water kefir grains and algae bloom in my acquarium

[Guest guest]

um....

My 'new' acquarium developed a terrible algae bloom I tried several products

which didn't work at all but the best advice I got was to replace the water by

20% a day until the water was clear. (The purchased products are a little toxic

to the fish.)

I'd been doing water changes every few days, about 20-25% anyway to no avail.

The first day I did a daily water change I also tossed in 3-4 kefir grains. The

explanation I've gotten is an algae bloom is due to an imbalance between the

bacteria/algae in the tank, so I figured, well, this is bacteria, right? Maybe

it will help?

I'm not going to recommend this as it may not work on all tanks and may not be

the best bacteria for the fish - but BOY did it clear up the water fast! By the

next day it was mostly clear and has stayed clear since.

Terijo

[Guest guest]

huh, that is interesting. My understanding was algea blooms were related

to having too much nitrogen in the tank ... the primary reason for the

water changes is to ease lessen the nitrogen while still allowing the good

bacteria to do their thing - total water changes typically kill off all the

good bacteria and cause you to have to cycle the tank again which greatly

stresses the fish. Guessing the water grains might have helped reduce the

nitrogen load. Do you have one of those revolving filters for the good

bacteria to colonize? Those usually help a lot too.

Jaxi

On Thu, Apr 5, 2012 at 9:18 AM, Terijo <terijo.brewton@...> wrote:

> um....

>

> My 'new' acquarium developed a terrible algae bloom I tried several

> products which didn't work at all but the best advice I got was to replace

> the water by 20% a day until the water was clear. (The purchased products

> are a little toxic to the fish.)

>

> I'd been doing water changes every few days, about 20-25% anyway to no

> avail.

>

> The first day I did a daily water change I also tossed in 3-4 kefir

> grains. The explanation I've gotten is an algae bloom is due to an

> imbalance between the bacteria/algae in the tank, so I figured, well, this

> is bacteria, right? Maybe it will help?

>

> I'm not going to recommend this as it may not work on all tanks and may

> not be the best bacteria for the fish - but BOY did it clear up the water

> fast! By the next day it was mostly clear and has stayed clear since.

>

> Terijo

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

>

[Guest guest]

I put some water kefir in a small pond I have one time and I felt like it

cleared the water. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not so I'm glad to

hear it worked for someone else too.

Jeanette

Texas

> My 'new' acquarium developed a terrible algae bloom...

The first day I did a daily water change I also tossed in 3-4 kefir grains. The

explanation I've gotten is an algae bloom is due to an imbalance between the

bacteria/algae in the tank, so I figured, well, this is bacteria, right? Maybe

it will help?

I'm not going to recommend this as it may not work on all tanks and may not be

the best bacteria for the fish - but BOY did it clear up the water fast! By the

next day it was mostly clear and has stayed clear since.

>

> Terijo

[Guest guest]

Oh, interesting. thank you, Terijo

[Guest guest]

I am wondering if I could place some of my extra milk kefir grains would do the

same thing.

What do others think about this. I have an extra half a cup at least extra

grains

[Guest guest]

I have a buttload of java moss in my tank which was given to me. I am thinking

it might be more than I need, but this is a good problem. I can share with

others that way. As you know, java moss helps a tank out. If anyone wants some,

just let me know and I will send some your way. I have put some milk kefir

grains in my fish tank. The ghost shrimp love eating them. With their short life

span, this is a good thing. They might stick around longer if it werent for the

diamond tetras, lol.

April

>

> I put some water kefir in a small pond I have one time and I felt like it

cleared the water. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination or not so I'm glad to

hear it worked for someone else too.

>

> Jeanette

> Texas