Bacterial Bloom??? Help please!!

[Viva]

2 days ago I noticed the water in my aquarium getting cloudy. This morning I woke up to a VERY cloudy looking aquarium, and my betta and the four cories in there have started acting funny. It seems there is low oxygen or something because the Corys continuously go up to the surface for air and don't even seem to be using their gills at all. My betta won't leave the surface of the water and all fish have lost appetite today.

So my question is, how can I help my tank get over my likely bacterial bloom? I believe the cause of it, though I still have no idea, is from cleaning the filter; decaying plants; and possibly because 2 days ago I accidentally overfed with pellets (I spilled some in) and didn't promptly vacuum them out because I thought my 4 Corydoras and numerous snails would take care of it. I feel I have been doing too many water changes and that my filter is now compromised.

Any suggestions/tips/thoughts are helpful as I've NEVER had this problem before!

Housing
What size is your tank? 10G
What temperature is your tank? 79F
Does your tank have a filter? YES, THE TETRA WHISPER 10
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? YES
Is your tank heated? YES
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? 4 GREEN CORYDORAS (STILL SMALL, ABOUT AN INCH IN LENGTH) AND SOME SNAILS THAT HITCHHIKED ON MY LIVE PLANTS.

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? NEW LIFE SPECTRUM PELLETS, ABOUT 4 TWICE A DAY. FROZEN BLOODWORMS A COUPLE TIMES PER WEEK.
How often do you feed your betta fish? TWICE PER DAY.

Maintenance
How often do you perform a water change? I'VE BEEN DOING SOME TYPE OF WATER CHANGE ALMOST DAILY AND CHECKING WATER PARAMETERS EVERY OTHER DAY.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? VARIES, NO MORE THAN 50%. USUALLY 20 - 30%.
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? API STRESS COAT. IN ADDITION, I'VE BEEN TREATING CINDER'S FINS WITH SOME AQ SALT FOR A WEEK NOW BECAUSE OF A SHARP ORNAMENT.

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?

Ammonia: 0PPM
Nitrite: 0PPM
Nitrate: 0PPM
pH: 7.0
Hardness:
Alkalinity:
Phosphates: 0PPM

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? HIS TOP AND BOTTOM FINS WERE INJURED AND WERE GETTING BETTER, BUT NOW SEEM TO BE SLIGHTLY WORSE DESPITE TREATING WITH AQ SALT FOR 1 WEEK AT 1TSP/GAL.
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? HE WILL NOT SWIM AROUND HIS TANK AND STAYS IN ONE SPOT NEAR THE SURFACE OF THE WATER
When did you start noticing the symptoms? LAST NIGHT
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? DID 50% WATER CHANGE.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? NO
How old is your fish (approximately)? 4 - 5 MONTHS


Also, if this helps, here is a log from the past week that I keep of my aquarium in case anything goes wrong:


11/11/12
Added new Frogbit, Java Moss, Sagittaria and Riccia Fluitans a week & 1/2 ago. Added one Alder cone. Treating Cinder with aquarium salt because of injured fins. Just did two 50% water changes and one 30% last three days.
PH - 7.0
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Phosphate - 0ppm

11/12/12
Did 10% water change.

11/14/12
Still treating with AQ salt. Rinsed the filter and filter media. Sanded down the edges of my new ornament because it was tearing betta's fins.
PH - 7.0
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

11/15/12
Water cloudy did 20% water change, could be from overfeeding???

11/16/12
Water cloudy again when I came home from work. Did a 3 1/2 gallon water change, still treating with aquarium salt. The CO2 canister tipped over last night so it is malfunctioning (water is stuck in the tube) so I disconnected it to see if thats the problem.
PH - 7.0
Ammonia - 0.25ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

11/17/12
Water VERY cloudy when I woke up. I removed the ornament to see if somehow that is causing the cloudiness since I just sanded it down 3 days ago. Did 50% water change and vacuumed the substrate well. I unbaffled the filter to create more current to hopefully help cure my bacterial bloom. The fish are acting distressed and continuously go to the surface for air. I removed a lot of decaying Frogbit and some yellowing Hornwort stems.

[Viva]

Just tested ammonia and its actually somewhere between 0 and .25ppm. Can't seem to get it down.

[callistra]

It sounds like your tank is just starting to cycle..

[callistra]

Here's a guide to fish in cycling: http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=47838 You don't need to do daily changes but you do need to check daily.

[Viva]

I've had this aquarium set up for 3 years now, so its been cycled for quite some time. This is the first time this has ever happened. My water parameters have been fine up until a few days ago I just don't know if I should completely clean the tank or let it do its own thing and see if it clears up...

[callistra]

If you're showing ammonia it's not cycled. The cycle may have broken down for some reason.. You should never replace all the media in your filter at once or scrub your tank clean.. just vacuum out 20-30% WEEKLY to maintain. Depending on the filter, you should replace media in a staggered matter so at least one piece of older filter media always remains.

BTW your plants can't take salt treatments. You can't treat with that in a planted tank..

[Viva]

I see, didn't know that. The plants seem fine thankfully except for 2 frogbit plants but they came in pretty bad shape with a lot of roots rotting. Other than that its obvious it was from cleaning the filter even though all I really did was rinse it in some water so it wouldn't clog. Sucks

[Wendyjo]

You may have an ammonia spike from the food you spilled. Change some water out to get rid of that ammonia reading. I hate cloudy water and have been known to tear a tank apart and start over to get rid of it. They say it's not harmful to the fish but I feel like anytime I can't even see my fish it's harmful!

Cories don't like salt either so between the cories and the plants I'd say no more salt.

[Viva]

Thanks guys, I changed almost all the water out and today I plan on going to the pet store to buy new substrate and a 2 - 3 gal hospital tank.