrocious view. All the more, you and other spectators won’t be able to take pleasure in your aquarium. Everything becomes hazy.

Within this article, you will find ways on how to get rid of bacterial bloom and ways to prevent one.

What is a Bacterial Bloom?

Every tank is destined to go through a bacterial bloom. It is inevitable as an aquarium is a frail ecosystem, and a minor change can cause effects. The eventuality in which there is an outburst of bacteria in an aquarium in the water is called a bacterial bloom. The consequence of a bacterial bloom is cloudy water. Bacteria is a microscopic organism, and for them to be visible to the naked eye, you can imagine the number of bacteria present in a bacterial bloom.

Kinds of bacterias in an aquarium

In an aquarium, there exist two types of bacteria. They are the Heterotrophic bacteria and Autotrophic bacteria.

• Heterotrophic bacteria are the ones that rely on organic substances for nutrients. In other words, they are inadequate to make or produce their food. These bacteria do the work of breaking down organic substances into ammonia. Organic substances include leftover food, fish wastes, and many others. Mostly these are the type of bacteria that causes bacterial bloom and establish cloudiness.
• The Autotrophic bacteria are the good ones. They are nitrifying bacteria hence, they can produce their food from inorganic substances. They pose no threat, and the more, the better, and your aquarium will be free of ammonia and nitrates.

What causes bacterial bloom in an aquarium?

As you already know, Heterotrophic bacteria are the culprits of bacterial bloom. As they feed on the organic substances to break them down to ammonia, so the more the organic substances, the more heterotrophic bacteria in your tank. These bacteria can reproduce rapidly and cause a bacterial bloom. So the primary cause would be overfeeding your fish. Overfeeding is never a good thing. It causes harm to the ecosystem of your aquarium in every way.

Bacterial bloom may also occur if you haven’t paid attention to the cleaning of your aquarium. If you are lazy and skip the cleaning, the fish waste will keep getting added on. It will eventually lead to a spike in the number of bacteria leading to bacterial bloom. Also, if you fail to notice a dead fish or a decaying plant, you are dispensing the opportunity for them to multiply and cause a bacterial bloom.

So in conclusion if you are being reckless on cleaning and overfeeding a bacterial bloom is certain sooner or later.

If you are facing bacterial bloom or cloudiness on a new tank, it is a common thing. A new tank will go through a bacterial bloom because of the nutrients available for the bacteria from the tap water you are using. The cycle is being initiated on a new tank and the bacterial bloom will eventually go away by itself.

How to get Rid of Bacterial Bloom in an Aquarium?

If there is a bacterial bloom occurring in your tank, don’t get overwhelmed. There are remedies that you can follow to get rid of the bacterial bloom.

Leftover Food

The first thing that you must do is to stop overfeeding your fish. The more leftovers in your tank, the faster the bacteria multiply and bacterial bloom becomes inevitable. If you see any leftover food in your tank, use a substrate vacuum to clear them out and remove the ones floating about in your water. If you maintain feeding from the beginning there will be no chances for a bacterial bloom to occur.

Filter not working

Check your filter as well if a bacterial bloom has occurred. If your filter is not doing its work adequately, it can cause a bacterial bloom. Clean your filter as your can filter have too much dirt in it. It probably won’t clean your tank the way it is supposed to. If it’s the case of your filter malfunctioning because of a mechanical problem, take it to a shop to repair it or get a new one.

Detoxify Ammonia

You can recur to the method of detoxifying the ammonia spike in your aquarium. You can use products that detoxify ammonia. There are products such as Seachem Prime, API Stress Coat +, and NovaAqua Plus. It will convert the toxic ammonia into safe-free ammonia. It will make the aquarium safe and with water changes, the bacterial bloom will go away.

Clean your fish tank

Organic waste matter such as fish waste, dead fish, or a dying plant also contribute to bacterial bloom. If you happen to notice any of those immediately remove them from your tank. If you don’t the bacteria will multiply and bacterial bloom will occur in a flash. Remove the dead fish or the plant manually, and use a vacuum to clear off the fish wastes. No organic matter means no opportunity for a bacterial bloom.

Does bacterial bloom affect your fish?

Bacterial Bloom not only makes the water appear cloudy but in time will affect your fish as well. The bacteria will break down the organic substances and generate ammonia which is toxic for your fish. The ammonia will eventually burn the gills of your fish and make it near impossible for them to survive.

The bacteria are aerobic and will absorb the oxygen in your aquarium. So in the case of a bacterial bloom, there will be too much of these aerobic bacteria and will use up all the oxygen, not leaving a nary for your fish. The fishes will undergo a deficiency of oxygen and constantly come to the surface for it. In case of oxygen deficiency, you can use wavemakers.

An aquarium is prone to bacterial bloom if you don’t take care of it properly. If you are maintaining the ecosystem properly then there is nothing to fear. But a small trigger can cause bacterial blooms and its better you keep away all the sources by which the bacteria can multiply. Don’t overfeed, and get rid of the dying things and wastes. Do this and you wont have to worry about bacterial bloom.