Dry Rock and long-term bacterial bloom

[Wheelman76]

I started with 100% dry Pukani rock and had the same problem as you. The bacterial bloom would just not go away no matter what I did. Some days it was a little better and some days a little worse but I just couldn't get the water clear. A friend recommended to try running a UV for a few days ( thanks Albert) I borrowed a UV sterilizer from a buddy ( thanks Rich) and within 24 hours the water was crystal clear. I ran the UV for a few more days and then took it off and the tank has been clear ever since.

[TimT]

The best way to clear the waterborne bacteria is by UV. A UV is also very useful when putting new fish into the display or reducing the possibility of a disease outbreak should you have a temperature fluctuation.

There are a couple of other options but they are not as effective... ozone into skimmer and also Hydrogen peroxide dosing. You have to be very careful using either method as they can wipe out your tank.

The bacteria will lower your dissolved oxygen content of the water and also your redox potential. It is important to keep your skimmer running.

The upside is that the bacteria will consume nitrates.

Cheers,
Tim

[Pike]

10 months and your rocks are bare, no coraline algae , nada!. theres no life in those rocks. Something is really wrong. Almost seems like what you have is lack of beneficial bacteria on your rocks thus the milky water. I would get a piece of better live rock with lots of life on it and some sand from a established tank or buy prodibio . It looks like you just put water in it yesterday.

[jon.smolders]

Originally Posted by Pike

10 months and your rocks are bare, no coraline algae , nada!. theres no life in those rocks. Something is really wrong. Almost seems like what you have is lack of beneficial bacteria on your rocks thus the milky water. I would get a piece of better live rock with lots of life on it and some sand from a established tank or buy prodibio . It looks like you just put water in it yesterday.

I did dose microbacter7 for a while when I first started the tank.

I do have some form of pods living between the glass and my algae magnet (I assume they must be living in the rock as well), and I get those really tiny little starfish looking white bugs on the glass (I forget what they're called!). I also have tiny spots where coraline started to take hold on the rocks and back glass, but I'm pretty sure the reason it stopped growing was because of the low alkalinity.

Anyway, there is some life. Not as much as I would like but its there.

[jon.smolders]

Originally Posted by TimT

The rock is pressure washed with saltwater on the dock after it is harvested. This gets rid of the majority of the external organics. There would most likely be some worms, crustaceans and bivalves within the rock that would need to cure out.

Are either of you doing any home renos with gyproc/drywall at all?

I have in the last month found a small leaf and a small twig as I was blowing off the rock with a turkey baster... so I imagine there must be some organics still decomposing deep inside. I get a fair amount of detritus settling in one area of the tank.

I did finish the drywall and paint in the basement (where my tank is located)this summer, but I made sure to seal off the room my tank was in when I sanded it. I also painted the concrete floors to keep the dust down. All that was done before my 100% water change, so I would think that if that was the cause then the water change should have taken care of it...

Originally Posted by Wheelman76

I started with 100% dry Pukani rock and had the same problem as you. The bacterial bloom would just not go away no matter what I did. Some days it was a little better and some days a little worse but I just couldn't get the water clear. A friend recommended to try running a UV for a few days ( thanks Albert) I borrowed a UV sterilizer from a buddy ( thanks Rich) and within 24 hours the water was crystal clear. I ran the UV for a few more days and then took it off and the tank has been clear ever since.

Maybe this is the simplest option? Would it matter what size I used? I was leaning toward a 9W Green Killing Machine because I can get one shipped for about $75... and I don't want to fork out hundreds for something I will only use once and a while.

Seems like a better idea then hydrogen peroxide dosing... which is intriguing BUT doesn't seem like its work the risk. Pretty sure my wife wouldn't be too happy if I told her I wanted to order another $200 worth of coral frags because I just killed all mine

[Jaws]

Sorry to hijack your thread by the way Jon. I was just very happy to see this thread since I seem to be going through an identical issue at the moment.

[jon.smolders]

Originally Posted by Jaws

Sorry to hijack your thread by the way Jon. I was just very happy to see this thread since I seem to be going through an identical issue at the moment.

No worries. If it is the same issue then it would be interesting to see if there our systems have something in common that could be causing it. You said your system is two months old? Are you 100% dry rock right now? Also let me know if the UV works for you...

Originally Posted by gobytron

I would definitely be exploring other explanations other than bacterial bloom.

What else could it be?

I did come across a random reference on RC about a guy having cloudy water that only went away when he changed his RO membrane... he didn't go into any detail though. Mine is four years old, but I had it in storage for two of those years (it didn't dry out). It is still reading 0 TDS though so it should still be good...? Now that I think about it, it does spike to 40ppm for the first 30 seconds or so before falling to 0. Would that be an issue?

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by jon.smolders

No worries. If it is the same issue then it would be interesting to see if there our systems have something in common that could be causing it. You said your system is two months old? Are you 100% dry rock right now? Also let me know if the UV works for you...

I used about 200 pounds of dry rock but I bleached it then gave it an acid bath and dried it in the sun for days. Then I cycled it in the tank for over two months before adding fish. I also used Prodibio to help with the bacteria. I added about 100 pounds of live rock to the display tank about a month ago too to help seed everything. I've sinced moved it to the fish room in a 100G dark tank designed for rock only that's connected to the rest of the system. I also run carbon. I figured that would be enough to get rid of the haze in the tank but unfortunately not. I should also mention I've sold a ton of the extra rock I had from the same batch to other reefers and they didn't have any problems that I'm aware of and their tanks are flourishing. They were adding it to their existing already established setups though. Since I'm starting to lose fish now, I'm getting really worried something else is wrong. All parameters are great though. I'll let you know how it goes. I look forward to your experience as well.

[TimT]

Originally Posted by Gobytron

I would definitely be exploring other explanations other than bacterial bloom.

An easy way to be sure it's bacteria is to check your nitrates. No or minimal nitrates means it's bacteria and not a buffer issue.

Originally Posted by jon.smolders

Maybe this is the simplest option? Would it matter what size I used? I was leaning toward a 9W Green Killing Machine because I can get one shipped for about $75...

The hazy water and whitish growth on the inside of the glass is indeed bacteria. Free floating bacteria are very easy to kill with a UV, so the 9 watt should be adequate. Just make sure to put nothing larger than 300 gph pump on it or you won't get a high enough dosage to kill the bacteria.

Originally Posted by Jaws

Not me. I'd be surprised if there wasn't enough oxygen though. My tank has a coast to coast overflow plus 3 Maxspect Gyres, 2 MP40 Vortechs and 4 Tunze 6105s so there's plenty of surface agitation too. Or does that not matter in this case?

Current within the tank is good for promoting gas exchange at the surface but a skimmer is much better. Put the UV on your tank and it should clear the bacteria very quickly.

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by TimT

Current within the tank is good for promoting gas exchange at the surface but a skimmer is much better. Put the UV on your tank and it should clear the bacteria very quickly.

Thanks Tim. I'll get on that right away. I do have a simmer running in the sump downstairs too.