Help needed with BGA and slow growth

Plants, Plants & More Plants

Hi Dominik,

I think you are doing most of the right things.

I believe that your BGA is primarily due to low nutrients and a lack of plants, more light won’t hurt.

I believe that you should add another light, a second filter never hurt, though I doubt it is necessary.

Unless you just plain messed up the drop checker and I doubt you did, the CO2 and likely the circulation are fine.

I don’t know what is in Easy-Life ProFito trace. For our purposes, compare it to CSM+B.

I recommend:
• 5 grams KNO3
• 2.3 grams K2SO4 (real life a heavy 2 grams will do)
• 1.5 grams KH2PO4
• 13 grams MgSO4.7H2O (Epsom Salt)
Mix into 250 ml water (RO/DI or distilled is best). Label ‘Macros’, store in a dark container, store in cool place.

Dose a heavy 20 ml (or a very light 21 ml) three times a week, starting after the weekly water change.

On the ‘other’ day dose trace whatever equals:
• 21 grams CSM+B
Mix into 250 ml water (RO/DI or distilled is best). Label ‘Trace’, store in a dark container, store in cool place.

Dose a heavy 20 ml (or a very light 21 ml) three times a week.

These mixes should last four weeks.

Find more Rotala rotundifolia or any fast growing plants, just get them in, you can always remove them later. Over planting from the beginning really stabilizes things quickly.

Biollante

 

Actually, the worse thing one can do when a tank suffers from algae is to add more light. In fact, a three day blackout combined with the improved dosing strategy and higher biomass, as mentioned - as well as more frequent water changes would be the way to go. I would strongly suggest to avoid adding more light for now, at least until this issue is resolved.

Cheers,

 

When I get BGA, which happens on about half of the soil-based tanks that I start, I zap it with erythromycin.

Blackouts are another approach.

I think one cause of BGA in aquariums is an excess of nutrients. Even tanks that are heavily planted take a while for the plants to start "eating".

Reducing light is not the way to battle BGA, IMO.

Bill

 

I've had BGA in my tank lots of times! I've had it all through the tank, all over the plants, the gravel, horrible stuff. I'd wipe it off as much as I could but it would be back again the next night - it comes back so quickly!!

The blackouts absolutely definitely got rid of it. I would cover my tank very well with some dark towels and leave them there for 4-5 days (3 days never seemed to quite be enough for me).

When I removed the towels, there would be a lot of mulm on the substrate - all the dead algae. So, I would give the tank a really thorough clean, large water change etc.

Then I would get the lights back on, set the dosing routine going again, turn on the CO2...

However, after a few weeks the BGA was back again!

So, I had figured out that how to get rid of it, but not how to prevent it coming back.

That was a while ago. Now I am doing much better. The last time I blacked out my tank, cleaned it after removing the towels etc, I knew that if I did the same things I did last time the BGA was going to come back again...

So, I had to change something.

What worked for me was reducing the amount of light over the tank, improving the CO2 level/distribution/circulation - in short - the solution was for me to get the plants growing really well and increase the overall biomass.

The plants are now growing well, there has been a huge increase in their biomass (I am starting to throw some plants out which is a good thing!!), and there has been absolutely no BGA for months!

Do what you've gotta do to get the plants growing well and the BGA will go away by itself. Go out and buy a whole heap of cheap filler plants if you have to, but make absolutlely sure that you have that critical light/CO2/nutrient balance working.

I'm no expert, but I've had lots of problems with my tank, lots of swearing at it....

Scott.

 

I always have excess nutrients and I rarely get BGA. The fact that blackouts work is an indication that light plays a role.

Dirty filters are also highly correlated to BGA, which supports the excess organic matter explanation.

Cheers,

 

The only time that I ever get it is on newly set up soil-based tanks.

My theory is that the soil generates a lot of nutrients, more than the new plants are able to utilize. If the BGA outreak is small, sometimes I let it run its course and it eventually goes away, I assume once the plants get started.

Blackouts do get rid of BGA. I don't think it follows that light causes BGA, though.

In nature it seems that most publicized BGA flareups occur in late summer, in lakes and impoundments, when water levels are at their seasonal lows and water temperatures are at their highs. Maybe those two conditions combine to increase the nutrients in the water?

Bill

 

I usually soak the soil for at least a month but in this latest case I just soaked it for a day or two, with a few water changes.

In this tank for the first time I had a green water outbreak. It started about the 5th day and lasted for about 4 days. Then the BGA showed up and spread rapidly until I killed it.

Now that tank is completely algae-free, which is strange - usually I have a little on the glass, at least. In fact, it is so clear that it looks unhealthy. The plants are doing well, however.

Bill