Bacteria bloom but nitrate are 0

nikolamk · 02/21/2019, 11:12 AM

Hi,

My tank is 2 years old. 180l mixed reef tank
Untill today I didn't have any problems.
Early this morning I notice some white dust in my tank. Now my tank is cloudy and half on my corals are not fully opened.

One week earlier my parameters: KH 8.2, CA 450, MG 1350, NITRATE 4ppm and they were stabile several months

Today after I notice cloudy wather I made tests and results are: KH 8.5, Ca 450, Mag 1350 but nitrates are ~0.

2 days ago I notice thah my snails emit white and I think that is sperm.
Also I have slstar fish who losing their legs and only 2 legs left , but she is still in my reef because it is alive , can this starfish should be reason for my cloudy wather?

Can some one explain is this bacteria bloom ? How this happened? Should I take future steps to prevent some coral lost ? How my nitrates from stabile 4pmm drop to ~0 ?

Thanks

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Tastee · 02/22/2019, 12:46 AM

If your starfish is losing it’s legs then that is almost certainly because it is starving - if your sand is too ‘clean’ and there is no microfauna for it, it has nothing to eat and will start atrophying as it consumes it’s own flesh. You can try target feeding it some pellets - I see reports of people able to transition them onto that.

Until it dies I don’t believe it will introduce a lot of nutrients into the tank however, so it may not be the cause of your cloudy water. You could be seeing a spawning phenomenon or a bacterial bloom. Hopefully someone more experienced than me will chip in.

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02/21/2019, 11:12 AM	#1
nikolamk Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 20	Bacteria bloom but nitrate are 0 Hi, My tank is 2 years old. 180l mixed reef tank Untill today I didn't have any problems. Early this morning I notice some white dust in my tank. Now my tank is cloudy and half on my corals are not fully opened. One week earlier my parameters: KH 8.2, CA 450, MG 1350, NITRATE 4ppm and they were stabile several months Today after I notice cloudy wather I made tests and results are: KH 8.5, Ca 450, Mag 1350 but nitrates are ~0. 2 days ago I notice thah my snails emit white and I think that is sperm. Also I have slstar fish who losing their legs and only 2 legs left , but she is still in my reef because it is alive , can this starfish should be reason for my cloudy wather? Can some one explain is this bacteria bloom ? How this happened? Should I take future steps to prevent some coral lost ? How my nitrates from stabile 4pmm drop to ~0 ? Thanks Sent from my MI 5 using Tapatalk

02/22/2019, 12:46 AM	#2
Tastee Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2017 Location: Sydney Australia Posts: 277	Bacteria bloom but nitrate are 0 If your starfish is losing it’s legs then that is almost certainly because it is starving - if your sand is too ‘clean’ and there is no microfauna for it, it has nothing to eat and will start atrophying as it consumes it’s own flesh. You can try target feeding it some pellets - I see reports of people able to transition them onto that. Until it dies I don’t believe it will introduce a lot of nutrients into the tank however, so it may not be the cause of your cloudy water. You could be seeing a spawning phenomenon or a bacterial bloom. Hopefully someone more experienced than me will chip in. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk