BGA not disappearing...

[papelboyl1]

on the sides of my tank (where the substrate and glass meets), BGA has taken a foothold. I've searched and found a thread in the barr report that suggested putting a tape on side so as to deprive the BGA light. I have done this 2 months ago but they are not disappearing. I used grey packaging tape. and several layers of it.

Any more bright ideas? thank you

[Shadow]

Tape will not work because the BGA will still get the light from top. Tank is made from glass and glass transmit light.

If you don't mind putting some chemical, you can use H202 or Seachem excel and using syringe+needle inject it on the substrate.

[papelboyl1]

Any alternative to applying it without the use of needle? They don't sell it here. ������

[Shadow]

siphon the soil near the glass, clean the glass and replace with new soil

[papelboyl1]

Any tips on how to use it? And how much? Thanks again. ☺☺☺

[creech]

I assume it is Blue Green Algae (BGA) that you are talking about, they are actually not algae but orgamism that is able to perform photosynthesis. Characteristic is that they have a strong earthy smell. I have battled it with erythromycin and the antibiotic is very effective, all BGA cleared in 4 days.

You can get it as Maracyn (not the maracyn 2 etc), which is meant for aquarium treatment.

[greenaqua]

I assume it is Blue Green Algae (BGA) that you are talking about, they are actually not algae but orgamism that is able to perform photosynthesis. Characteristic is that they have a strong earthy smell. I have battled it with erythromycin and the antibiotic is very effective, all BGA cleared in 4 days.

You can get it as Maracyn (not the maracyn 2 etc), which is meant for aquarium treatment.

Note that if you whack in the antibiotic, your good bacteria kaput also...perhaps disconnect your external filter and then dose, then change water and seed new bacteria.
You need to handle this delicately as antibiotics will un-balance your system and may lead to a BGA explosion all over the tank.
Unless it is really a problem, I suggest you live with it since it is under the sand level or manually clean it up.

To manually clean it up, do the following:
1 - siphon and scrape at the same time at the side that is affected
2 - the siphon will suck out the sand at the side giving you space to scrape. The siphon will also suck away the layer of algae that is dislodged from scraping. Any sediments disturbed will be sucked out
3 - make sure the siphon empties into a bucket so that you can rescue your sand later on (and not into the drainage pipe)
4 - wash the sand in the bucket to flush away algae pieces
5 - take an unused frying pan and cook/stirfry the sand until it is dry and hot to kill off any residuel algae pieces (dont add oil and dont add sauces ...grin)
6 - once sand cools to room temperature, pour it back into tank

you may want to buy a scraper and then tie the siphon to near the head for easier handling. I havent seen anyone yet create a scraper that funnels into a siphon like the head of the flat carpet nozzle of vacuum cleaner.

[veerasg]

If its only at the junction of the glass and substrate, just follow what Robert had recommended. You may use a new razor blade to scrape the algae

You may try this if you see an outbreak of BGA. This is what I did for treating. Everything in my planted tank was covered with a slimy layer of green carpet .

1. Removed most of the filter media and transferred it to another tank.
2. Treated the whole tank with Erythromycin with the dosage recommended in the pack. Carried out this treatement for 5 days, with approx 25% water change every 24 hours (I missed WC on one day though)
3. After this all the BGA turned brown, some were suspended in the water and the rest got settled in the bottom
4. Removed the remaining filter media. Siphoned as much as I can and then added a powerhead with a sponge, ran it for 5 hours. Now almost all the dead BGA were cleared.
5. Added back the filter media that I removed before (Step 1)

My tank is in the bacony. Although there is no direct sunlight, there is lot of ambient light. For now I 've covered all sides with a plastic sheet (just that I will have better control on other parameters)

I suspected that I am not providing enough nutrients and have slightly increased the dosage.

I have done two water changes so far and added Seachem Excel after each water change
Its been two weeks after the treatement now and there is no sign of BGA so far, but too soon to conclude. I guess, I will have to monitor for another month.

Now I am left only with green spot algae which is not of much bother to me. Otocinclus seems to enjoy those on the old leaves of Anubias.