# Any way to get rid of BGA without blackout or e-mycin?



## upikabu (Sep 2, 2005)

Hi,

I've been battling BGA on my sand-like gravel and plants for a couple of weeks now. I've upped my NO3 dosage to maintain around 20ppm NO3 at all times, added DIY CO2 (previously using Excel), added a small pump to increase the flow in the tank (esp. near the substrate), and tried to remove as much of the algae as I can manually during the weekly water change, but it always comes back after a few days, slowly but surely. It usually starts on below the substrate level near the front of the tank and then starts to spread to the tenellus leaves (and then other plant leaves, java moss, and java fern roots) in small green clumps.

I've been trying to avoid doing a blackout for fear of killing the plants, and I don't have access to Maracyn or any other erythromycin-containing products. Is there another way to stop this algae from re-appearing? Would reducing the light intensity or photoperiod helps? I currently have 40W of PC light for 10 hrs/day on this 24"x12"x12" (15g) tank. 

TIA!


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## plantbrain (Jan 23, 2004)

edit


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## upikabu (Sep 2, 2005)

Thanks, Tom. I've always had plants shipped to me overnight so I wasn't sure they'd survive 3-4 days in the dark (esp. bacopa caroliniana).

I guess I'll start the blackout tonight after a water change. I'll probably add an airstone to increase surface agitation during the process.


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## bensaf (Jun 20, 2005)

Hi Upi, 

I just did a blackout on my nano tank for some minor BGA. I'd let it go to hell as I was planning to re-do it at the weekend. Blacked out for 3 days before the changeover. 

Itwas the first time I'd done a blackout and I was surprised at how well the plants took, they didn't bat an eyelid, looked better and fresher the ever - even Riccia ! So no problems there.

One thing I just wanted to mention as Tom reminded me - be careful with the garbage bag ! Iused a large black garbage bag on a very small tank. I just chucked it over to cover the tank, didn't tape it down or anything. When I removed it 3 days later the tank was half empty. Then I felt the squelching and the unmistakable aroma of wet carpet (it's still wet a week later  ) . The water was evaporated and then trickling down the plastic onto the floor. I hadn't noticed. Admittedly that may have been more to do with the tropical heat here in Indonesia (don't use the AC in that room), but bear it in mind and tape the garbage bag or whatever you use securely. 

BTW, the BGA and all other algae was gone gone gone. I've re-done the tank and am very happy with it so no more going lapsing on the routine


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## upikabu (Sep 2, 2005)

Hi Bensaf,

Thanks for the additional info. Good to hear your recent success story with blackout. I just finished doing the water change, adding 10ppm NO3, and putting a picnic blanket over the tank. 

Still not sure why the BGA appeared in my tank as I had been dosing the tank regularly with macros (albeit only about 3ppm NO3 and 0.3ppm PO4 2-3x a week), micros & Excel for months. Perhaps it was the new Sera bottom feeder tablet that I started using about a week or two before the BGA appeared - it broke apart very easily into tiny particles that spread everywhere.  Perhaps that caused a buildup of organics on the substrate that fed the BGA.  

Anyways, I will update after the blackout.

Cheers!


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## upikabu (Sep 2, 2005)

An update:
After the 3-day, 4-night blackout most of the BGA was gone (or have gone colorless ie. dead) but I could still see a few green specks of it on the substrate and some java fern roots. I'm not sure if I should do another blackout or just let them be (and hope they won't spread). I'm currently doing the latter. 

I did another 50% water change after the blackout, dosed KNO3, reconnected DIY CO2 etc. I also reduced the lighting to 24W as I'm afraid going back to 40W would encourage the remaining BGA to spread again. Problem is the 24W PC bulb only covers half the tank so now one side of the tank barely gets any light. I can use a 36W PC bulb, but that probably won't be very different than the 40W bulb. Any recommendation on the ideal lighting for a 2'x1'x1' tank with DIY CO2 and medium light plants?

Going forward here's what I'm planning to do for ferts:
Day 1: 50% water change, 10ppm NO3, 1ppm PO4, 10ppm K (from K2SO4)
Day 2: 1.5mL Flourish, 1mL Flourish Iron, 1/8 tsp Equilibrium 
Day 3: No ferts
Day 4: 10ppm NO3, 1ppm PO4
Day 5: 1.5mL Flourish, 1mL Flourish Iron
Day 6: No ferts
Day 7: No ferts

Do you think this is ok? The tank doesn't have any big waste producers (dwarf corys and dwarf pencilfishes) and I feed sparingly (once a day).

Thanks!


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## LITTLE_FISH (Sep 7, 2005)

*What is the status 20 days later?*

Upi,

What is the status on the BBA now that 20 days since your last post have passed?

Did the remaining few survive and spread again?

And, nice to talk to you again 

Ingo


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## upikabu (Sep 2, 2005)

Hi Ingo,

Nice to see you here! 
Actually I'm on vacation in New York at the moment, so I have no idea how my tanks are doing (hope they're ok).  

But the week before I left, I didn't see any more BGA (not BBA, btw) on the substrate. Basically I kept on removing any visible bits that reappeared substrate after the blackout and after a few rounds of that I didn't see them anymore. There were still some BGA on the top of the plants near the surface, which I attribute to lack of surface movement, but they don't bother me as much as they're easily removed.

Cheers,
-Paulus


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## LITTLE_FISH (Sep 7, 2005)

Paulus,

Sorry about the BBA statement, it honestly was a typo as I was probably thinking more about my own tank.

Glad to hear that you got it pretty much under control. I found that in particular my Ludwigia repens tends to have tiny sections of BGA right in the area where new leaves are produced. This could cause a problem as new shoots are stopped (no light I assume). But as you mentioned, it is easily removed  .

So, you are in NYC - maybe I will bump into you on the street today then.

Ingo


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## banderbe (Nov 17, 2005)

Flourish excel. It's a miracle in a bottle.


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## upikabu (Sep 2, 2005)

Just got back from a 2-week vacation and happy to report that the tank was clear of algae (no signs of BGA!) upon my return.  FYI, I downgraded the lighting to 30W NO flourescent (which is 3ft long ie. 1ft longer than the tank) and turned off DIY CO2 during the vacation. I also had a cousin add premeasured ferts and food once in the middle of the 2 weeks. I think I'm going to stick with this light/reflector combo even though it's a bit ugly.


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