Tank not cycling + strange bacteria bloom?

[Waterboi]

Hello. I'm brand new to the hobby and after lots of reading and youtube, I finally bought a reef tank.
I have a brand new Aqua One Mini Reef 120 and I am 3 weeks into a fishless cycle, using Dr Tim's One and Only + Dr Tim's ammonia chloride.

I am not sure if I am being impatient, but after 3 weeks, my ammonia has not dropped below 2ppm, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate. I do not expect my tank to be fully cycled in 3 weeks, but I thought I would see some changes in the nitrogen cycle start to happen by now.
Temperature (26 degrees Celsius) and salinity (33.3 ppt) are consistent (I buy salt water from my local LFS). I do my tests daily using Saltwater Master API. I am not dosing the tank with any other additives besides Dr Tim's One and Only.
Throughout the past 3 weeks, I have not used the filter sock or skimmer. I used dry rock in my tank (I did not clean the dry rock prior to filling my tank).
I have pre-cycled media in my sump.

When I initially poured water into the tank and over the dry rock, I noticed some white chunks floating around (please see photo 1). I scooped these out of the water. They were a thin film with a slimy consistency. After about 1 week, my tank had what I think was a bacteria bloom. It cleared up by itself overnight. A few days later, I started to notice some white bacteria growing on the glass and an ornament (fake plant) I put in the tank (photo 2). The bacteria appeared to also be growing from the dry rock and the sand bed.

I added another bottle of Dr. Tim's One and Only and waited another week. Ammonia stayed at 2ppm, and still 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate.
Today, I had a suspicion that maybe the white bacteria was preventing my nitrifying bacteria from establishing. I cleaned the glass and took the ornament out of the tank. As a result, my tank had a huge amount of bacteria floating around (please see photo 3). Most of the stuff floating in the water came off the glass as I scrubbed it. I scooped out as much as I could and put the filter sock back on. After an hour the filter sock was completely blocked. I know lots of the bacteria has settled on the sand bed and dry rock, but the water is clear once more. I have noticed that this bacteria is now growing in my sump as well.

My LFS has no idea what's going on in my tank, so I was hoping someone here might be able to provide some much needed advice. Is it possible that the bacteria was eating my nitrifying bacteria or preventing it from breaking down the ammonia?

Thank you for your reading my post!

 

[Timfish]

(One of my pet peeves is how ignorant self appointed gurus were when they started proclaiming the only way to set up saltwater was with sterile rock and a few cultured bacteria strains.) What test kits are you using? What are your test results? If you haven't read anythingn about establisihing healthy microbiomes here's a couple links. Just FYI research has shown only about 2% of the microbial stuff on reefs can be cultured and stuck in a bottle. So, I would recommend getting some live sand and rubble from Aquabiomics and/or live rock and sand from Gulf Live Rock or KP Aquatics or Tampa Bay Saltwater.

Establishing a Healthy Microbiome in a New Aquarium Using Live Rock

Studying the effects of live rock in a newly established aquarium shows that high-quality live rock promotes the rapid establishment of an effective biological filter and a microbial community similar to those found in mature reef tanks.

www.reef2reef.com

DOC and microbes in marine systems is a very complex area of science and subject to the scrutiny of hundreds if not thousands of researchers but these two links are a good introduction. I would point out corals already know all this stuff so don't feel you need to understand all of it, I certainly don't. I'd also mention I have systems, fish and corals decades old but the maintenance I do is pretty simple, consistant water changes (reduces all the bad stuff we can't test for) and keep an eye on pH, alk, calcium and magbesium. AS you are beginning I'd also suggest keeping an eye on PO4 and nitrate so you get an idea how they corelate or do't correlate to processes in your system.

"Coral Reefs in the Microbial Seas" This video compliments Rohwer's book of the same title (Paper back is ~$20, Kindle is ~$10), both deal with the conflicting roles of the different types of DOC in reef ecosystems. While there is overlap bewteen his book and the video both have information not covered by the other and together give a broader view of the complex relationships found in reef ecosystems


And here's some more links you might find informative:

Changing Seas - Mysterious Microbes

Microbial view of Coral Decline

Nitrogen cycling in hte coral holobiont

BActeria and Sponges

Maintenance of Coral Reef Health (refferences at the end)

Optical Feedback Loop in Colorful Coral Bleaching

DNA Sequencing and the Reef Tank Microbiome

Richard Ross What's up with phosphate"

 

[Cell]

You are likely cycled and are experiencing a false ammonia positive. One and Only is a 10 or 12 day protocol. Traditional cycling with no bottled bac takes about 4 weeks.

To test, measure your ammonia again. If it's 2.0 still, use that as your baseline and add a measurable amount of ammonia. Measure again the next day and if it's back down to your 2.0 baseline, you are processing ammonia and should be good to start stocking slowly.

 

[Dburr1014]

Information overload.

Let's be simple.
What test kit? And are you doing the test?

Please take out the plastic plant. They are for fresh water and will degrade in salt.

You may have got a bad bottle and frankly, you don't need it.

 

[jda]

Even API is not much for false positives at 2.0 levels... .25 is common up to 1.0. Not having any no3 is weird too. I guess that it is possible that you have a few bad test kits? I could believe 2.0 is a bad test if you had any no2 or no3.

If you have white film bacteria, they got nitrogen from somewhere (likely the ammonia).

Do you have somebody nearby with different test kits that can double check yours? My gut tells me that you are likely fine to progress a bit, but a double check will not hurt.

 

[Tavero]

(One of my pet peeves is how ignorant self appointed gurus were when they started proclaiming the only way to set up saltwater was with sterile rock and a few cultured bacteria strains.)

Ouch, you probably burned all dry aquascape reefers with that post.
But it's true. If I had to start a tank without life rock, I probably wouldn't start one at all.

To keep it simple I would recommend to add at least one small fresh life rock or rubble to get the cycle started.
There are no consumer products available that contain the whole spectrum of starter bacteria.

 

[ludakris_123]

I had this exact issue. I tested and my phosphates was 0 and nitrites was 0. A friend gave me some esv nitrates and I dosed the reccomended dosage per the bottle and the next day it was nearly all gone. I read that this bacteria bloom happens when your tank is too clean. I had filter floss, skimmer, fuge, and a uv going 24/7. I'd look into your parameters. Nitrates should be 5to10ppm. U also should see some phosphates reading. Not too high not too low. I'd advise .02 to .03ppm. Just my opinion from my experiences.

 

[Widdlyscudds]

In my experience not having any living organisms in your tank can stall the system, there is literally no reason to keep an empty glass box full of water, not sure what your plans are with the system but if you were planning on a clean up crew of any kind (hermit crabs, snails) etc I would recommend getting just a couple and begin feeding them, as stated above getting some live rock or live sand will make a huge difference in how quickly your system matures, the nitrogen cycle is one incredibly small piece of the bigger picture, snails and crabs have all kinds of "stuff" living on there shells both good and bad but you need something to jumpstart the tank. add livestock slowly stop dosing ammonia and check ammonia levels to ensure you aren't harming your animals. The sooner you get some life in your tank the sooner it will "cycle"

 

[Adamc13o3]

Is there a way to skip the ugly phase? If one doesn't have coral in the tank (which most shouldn't as the tank is just done cycling) can they skip the ugly phase by turning the lights off everytime they see a start of diatoms, hair algae or cyano? Or must the tank go through this phase to be "fully cycled"?

 

[Tavero]

I had this exact issue. I tested and my phosphates was 0 and nitrites was 0. A friend gave me some esv nitrates and I dosed the reccomended dosage per the bottle and the next day it was nearly all gone. I read that this bacteria bloom happens when your tank is too clean. I had filter floss, skimmer, fuge, and a uv going 24/7. I'd look into your parameters. Nitrates should be 5to10ppm. U also should see some phosphates reading. Not too high not too low. I'd advise .02 to .03ppm. Just my opinion from my experiences.

OP tank has 2 ppm ammonia. He doesn't need to add more nitrogen.

Is there a way to skip the ugly phase? If one doesn't have coral in the tank (which most shouldn't as the tank is just done cycling) can they skip the ugly phase by turning the lights off everytime they see a start of diatoms, hair algae or cyano? Or must the tank go through this phase to be "fully cycled"?

That's not skipping the ugly phase. That's just delaying it. That tank will need light at some time and as soon as it gets it, the ugly phase will come back.

 

[Adamc13o3]

OP tank has 2 ppm ammonia. He doesn't need to add more nitrogen.

That's not skipping the ugly phase. That's just delaying it. That tank will need light at some time and as soon as it gets it the, ugly phase will come back.

Is there a way to acclimate past it? Introduce more light every day at a slow pace? Or is it just part of it? Let it come and then let it go?

 

[Widdlyscudds]

Is there a way to acclimate past it? Introduce more light every day at a slow pace? Or is it just part of it? Let it come and then let it go?

It's an inevitability best to just let it happen and ride that wave, Its a part of a tanks maturing process

 

[Tavero]

Is there a way to acclimate past it? Introduce more light every day at a slow pace? Or is it just part of it? Let it come and then let it go?

I don't think so. The only way to acclimate past it/speed it up etc, is to already start with rock that contains a working biome or was cured.
I have started all my tanks with fresh life rock. I still got an ugly phase but it was negligible compared to the hair algae outbreaks I have seen in some dry rock tanks.

 

[Dburr1014]

To keep it simple I would recommend to add at least one small fresh life rock or rubble to get the cycle started.

Just to be clear, you mean LIVE rock, not LIFE rock, yes?
Life rock is still dead rock.

 

[hexcolor reef]

I just started a 60gallon tank using dry rock and matrix by Seachem. My choice of bacteria is microbe lift special blend + night out ii. Tank cycled in 5 days

If you have bacteria bloom get a in tank UV sterilizer let it run for a week or two then use microbe lift

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I don't see any powerheads in the tank, it looks stagnant, and the water surface is flat. You should get a couple of powerheads for flow, and aim one at the water surface for gas exchange and help oxygenate the water.

 

[Tavero]

Just to be clear, you mean LIVE rock, not LIFE rock, yes?
Life rock is still dead rock.

I meant fresh-wet-biologically-grown-rock-directly-picked-out-of-a-tropical-ocean-reef Rock™.

I forgot Americans are the only kind of people that are able to call dry rock alive just because it's from a brand that is called life or similar. That's the reason why companies are able to screw you guys over with some specific definitions and are able to avoid convictions in court.

 

[Dburr1014]

I meant fresh-wet-biologically-grown-rock-directly-picked-out-of-a-tropical-ocean-reef Rock™.

I forgot Americans are the only kind of people that are able to call dry rock alive just because it's from a brand that is called life or similar. That's the reason why companies are able to screw you guys over with some specific definitions and are able to avoid convictions in court.

Whole heartaly agree.
We in the USA take advantage where ever we can. LOL

 

[jda]

It is because we are dump, greed or glory seekers. There is a whole culture of changing the meaning of terms for unknown reasons. Life/live/wet rock are a disgrace. So is calling a tank being able to process a bit of ammonia as being cycled. Apparently algaecide is a bacteria now (joking... somewhat). Some get it and some don't see the harm. A few fools think that it is progress to mix words, redefine things and change meanings of words. People get hurt just like the stupid LFS that gets some dry rock wet for a few days and sells it as live... or the whole life rock thing. ...then people think that you are a jerk if you point out the differences. I seems that I need to move to somewhere... where ever that is.

 

[brandon429]

nice word salad u got any thousand island