BGA Issue!

[Cheesetian]

Tank: 60x30x36cm
Substrate: Sudo Bottom Sand
Livestock: 1.5" L190
Plants: Christmas and Weeping Moss
Lights: SoLite T5HO, only 24W turned on
Photo-period: 7am-6.30pm daily
CO2: Borneowild Growth
Nutrients: Borneowild Lush (NPK)
Chiller: Arctica chilled to 25 degrees

This is my try at a planted tank. Mine is a full moss set-up, all driftwood from GC and moss tied to them. I'm having BGA at the moment, growing on my moss at different parts of my moss-on-wood set-up.

I recently stopped dosing my BW Lush and only dosed my Growth which i've been told is a suitable replacement for Seachem Excel. It states 1ml per 50l but i usually dose 2ml in the morning when i leave for work.

Been a week and BGA still seems to be spreading without any sign of them dying. Am i doing anything wrong here? I'm toying with the idea of resorting to pressurized CO2 despite not wanting to use it to begin with as i've read that BGA dislikes high CO2 levels. Also thinking of adding some fast-growing plants like Hornwort in the tank to combat it. Advice much appreciated, thanks guys.

[felix_fx2]

Shorten your photo period may help abit. Feel long to me.

But just my opinions.

[Shadow]

try not to ON light more than 10 hrs a day. What is you water flow? do you see your moss move/sway due to the flow?

[Cheesetian]

Okay I'll keep photo-period to 8 hours. I'm using Eheim 2217 on an Arctica chiller. Yes the moss moves but now that you say it, the area with the most BGA has the least flow cos' it's situated towards the back of the tank and the lily pipes are in the front. Any way to get around that? I can't move my lily pipes to the centre cos' my light set sits on the tank itself.

[eastoceansg]

I do think that Excel is good but the problem is with your Nutrient, without pressurized CO2 you should only add in Potassium and not NPK in my opinion
i suggest that you can change water frequently and also reduce photo-period to 6 hrs
if not you could add in filter media that reduce PO4 and NO3. And than try to add in Excel as there is something inside that can kill BGA i believe

[Cheesetian]

I do think that Excel is good but the problem is with your Nutrient, without pressurized CO2 you should only add in Potassium and not NPK in my opinion
i suggest that you can change water frequently and also reduce photo-period to 6 hrs
if not you could add in filter media that reduce PO4 and NO3. And than try to add in Excel as there is something inside that can kill BGA i believe

Thank you for your reply!

From several websites I've read, the general consensus is not to reduce nutrients when algae starts to grow. There are different conditions that promote different forms of algae growth. From what I've researched so far, BGA is caused by poor water conditions and mainly high organic waste in particular. What I've done so far is sell all my livestock so the tank is without fauna now. I am considering investing in a pressurized CO2 set-up as besides strong current, BGA is known to dislike high CO2 levels. I also intend to purchase a couple of Siamese Algae Eaters and Amano Shrimp to try and combat the algae bloom on a physical level!

Any more advice and input is welcome. Thank you!

[Shadow]

Do large water change, clean your filter. If your nitrate low, dose until nitrate around 20-30ppm. 3 days total black out work. Antibiotic is another thing that kill BGA but it will affect your biological filter as well.

[howie]

My tank was plagued with BBA when I started out. Tried most of the proposed remedies, including reducing photo period to mere 5 hours, 3 days blackout, algae crew (Siamese algae eaters, ottos and yamoto shrimps), daily water change, reducing nutrients, increasing CO2, but nothing seemed to work or slow down the growth.

Out of desperation, I tried this...



It worked against the BBA (within 3 days of application) but it does come with a price - shrimp casualties and plants losing green.

You would probably want to test / explore all options before resorting to this.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ng-Need-Advice!

[Cheesetian]

Do large water change, clean your filter. If your nitrate low, dose until nitrate around 20-30ppm. 3 days total black out work. Antibiotic is another thing that kill BGA but it will affect your biological filter as well.

Yea I read about all that you've said through Google. I do have erythromycin at home but I'm not going down that route cos' it might have too severe of side-effects. Unfotunately I don't have a nitrate test kit so I can't measure how much nitrate I put in. Thanks for those suggestions anyway!

My tank was plagued with BBA when I started out. Tried most of the proposed remedies, including reducing photo period to mere 5 hours, 3 days blackout, algae crew (Siamese algae eaters, ottos and yamoto shrimps), daily water change, reducing nutrients, increasing CO2, but nothing seemed to work or slow down the growth.

Out of desperation, I tried this...



It worked against the BBA (within 3 days of application) but it does come with a price - shrimp casualties and plants losing green.

You would probably want to test / explore all options before resorting to this.

http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...ng-Need-Advice!

Interesting product! Have never come across any articles online that suggest a product specifically for killing algae blooms. What brand is it and where'd you get it?

Quick update: I've been dosing about 10ml of Excel right before I sleep each night and the results have been encouraging. The BGA has stopped growing and I see less and less of it each day. All this after I sold all my livestock and did a nearly full water change. I have continued with an 8 hour photo-period and still dose 3ml of Borneowild's Lush (NPK) every day. I guess it's still Seachem Excel > Borneowild Growth.

[howie]

Interesting product! Have never come across any articles online that suggest a product specifically for killing algae blooms. What brand is it and where'd you get it?

Ista Algae Remover. Got it from C328.

Quick update: I've been dosing about 10ml of Excel right before I sleep each night and the results have been encouraging. The BGA has stopped growing and I see less and less of it each day. All this after I sold all my livestock and did a nearly full water change. I have continued with an 8 hour photo-period and still dose 3ml of Borneowild's Lush (NPK) every day. I guess it's still Seachem Excel > Borneowild Growth.

Glad to hear that! Btw, I started using Excel on a weekly after my last brush with BBA. But a few of my shrimps would perish during the period of dosage (even at 1/2 the recommended dosage) on a regular basis, I stopped using it altogether.

[barmby]

Btw, hope below helps:

No, a blackout is highly effective.
BGA seldom goes away on it's own, just ask those that have had it in the past. A mild case might appear and go away, but this is a sign of something else.

Address the cause of the BGA to begin with and then it does not come back.

To that blackout method, add: fertilizer after the 50% water change, do another 50% water change at the end of 3 days.

From then on, add fertilizer to your tank regularly.
Plants need a fair amount of NO3 and K, when these are not supplied, algae will grow.

Antibiotics are no more effective than a blackout which is 100% Free and always available anywhere to anyone, anytime.

A very good general rule about algae snake oils and killers:
If it is not a plant nutrient, do not add it to your tank.

Take care of the plants and then you do not have algae. It really is that simple.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Cheesetian]

Thanks for the report by Tom, barmby! They way I see. It, I'm getting good results with my increase in Excel method so I'm gonna' stick to it for now. But if the BGA doesn't go away or comes back then I'll definitely give the blackout method a try. But what does he mean when he says fertilizer?

[barmby]

Also, constant supply of CO2 is necessary. 20-30ppm throughout the light period

Fertilizer is macro element like N.

[mincedmeat]

I would like to suggest for you to try the large water change method. It would help if you do it consistently over a period of time, especially now that you have reduced your fauna (to 0 event). Watch out for mosquito larvae!

[Cheesetian]

I am dosing more than recommended by Excel at the moment, at least 2x more daily because. It seems to be working quite well and the BGA has really been reduced so i will continue with this method.

I'm not doing as many water changes as before because that would mean removing a lot of the Excel i dose into the tank, something i don't want to do. But i'm careful not to really overdose TOO much Excel that it reverses the effects of trying to get rid of the algae bloom. I'm not too worried about stagnant water as my Eheim 2217 (rated at 1000L/H when empty) is actually overkill for a 60L tank even when compactly packed with Seachem Matrix and Eheim Mech.

[barmby]

Its the CO2............

[Cheesetian]

Its the CO2............

Sorry? What do you mean?

[felix_fx2]

Excel only last around 1 day after you dose.

[Cheesetian]

Excel only last around 1 day after you dose.

Yea i know that. But i dose close to 10ml before i sleep and about the same when i start my photo-period in the morning.

[barmby]

Does that dose gives 20-30ppm?