# SOS cloudy water



## DJohn (Dec 24, 2018)

Hi all,
I did a 30% water change yesterday along with trimming my anarchis (Brazilian waterweed). This evening my tank is slightlt cloudy. Could it be because I trimmed the plants and they are releasing something into the water? I checked my parameters and they are all perfect (amm=0/NITRITE=0/nitrate=5). The tank is lightly stocked running a fluval 305 as well as a marineland 150 HOB. It is well maintained and gravel vacc'd/25-30% water changed weekly. 

From what I'm reading its usually a bacterial bloom that can cause this but my tank was properly cycled using ammonia/fishless before I added any fish. I have another tank and the water is crystal clear. 

What do you all think? Plants or bacteria or...?


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

A visible bacteria bloom is not caused by the nitrifying bacteria, but, rather by heterotrophic bacteria which survive by consuming organic material.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

If a bacterial bloom persists, I find the simplest fix is to flush the tank. Essentially, change all the water in a relatively short time, but do it in stages, so it's a bit easier on the fish.

Last time I had to do it, it was for a nitrite spike, and since I usually change half the water weekly anyway, I did about 90% change in one fell swoop. The fish didn't appear to mind, and I did ensure the new water was matched closely to the tank's temperature. 

When blooms are mild, one change should be enough, but if it's severe, might have to do it twice. 

The most common reason for it is for a fair bit of organic matter to get disturbed, most often, it'll be in the substrate, and deep cleaning or replanting will stir up enough it to fuel an awful lot of the heterotrophic bacteria, so many, we see them, as the cloud.


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