Kat's Birthday Party

[metrokat]

The lfs near my mom just got some in too! Next time I'm out that way I'm gonna pick some up. Hopefully my fish and corals like it!

They will. Also, the mailman will have something for you tomorrow

[CrazyEyes]

Never tried Rogger's. Might have to look into it a little.

[kimberbee]

They will. Also, the mailman will have something for you tomorrow

 

Sounds like I have a good Monday in store for me! I also get to put up the office Christmas tree!

[metrokat]

I did my tree yesterday. Simple this time, just ornaments and a big bell.

And the wreath that Benny sent me is on my door.

[LynnO]

Lovely!!

[metrokat]

Skimmer is dialed in.

[aquariumlover10]

Cool tree and wreath, but what is that other thing hangingon your door?it looks like a string of peppers

[metrokat]

Cool tree and wreath, but what is that other thing hangingon your door?it looks like a string of peppers

Yup. Wards off the evil eye. You're supposed to put fresh peppers and a lemon at the end of it. But that's very high maintenance. My mum found this wooden pepper one, or paper-mache whatever it is. Perfect.

[Psychosis]

Yup. Wards off the evil eye. You're supposed to put fresh peppers and a lemon at the end of it. But that's very high maintenance. My mum found this wooden pepper one, or paper-mache whatever it is. Perfect.

 

Wards off who now?

[aquariumlover10]

What?!?

[metrokat]

wut

[DriftingNemo]

Tank update?

[Boggers]

Tank update: Running with the wettest water available

Duck and cover as StevieT can hear me!

[metrokat]

Tank is still in the bacterial bloom phase. 2 main things cause a bacterial bloom - too many organics or too few (in the case of a new tank). Mine is the latter. I was reading up on it.

 

What is a Bacterial Bloom?

There are 2 types of bacteria at work in our tanks:-

Autotrophic Bacteria - Bacteria capable of synthesizing its own food from inorganic substances, using light or chemical energy. Our beneficial filter bacteria are autotrophs.

Heterotrophic Bacteria - Bacteria that cannot synthesize its own food and is dependent on complex organic substances for nutrition. The heterotrophs in our aquariums mineralise the organic waste (break down the uneaten food, fish waste, dead plant matter etc into ammonia).

Contrary to popular belief, it is commonly the heterotrophs which are seen in our bacterial blooms, not our trusted autotroph nitrifiers.

It is the heterotrophs which are primarily responsible for creating the "bio-film" (slimy residue found on the tank walls and ornaments) which builds up in our aquariums.

The heterotrophs are generally bigger than the autotrophs and therefore don't attach themselves to surfaces with the same ease. They also reproduce much more quickly. Heterotrophs can reproduce in around 15 - 20 minutes, whereas autotrophs can take up to 24 hours to reproduce.

In a newly set-up aquarium, the heterotrophs get to work quicker than the autotrophs, causing the 'cycling bloom' we so often see. Blooms are almost certainly heterotrophic if they are caused by a build up of organic waste in the substrate, which most, if not all, are.

Bacterial blooms are common in tanks with apparently no organics present (for example, where all that is in the tank is water and ammonia for a fishless cycle). This is caused by the dechlorination of the water suddenly enabling the water to support bacterial populations. The heterotrophs immediately get to work on the organics in the water itself. The severity of the bloom and even whether a bloom happens at all is dependant upon the level of organics contained in the water supply.

Our autotroph nitrifiers are strictly aerobic (require oxygen), but the heterotrophs can be facultative anaerobic (they can switch between aerobic and anaerobic function depending on their environment). Therefore the heterotrophs in the substrate will be in their anaerobic state and breaking down the organic waste into ammonia, but if they bloom up into the water column, they will switch to their aerobic form and will start to convert the ammonia back to nitrite, although very inefficiently. The heterotrophs are around 1,000,000 times less efficient at ammonia oxidisation than our beneficial autotrophs as the heterotrophs are not true nitrifiers.


The Effects of a Bacterial Bloom

Most of the bacteria in the aquarium are aerobic as it is a oxygen dominated environment, and these bacteria require lots of oxygen. When the heterotrophic bacteria bloom into the water column and switch to their aerobic state, this is a big drain on the oxygen content of the water. Oxygen depravation is the only risk to the fish which i am aware of during a bacterial bloom, as the heterotrophs themselves are harmless to fish, so good advice is to increase aeration!

To help you to understand why bacterial blooms occur, overfeeding ,dead fish or dead plant matter will cause a rise in the reproduction of the heterotrophs in order to break down the organic waste, they re-produce too quickly to be able to attach themselves to a surface and this causes a bacterial bloom. As the ammonia production increases due to the increased mineralisation, the nitrifiers are slow to catch up (as i said above) and so you see an ammonia spike until the autotrophs reproduce enough to take care of it. Contrary to popular belief, bacterialblooms cause an ammonia spike, not the other way around.

It is unclear whether the autotrophic nitrifiers ever bloom into the water column or if they simply multiply too slowly to cause this effect.

blooms are common in tanks with apparently no organic waste present, most commonly when only water and ammonia are in the tank for a fishless cycle. In this case, there are few easy ways to remove the organics from the water, and so my best suggestion is to sit it out and wait. Water changes with purified water would help as it would dilute the concentration of organics in the water. Reverse Osmosis water would be ideal in this situation, however i would suggest that patience is the cheaper and more environmentally friendly option.

[metrokat]

Frags in the fuge

[kimberbee]

You are the nicest, sweetest person ever!!

[metrokat]

You are the nicest, sweetest person ever!!

You kiss the mailman then? Cool.

[MikeTR]

Yup. Wards off the evil eye. You're supposed to put fresh peppers and a lemon at the end of it. But that's very high maintenance. My mum found this wooden pepper one, or paper-mache whatever it is. Perfect.

Finally.. the secret to growing awesome coral has been exposed.. and all this time I thought it was good water quality.. hmph.

 

I'm only gonna tell ya once.. u let that new tank sit and cycle properly young lady. What you gonna gain in 2 months? An inch of growth.. or dead corals?

[metrokat]

Finally.. the secret to growing awesome coral has been exposed.. and all this time I thought it was good water quality.. hmph.

 

I'm only gonna tell ya once.. u let that new tank sit and cycle properly young lady. What you gonna gain in 2 months? An inch of growth.. or dead corals?

I am waiting it out. I haven't moved my prized corals to this tank, just frags, macros and a big leather. Ammonia has been unchanged from zero, it's not going to cycle traditionally, if at all. I can't add more rock as I'm already going to be tossing some of the rocks from the old setup. It's a conundrum to be honest.

 

I'm debating adding the sand and using some eggcrate islands as place holders. Adding some of my old sand and letting the system do it's thing. The live rocks I have in the tank right now are not enough to cycle the tank.

 

I would have loved to get some fresh rocks from the ocean.

[MikeTR]

How many days now on the bloom? I don't suspect a huge ammonia spike.. tho you could test the waters if you want with bottled ammonia. It should process it all the way out in 12 hours with no real harm to what you got in there.

[metrokat]

Been about 5-6 days with the bacterial bloom.

[cnseekatz]

Dear Kat,

 

I sympathize with your impatience during your cycling process (regardless of the duration). Your strength gives me comfort during my own waiting period. An empty tank is a difficult thing to stare at every day.

 

Stay strong.

 

Love,
Chris

[Veng]

Dear Kat,

 

I sympathize with your impatience during your cycling process (regardless of the duration). Your strength gives me comfort during my own waiting period. An empty tank is a difficult thing to stare at every day.

 

Stay strong.

 

Love,

Chris

Y'all both need to put a sheet or table cloth up to hide the tank so you can't see it.

[DriftingNemo]

A long nitrogen cycle would give you time to save up money to add livestock. Although, no one wants an empty tank during Christmas..

[metrokat]

Dear Kat, I sympathize with your impatience during your cycling process (regardless of the duration). Your strength gives me comfort during my own waiting period. An empty tank is a difficult thing to stare at every day. Stay strong. Love,Chris

Hi Darlin'

Might as well drink while we wait this out. Your place or mine?

Kat

 

Y'all both need to put a sheet or table cloth up to hide the tank so you can't see it.

Wiser advice has never been given.

 

A long nitrogen cycle would give you time to save up money to add livestock. Although, no one wants an empty tank during Christmas..

Oh boy. I have colonies waiting to transfer over. And about 30 frags. Holding off new purchases till I see if I have room and how much room and what kind of room. Like, do I have room for more SPS, or only polyps. Sigh. If it isn't ready by Christmas, Santa is going to have some trouble.