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BGA Help

Discussion in 'General Plant Topics' started by carlsburg, Dec 8, 2007.

  1. carlsburg

    carlsburg Junior Poster

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    Greetings all,

    I've been a longtime troller of the barrreport, having got into freshwater planted tanks about a year ago now and its been a big change from saltwater reefkeeping. I've been struggling with BGA for a while now. I've killed it twice now, the first time with a dose of erythromiacin for 4 days, but hadn't found out about the EI dosing plan at that time and inevitably the BGA came back. At this point I did a lot of research on the topic and found this site and the EI method and switched to EI after a 4 day blackout period which wiped out the BGA. Now a month later the BGA is back, I've followed the EI to the letter for a tank my size and am confused as to why I am plagues by this problem. My tank is doing amazingly well otherwise since I've switched to EI method, so well that I have a lot of noticable growth on a daily basis. Its a 50 gal planted tank with discus, running a rena xp3 that gets cleaned every other week. I have pressurized C02 running when the lights are on. I don't have many water test kits but I have tests ammonia which is non existant and N03 which is between 5 to 10 ppm. Ideas, thoughts and suggestions welcome.


    Thomas
     
    #1 carlsburg, Dec 8, 2007
  2. carlsburg

    carlsburg Junior Poster

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    forgot to mention

    The tank has 128 watts of flourescent 6500k lighting over it, and the substrate is aquasoil.
     
    #2 carlsburg, Dec 8, 2007
  3. FacePlanted

    FacePlanted Guru Class Expert

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    I had BGA when I first set up my aquasoil tank. I had to kill it with EM, and it hasn't come back. I think the cause might have been high levels of dissolved organics. My nitrate was ok, and so was my circulation. But the aquasoil leached ammonia and a bunch of organics, and along with some melting plants in the tank the BGA showed up.

    So, maybe the tank has gotten dirty lately, or there are some decaying leaves, debris, etc., that needs to be taken care of. Or maybe some more frequent waterchanges.

    Either way, those are my thoughts/experiences. Good luck keeping that nasty BGA at bay!

    -Mike B-
     
    #3 FacePlanted, Dec 9, 2007
  4. VaughnH

    VaughnH Lifetime Charter Member
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    Blue green algae love light. When I get some it usually starts where the sunlight hits the tank, usually at the bottom next to the substrate. By adjusting my window blinds I can keep the sun off of the tank, and don't seem to get BGA at all then. Low nitrate concentration in the water can also encourage BGA to grow, so making sure you dose enough nitrate helps too.
     
    #4 VaughnH, Dec 9, 2007
  5. Tom Barr

    Tom Barr Founder
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    You have a no# of discus in the small 50 gallon tank and feed them a lot?

    I think if so, you can back off the KNO3 by about 1/2, add 1/4 teaspoon 3x a week, or 3/4th total for the week.

    All that food turns into waste, and cleaning the filter often, and doing 2x a week water changes is likely the routine you ought to plan on, and keeping left over food waste down to a min.

    If you see BGA, or any algae....do a water change, clean things well, do not wait to see what it'll do. Adding some Excel can help in some cases.

    Regards,
    Tom Barr
     
    #5 Tom Barr, Dec 9, 2007
  6. Carissa

    Carissa Guru Class Expert

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    All my serious diehard cases of bga started in tanks that had too much organic waste rotting in the substrate....but the only way I've ever been able to solve it permanently after the fact was by reducing lighting. Doing EI helps too but cleaning the substrate thoroughly and reducing lighting was totally necessary for me to get anywhere with it.
     
    #6 Carissa, Dec 12, 2007
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