Help! Slime Algae

[Phishee]

Someone please help! I think my tank has slime algae.

How do i get rid of it without using antibiotics? Even if i wanna buy this erythromycin antibiotics, where can i get it?

Thanks in advance.

[|squee|]

Slime algae aka BGA?

Get rid of it without anti-biotics

[Phishee]

Thanks Terence. Actually, i m not very sure that it is slime algae aka BGA. But from the website's description, it seems like it. It is currently growing on my tank's water surface.

BTW, the treatment using KNO3 - do i have to remove the fish /shrimps 1st?

[|squee|]

It's on your water surface? Better to give us a picture so we can be sure. I've not heard of BGA growing on the water surface.

No, you do not need to remove fish/shrimp. But if it makes you feel better, please do so, especially if your shrimp/fish are valued ones.

[Phishee]

Hi,
Can't get a picture taken ... tried but unsuccessful coz the algae is on the water surface, so basically cannot focus.

[PeterGwee]

Hi,
Can't get a picture taken ... tried but unsuccessful coz the algae is on the water surface, so basically cannot focus.

Do a complete blackout for the tank coupled with increase surface movement and shutting off of CO2 supply (if you use it).

Juggler aka KF does have this issue quite a while back when he posted it on APD.

Regards
Peter Gwee

[Phishee]

Thanks Peter. I'll try it out.

[Kev0055]

If it is Blue Green Algae (cyanobacteria), then simply dump fertilizers until normal green algae comes back. They compete with BGA. And please don't use antibiotics. You will simply cultivate antibiotic resistant strains of algae and potentially other dieseases - right in your home.

[primavera]

Hey, I have the exact same thing too. It started on some of my stem plants and driftwood, then crept its way up to the water surface and started spreading. It definitely smells like BGA too, a woodsy offensive scent. Everytime I clean the tank, my room smells of that permeative scent.

I have actually been meaning to post about it, been battling it for a good half a year already. Work got the better of me. And yes, I have read most if not all the posts there is on BGA. Below is what I've tried/still trying:

-I dose KNO3 alright, in fact too much I think. My 7.5 gallon nano is the worst hit by BGA, and I've been dosing 1 gram (approx. 1/5tsp) for the past 4 months. BGA still grows back after WC and dosing.

-major water change, 50% every time it gets too bad (usually 3 weeks). I sometimes do more frequent WC (every 1.5 weeks), but again... work. I suck out as much visible BGA as possible. I net out the surface ones, and sponge clean those on the glass. Just did that again 4 days ago, till no trace was noticeable. Its back now on tips of leaves and moss again!

And yes, it has been very frustrating. I typically spend 3 hours cleaning(literally) my 10 gal and 7.5 gal. I would have to remove most of my driftwood with BGA infected moss, run it under tap water and with a paintbrush, slowly clean it out. I have taiwan,Christmas,spiky, Singapore and some other unidentified moss types, all precious bits, so I have to save them all (they still grow nice and green underneath). That and other fussy plants (Pomatogonum stellata?, Elatine gratioloides) also prevented me from doing a blackout.

So, should I up my KNO3 still? I don't think I feel comfortable with a blackout, and antibiotics are by precription only here.

[|squee|]

A blackout for 3 days won't hurt your plants much. They will bounce back fast on the 4th day in my experience.

[Phishee]

Don't know why the algae do not go away even after black out for 3 days. I resort to scooping them out manually. If no choice, i think i will tear down the whole tank & start all over again.

[Justikanz]

Doesn't sound right... First it is on water surface, then you can scoop them out... Can you try to take a picture for us to see?...

[Plantbrain]

Don't know why the algae do not go away even after black out for 3 days. I resort to scooping them out manually. If no choice, i think i will tear down the whole tank & start all over again.

Simple, why did it appear to begin with?
Lack of NO3..........

See?

That was so easy......folks that rely on killing the algae rather than solving the long term problem will never be able to solve such mysteries..............

Nor be able to investigate why the BGA appeared, they just want to add pills rather than grow the plants............

The end result is much better and heathier plant growth, antibitics are not plant nutrients and will not help the plants grow better.

It's like getting a root canal rather than brushing your teeth(Preventative maintainace).

Personally, brushing your teeth and growing plants and providing what they need are much better methods, and ther 3 day black out is "free" and takes the same time to kill the BGA off as a pill.

I often get into arguements with folks on this one, but unless they enjoy root canals and simply admit they really are not concerned about helping the plant's health, they will continue to incur my full wrath

BGA is a very useful "bioindicator", much like a test kit, most all algae are for that matter. I know why the algae/BGA grows and what species it is.
I've only met one person that knew what genus the BGA was that infest our tanks, that's not a bad place to start.

Each type of algae has defined reasons it appears and grows, the same is true for plants.

I do not need to know much other than the "disease" to know how you got it and why it's there and how to correct it both now and in the long term. Such information is far superior to pill popping or silver bullets and it's not hard either.

It's also free.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[primavera]

I do add a lot of KNO3. Refer to my earlier post. In fact, my plants are pearling well even with DIY CO2. The BGA still grows back. One thing I noticed recently, when I renew my yeast solutions without doing a water change in the tank ( I normally do all together), the BGA suddenly speed up in growth? Anyone knows why? I haven't had the time to do a blackout yet. Mine's open top, so harder to block out sunlight.

[dc88]

How many DIY CO2 bottles you connect to your tank ? Do you alternate the renewel of each bottle so to avoid any CO2 supply gap ?
Usually DIY CO2 bottle when renew will take a while to get back the peak level, and may very well likely the cause of your BGA ?
Adding KNO3 will treat BGA problem provided you got the CO2 on the right track too. (In fact not just CO2 but to make sure all the other essential things that plants need are taken care.)

[|squee|]

And BGA will keep growing unless you remove it well.

[primavera]

I only use one bottle per tank. Yeah, I should use 2 for more consistency. The thing is, the bga stopped growing almost completely when the bottle runs low, and I do keep track of the bubble count. When the new bottle started bubbling, the bga boomed, along with plants pearling more. I'm confused...

I do however have a few suspicions. When the bga boomed along with the high CO2 count, my fish started to gasp on the surface for a good few days until the bubble count lowered. Maybe low O2 saturation even with plants pearling? I have since increased surface agitation. I suspect the O2 deprivation also comes from some rotting driftwood in my tank (the tank with most rotting ones have the heaviest bga growth). Driftwood wild collected and well soaked. I didn't remove them because I grow mosses on them, and they fit my scape perfectly, for now. The worse off tank also have more vermiculite and less laterite in the substrate. And I'm using this trace element mix for hydroponics, which I suspect doesn't dissolve properly.

Ah well, that's the problem with DIYing everything. Too many unknown variables. And the tank is a nano with fluctuating conditions...Will look into getting a better trace mix, and possibly overhauling the substrate. Sorry for the long and demanding posts, thanks for all the suggestions!

[dc88]

MIN

Don't lose hope. Last thing to do is to revamp everything but only until you have tried ALL possible fix.
I suggest you run thru this list :
- When was the last time you clean your filter ? If it was a long time ago, try give it a good cleaning (rinse with aged tank water, not fresh tap water)
- Add one more DYIY CO2 bottle in parallel and rotate the renewel cycle each week. This will even out the fluctuation. Many time it was the fluctuation (not the peak CO2 level) that BGA took advantage of.
- Add more plants (fast growing one) if there is still room. Add some floating plants if no more room at the ground.
- I use hydroponic fert too. No big deal, they work wonder. Just recheck you fert regime. Sometime we did wrong calculation and overdosed (e.g. I sometime confused with ppm of NO3 versus ppm of KNO3 total.)
- You may want to check your incoming tap water too. Some places have fresh tap water loaded with NO3 of 40ppm or so, which mean need to cut back KNO3 in their fert scheme and may need to up K2SO4 instead. Same thing for PO4. Your local water supplies company should able to provide you the detail if you don't plan to test it yourself.
- Without fixing the root cause, any remedies will only be short term and problem will bounce back.
- Don't bother about latrite. Tom proved that it doesn't matter as long as you stick to the EI regime. Vermiculite should thin out after sometime. Just don't uproot that much and do large water change if you did. If you prune plant, leave their root in the substrate and don't uproot.

Hang in there and have fun finding the root cause. If you give up now you will never know what were really causing it !

[barmby]

Simple, why did it appear to begin with?
Lack of NO3..........

See?

That was so easy......folks that rely on killing the algae rather than solving the long term problem will never be able to solve such mysteries..............

Nor be able to investigate why the BGA appeared, they just want to add pills rather than grow the plants............

The end result is much better and heathier plant growth, antibitics are not plant nutrients and will not help the plants grow better.

It's like getting a root canal rather than brushing your teeth(Preventative maintainace).

Personally, brushing your teeth and growing plants and providing what they need are much better methods, and ther 3 day black out is "free" and takes the same time to kill the BGA off as a pill.

I often get into arguements with folks on this one, but unless they enjoy root canals and simply admit they really are not concerned about helping the plant's health, they will continue to incur my full wrath

BGA is a very useful "bioindicator", much like a test kit, most all algae are for that matter. I know why the algae/BGA grows and what species it is.
I've only met one person that knew what genus the BGA was that infest our tanks, that's not a bad place to start.

Each type of algae has defined reasons it appears and grows, the same is true for plants.

I do not need to know much other than the "disease" to know how you got it and why it's there and how to correct it both now and in the long term. Such information is far superior to pill popping or silver bullets and it's not hard either.

It's also free.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[primavera]

Thanks a lot dc88. You could be right on the fast growing plants, as my tank is mostly ferns, crypts and mosses. I'll try to find out my water parameters. Will be reintroducing dosing of K2SO4 and lowering my KNO3.