Troubleshooting - Bacteria Bloom or Particles from Aquasoil?

DGalt

DGalt

AC Members
Jun 1, 2008
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Connecticut
I really need to figure out exactly what is causing the cloudiness in my 15 gallon. It's either a bacteria bloom due to a combination of there being a new filter on the tank and the fact that ADA aquasoil kicks out a whole bunch of excess nutrients when its first in the tank OR it is a lesser version of the cloudiness I was seeing before as a result of the aquasoil.

Sparknotes version of what's been going on: I replaced my substrate with aquasoil, terrible cloudiness. Replaced HOB filter with Eheim 2213 (canister). Cloudiness more or less gone, except for whitish haze (picture 1 below). Partial rescape, cloudiness returns (picture 2 below). Reposition spray bar of canister so that there is less current near substrate level, back to whitish haze (picture 3).

The filter is on its way to being cycled. As of last night my params were:
ammonia: ~0.15ppm
nitrites: ~0.75ppm
nitrates: ~7.5ppm

When I remove some of the water and put it into a white cup there is a sort of tea-color quality to it (which is apparently typical of aquasoil to slightly discolor the water). Pouring the water through a piece of 50micron filter felt resulted in little to no change in the coloring.
Looking at the tank I can actually see ripples in the cloudiness, although I can't exactly tell if this is just the light playing tricks on me or if the cloudiness is actually moving about the tank.
If I do a large enough water change until the tank is entirely clear it will be back to this level of cloudiness within an hour, if not shorter.

If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears. ADG is sending me a new bag of aquasoil, but if I don't have to tear down the tank I don't want to. At the same time, if I'm going to need to replace the substrate then I want to do it asap because I don't really like where I'm housing my fish right now.

thanks

Picture 1:
DSC_0153.jpg


Picture 2:
DSC_0194.jpg


Picture 3:
DSC_0200-1.jpg
 
DGalt said:
I really need to figure out exactly what is causing the cloudiness in my 15 gallon. It's either a bacteria bloom due to a combination of there being a new filter on the tank and the fact that ADA aquasoil kicks out a whole bunch of excess nutrients when its first in the tank OR it is a lesser version of the cloudiness I was seeing before as a result of the aquasoil.

Sparknotes version of what's been going on: I replaced my substrate with aquasoil, terrible cloudiness. Replaced HOB filter with Eheim 2213 (canister). Cloudiness more or less gone, except for whitish haze (picture 1 below). Partial rescape, cloudiness returns (picture 2 below). Reposition spray bar of canister so that there is less current near substrate level, back to whitish haze (picture 3).

The filter is on its way to being cycled. As of last night my params were:
ammonia: ~0.15ppm
nitrites: ~0.75ppm
nitrates: ~7.5ppm

When I remove some of the water and put it into a white cup there is a sort of tea-color quality to it (which is apparently typical of aquasoil to slightly discolor the water). Pouring the water through a piece of 50micron filter felt resulted in little to no change in the coloring.
Looking at the tank I can actually see ripples in the cloudiness, although I can't exactly tell if this is just the light playing tricks on me or if the cloudiness is actually moving about the tank.
If I do a large enough water change until the tank is entirely clear it will be back to this level of cloudiness within an hour, if not shorter.

If anyone has any ideas I'm all ears. ADG is sending me a new bag of aquasoil, but if I don't have to tear down the tank I don't want to. At the same time, if I'm going to need to replace the substrate then I want to do it asap because I don't really like where I'm housing my fish right now.

thanks

Picture 1:
DSC_0153.jpg


Picture 2:
DSC_0194.jpg


Picture 3:
DSC_0200-1.jpg
Click to expand...

Definitely particles from the soil. You could let it settle (depending on your filter 3-4 days), or get a diatom filter and clear it up in a few hours.
 
Maybe cap the soil with a layer of gravel, then add water clarifier. I have heard that aquasoil can be messy but this is ridiculous.
 
all of the fish have been removed from the tank (and the angels are gone all together, I was just holding on to them for a friend).

i've done more water changes than I can count. Couple times a week I put a hose into my tank and then siphon water out and put water in simultaneously until the tank is clear. within a day (if not a few hours) tank is back to its wonderfully cloudy self.
 
also, it's been about 2 weeks with my canister running on it, hasn't made a difference even with the finest filter stuff in there that I can find.
 
i'm starting to agree...i don't think this is a bacteria bloom. i thought it was because the water is white (which picture 3 doesn't do a good job of showing), but the dust I kick up when I vacuum the gravel is also whitish once it spreads out and gets diluted (when it congregates it's a brown color).

has anyone tried seachem clarity? will it hinder the cycling process?
 
I've used Kent Pro-Clear. Similar I think. It's just deionized water and polyelectrolytes, so I don't see how it would effect the cycle. They do reccommend your KH level should be at least 2dKH.
It worked great for me. I used it just once and the water cleared up in a few hours. Of course you still have the soil leaching stuff out all the time. Still it would probably be usefull to have some on hand with that type of soil. Every time you stir it around for any reason you will likely have a cloudy tank.
 
gmh said:
I've used Kent Pro-Clear. Similar I think. It's just deionized water and polyelectrolytes, so I don't see how it would effect the cycle. They do reccommend your KH level should be at least 2dKH.
It worked great for me. I used it just once and the water cleared up in a few hours. Of course you still have the soil leaching stuff out all the time. Still it would probably be usefull to have some on hand with that type of soil. Every time you stir it around for any reason you will likely have a cloudy tank.
Click to expand...

I'll probably get my "you know what" handed to me for saying this but here goes......

I've used ADA aqua soil in the past and I currently using Amazonia. It's not your normal substrate and IMO should not be vacuumed (I carefully removed 3 sword plants on Saturday and yes the water turned brown, didn’t notice it until I ran the Vortex on Monday)! I would recommend getting some what I like to call "carpet plants" (Glossostigma sp), some have had success using moderate light, but I'm more of a "high light" kind of guy (I love the almost daily maintenance required).

Then I recommend getting a diatom filter (Vortex). I have the Vortex D-1, and IMO especially with ADA soil and the huge amounts of ammonia and nitrates it releases in the water, algae blooms will come, it's just a matter of time (Diatom filters also remove green water). The Vortex diatom filters are a pain to setup, but with a few mods (inline valves, clamps) the priming and charging needed to get them running is streamlined. If you need help with the setup (priming, charging etc), I’ll be more than happy to assist.
 
so more or less the issue seems to be that there is a ton of exposed (i.e not covered by plants) aquasoil. since there is a decent amount of current in the tank (including near the substrate, since the eheim 2213 is a little bit much for a 15 gallon I think), it's stirring up whatever is in the substrate. I covered as much of the substrate as I could today with ceran wrap (as per someone's suggestion) and a lot of the cloudiness is gone (not all of it, but I wasn't able to completely cover everything)

the question is this: if I plant a ground cover (I have piles and piles of dwarf hairgrass on order, should be here by the end of this week or early next week), will the cloudiness eventually go away once the hairgrass forms a nice carpet? or is there something wrong with the aquasoil I have? I've seen plenty of people with tanks that have exposed aquasoil (such as when the tank is first planted) that don't seem to have this water quality issue. Is it just that they have less current in their tank?

I mean, if the current is the issue I can drill some more holes in the spray bar, which will decrease the pressure in the spray bar and thereby weaken the current in the tank (while keeping the same flow rate in terms of amount of water filtered per hour. right? I'm assuming that's true but if isn't please correct me)
 
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