I'm almost giving up....:(

[gregorsamsa]

i agree with wong.

bring your co2 till 30-40ppm. increase plant mass. If your intention was a tank that has about 10-20 percent surface area of plants, and they are those moss and ferns, i suggests you lower your fertilisation also.

base on my experience albeit with a smaller tank,concurring to other people's observation too, once your plants get growing (well), algae becomes less of a problem. At first i dose the suggested amount for my tankbase on EI, Subsequently, i reduced it slightly and things have improved.

[Plantbrain]

i have done a 5 day black out but after the 5 days, i could still see some BGA, thus i siphon them out of the tank... 3-4 days later, i see them coming back again... i tot that BGA is mainly due to lack of NO3 thus i added more, but still dont seem to have any effect...

i change 50% of water every week...

Did you cover the tank so that no light at all gets in?
I doubt it.

I've done it many times, it always dies in less than 3 days if you cover the tank so that it's pitch black in the tank.

Also, you only need to add:
1.5 teaspoons 2-3x a week of KNO3, and 1/3 of the KH2PO4 2-3x a week.
About 35mls of trace 2-3x a week.

CO2 at 30ppm.
weekly 50% plus water changes

Clean up the BGa prior to the water change, then cover the tank, remove the CO2 and wait 3 days.

If you do not cover the tank, BGA will presist.........
Blackout means more than merely turning the light off.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Johnc]

Try anti-botics, dosage every day. It will clear up beautifully after 4-5days.

The 'guru' has already spoken. But thought to pick up on the point about using antibiotics.

Would that not kill all the good bacteria too?

I find that if there is good circulation and gaseous exchange, there will be no BGA. When i switched from using a OHF to a canister filter, BGA appeared in a week.

Maybe a less drastic way of removing BGA is to simply ensure there is good circulation in the area where they are growing.

[Plantbrain]

The antibiotics do no harm to filter bacteria.

The antibiotics merely extend the re treatment time to about 1-2 months vs 3-7 days if the NO3 issue is not addressed, circulation can help, but so can merely cleaning the filter which also increases circulation.

Similar issues occur with dirty mucky substrates, a vacuuming every year or two will prevent that,

Regards,
Tom Barr

[aquarius]

I strongly advice AGAINST the use of antibiotics.

There is already a rampant abuse of antibiotics in the medical field. I've friends who used to work in fish farms (food and ornamental) and they were SHOCKED by the utter MIS-USE of antibiotics. Some farmers treat antibiotics as if they were steriods that can strenghten fish health and ALOT of times they don't finish the full course of treatment.

There are studies done by the authorities here and abroad which shows that the bacteria is resistant to some of the antibiotics.

Lets NOT use antibiotics as far as possible and instead use other "natural" way of dealing with the problem. I think Tom Barr has already given a very good solution to the BGA problem.

LET US DO OUR PART BY NOT CONTRIBUTING TO THE ALREADY WORSENING STATE OF ANTIBIOTICS RESISTANT BACTERIAS.

[Plantbrain]

Well, you need to address the issue on a more practical manner beside the ethics of evolution and a bio arms "race" of sorts.

Appeal to their pocket book, blackout works and it's free. How do you argue with free?

Anyone can turn their lights off, does not even require a trip anywhere(although some need an excuse to visit their LFS).

Folks here are very ignorant about evolution claiming you cannot see it occuring, it takes too long and is too slow, but the antibiotic resistant strains are seen in insects, in bacteria, fungi, every major kingdom, in weeds, aquatic ones like Hydrilla are developing resistence to herbicides..............

That's evolution. Ad yes, we can easily see it occuring over a short time frame. And we are accelerating it..............

But the creationist and so called (un) intelligent degin folks do not want to tell you about that choosing to spread doubt and fear rather than common sense.

By learning about the BGA's environmental tolerances and causes for blooms, I've effectively given eveyone a free ticket not to need the use of antibiotics both in the short and the long term.

So...........rather than nag, I offer a more practical approach to mangement.

I use the same approach at the weed mangement scale for lakes, rivers and streams etc in my real job.

Saves money, time, hassle, prevent reinfestations, saves the environment, keeps people happy.

And that's what many science folks do, not develop bombs and deadly herbicides.

Misuse is a human issue, not the scientists fault.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[aquarius]

You couldn't have said it any better.

[Addie]

Thanks to Tom and all who has highlighted that a totally black out is needed to kill the BGA. I have also been fighting with BGA in my 4ft tank for months. I tried a few black out without success. ONly realised that I need to cover the tank during blackout after reading this thread. I covered the whole tank for 4 days and almost all are killed Only very little left which I need to fight with my fertilisation and CO2 concentration and circulation.

I wonder how to make a good circulation in a medium to big tank. ie. how to position the water outlet. Which water flow is better? circular/spiral flow, diagonal across the tank or rainbar?

[Plantbrain]

Spraybars are preferred.

Some surface movement(helps with exchange of gas to some degree-too little is bad, too much is bad, also allows better cooling=> more evaporation).

But beyond this, good current below the water's surface is good.

Things will pearl less with increased current, so you can strike a balance there.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Addie]

Thanks Tom,

I have a sraybar but have never used it. I had a fan to keep the water temp. cooler. thus the water surface current should be okay. I will try to locate my spraybar this weekend

[Plantbrain]

So did you folks do the 3 day blackout yet?
Fully cover the tank(trash bags, say 2-3 deep of the black tash bags work well)

Clean prior and after, 50% water change on pre and post blackout, clean filter, lightly vacuum the surface to remove any detritus on the surface of the gravel, scrape below the gravel line if any algae is along the glass=gravel
line.

Add KNO3, at 1/4 teaspoon per 20 gal of tank pre and post treatment and then at least 1-2x a week thereafter.

This should address the issue.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Plantbrain]

If you miss one of the routines above, you will likely have BGA come back.........but you can redo it for free so it's not that big of a deal, but next time do it right.

Don't expect to merely turn the lights off for 3 days and expect the BGA to go away.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Addie]

So did you folks do the 3 day blackout yet?
Fully cover the tank(trash bags, say 2-3 deep of the black tash bags work well)

Clean prior and after, 50% water change on pre and post blackout, clean filter, lightly vacuum the surface to remove any detritus on the surface of the gravel, scrape below the gravel line if any algae is along the glass=gravel
line.

Add KNO3, at 1/4 teaspoon per 20 gal of tank pre and post treatment and then at least 1-2x a week thereafter.

This should address the issue.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Tom,
Do I need to add PO4, K as well as other fertilizers to its ppm range after the blackout and water change together with the NO3? I have added all the fertilizers back into the tank after water change with backout. I had a 4x2x2.

I did 4 days blackout and left some traces of BGA which I thought I can overcome it with a better CO2 flow. Too late, the BGA is faster than I got a good flow using a spray bar. BGA started on the hair grass and fern now. I will do another blackout before it gets all over the plants again.

I hope to get it right this time. wish me luck

[wynx]

Try anti-botics, dosage every day. It will clear up beautifully after 4-5days.

Yes, it work very well for my case. The BGA never came back after that..antibotics for 4 to 5 days, blackout in the meantime...on the 5th day..change water....

[Addie]

Hi all,

I would like to thank Tom for the advice. I had successfully remove the BGA in my tank after using his method, rearrange my water outlet to improve the water circulation and up the CO2 from 1 bps to ~2 bps. I did the total black out twice. the first time did not manage to get rid all the algae because I did not improve the CO2 circulation.

Below is the link to BGA on my plants. Actually, my whole tank was infested by BGA.

Before blackout

After blackout

I'm not able to find any BGA in my tank now. Some plants died due to the BGA. I had added some new plants after the blackout.

I would like to encourage the brothers here to try out this method by Tom. It is FREE !!! more importantly and very effective for removing BGA. Once the BGA is removed, balance nutrients and good water circulation become very important to prevent BGA to come back and attack again.

BTW, all fish survived through the blackout. feed them once a day during the blackout.

THANKS to Tom and those had given advice here

[jonpoh]

Hi All,

Will this method help to get rid of other forms of algae? i.e. Hair-like algae, thread-like algae?

regards
Jonathan

[barmby]

Hi All,

Will this method help to get rid of other forms of algae? i.e. Hair-like algae, thread-like algae?

regards
Jonathan

No. But pump up your CO2 to 20-35ppm will do wonders. This is only one part of the story. There are some previous topics on tackling thread algae. You may like to do a search.

For a start, yamato shrimps may help to rid some of them but this is only a temp. solution.

[shaman]

Hi all,

Won't the water get high on ammonia from the rotting BGA and kill the fish?
Thanks

[vinz]

Shaman,

No... IF you remove as much of the BGA as possible. Read Tom's instructions again, he says to physically remove the BGA before the blackout. BGA is not hard to remove compared to other algae.

One method I find effective is to siphon them off during water change. Then use a air pipe to drain the water and siphon the smaller patches that don't get picked up by the water hose. Just run that hose over the BGA and it'll rip them off the surfaces.

[shaman]

Shaman,

No... IF you remove as much of the BGA as possible. Read Tom's instructions again, he says to physically remove the BGA before the blackout. BGA is not hard to remove compared to other algae.

One method I find effective is to siphon them off during water change. Then use a air pipe to drain the water and siphon the smaller patches that don't get picked up by the water hose. Just run that hose over the BGA and it'll rip them off the surfaces.

I think my BGA attach very strongly to the pebbles. I guess I have to remove the pebbles as well. Thanks for the info