blackout failed for BGA

Hi,

Just wanted to share this with you,

Lately my substrate became covered with more and more grey/brown stuff. I tried to vacum it gently but it came back. Also particles floating in the water column. I know ciano - I had it in the past. I treated it several times with arythromicin and decided that this time I shall use blackout.

I cleaned as much as I could, shaked the plants, closed the CO2, added 14 ppm NO3 and 2 ppm po4, and I covered the tank with 20 blankets to make sure that no light penetrates in.

3 days blackout with no glimpsing, no food, no fertilization, nothing.

The only light that the water have seen were those of the UV filter. Also I left the circulation going to the chiller that's located in the porch. That's all.

After 3 days I turned on the lights, the tank looked cleaner, the eusteralis seemed to get out of the stunted situation, but there were specs of that brown dust on the substrate. No pearling at all.

I waited now 4 more days and my conclusion is that this thing is still alive, the substrate is covered with more and more of this stuff, very minimal pearling even after water chang and even if my PH is ~5.9.

I am doing now a 50% WC and will see how things develop.

I have already purchased the infamous arythromycin.

Tom - it doesn't work for me.

Aviel.

 

Re: blackout failed for BGA

Tom,

I am suprised that you are saying that ciano is only blue/green. It definitely comes in the grey/brown colors and it definitely goes away with the use of Erythromycin.

Here's a picture of what I had a year ago -



Here's another picture -



It came now after I was low on nitrates I think - I leaned the nitrate in order to get a better red for the AGA contest...

Cavan had the same problem and used to call it "grey snot"...

So it definitely is cyano.

And I worked exactly as the protocol says: suck the bottom as much as I could, fluff the plants, 50% WC, turn off the CO2, air pump on, +14 ppm nitrate, complete darkness, 3 days, turn on CO2/light and after the first working day, fluffed again, sucked some more and replaced 50%.

Maybe if I left it 5 days in the darkness it would work - dunno.

My weekly and sometimes biweekly routine is to take 1/3 of the aquarium plants out, suck the 2 years old substrate from debris, cut the bottom of the plants, re-plant and then fluff + 50% WC + fluff again.... I don't clean the filters so much - maybe that's the problem.

Also what's wrong with a PH of 5.9?? Me and some friends from the israeli forum - we go even below that.

Aviel.

 

Re: blackout failed for BGA

After I read your reply Tom I ran home and spent 5 hours on cleaning, cleaning, cleaning - took out *ALL* the plants from my 200 gallon tank, using diatom filter hoses I sucked again and again and again tons of particles, cleaned the 3 filters, replaced maybe 80% of the water overall, and put EM. There are still particles on the ground - can't just can't get rid of them all.

Here's a link to my previous grey slime attack:

http://aquabotanicwetthumb.infopop.cc/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/8796060812/m/134103265/p/1

And cavan won it using UV & blackout, I won it with water changes/UV/EM/god-knows -

AZET said "in my case, i changed the waterflow, what helped immediately and have added antibiotica for 5-6 days to completely get rid of the plague...
"

Cavan said "Do you have an UV sterilizer? That may work. If not, do a blackout for 3-4 days. No lights. Cover the tank with a blanket, etc. I have never been able to get rid of it any other way. Antibiotics didn't work. Once it gets a foothold, it is very, very difficult to get rid of it."

he also said "So, it may be a cyanobacteria like BGA but just a different one. I talked to Claus Christensen about this subject at length at the 2002 AGA convention, and that was his opinion. He said that he didn't think an alga could ever grow that fast."

And "You will need more than a 14 hour blackout if that's what you end up doing. The dark period should be three days at least. Not more than four. Your plants will look bad for a while afterwards, and the really sensitive ones may not survive, but things will look better in a while. What I have done before was to do a big water change, run a diatom filter, hook up the uv, and keep it running for the 3-4 days of _total_ darkness. "

That thread is a good reading... - I also consulted a slime expert "Lori Johnston" but his recommendations where to shock/starve/etc - which means death to the aquarium echology.

Aviel.