# Getting rid of BGA without Antibiotics



## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Hi,
I've started this thread to see if anyone has any views on how i can get rid of the blue green 'algae' in my planted tanks.
Only problem is i can't dose with erythromycin (well not easily anyway) as they are very hard to get hold of over here (Quite rightly in my opinion!).
Any ideas guys?


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

-Complete blackout for 3 days (always successful, but BGA will come back if the conditions are right, what exactly those conditions are is a mystery to me. everyone says keep your nitrates up, but even when I'm dosing via EI, I still get BGA sometimes)

-Addition of an appropriately powerful powerhead (adds a little extra circulation and gets rid of potential "dead spots" where nutrients are absent. dead spots possibly lead to an outbreak of a contained area of BGA)

-Diligent manual removal (go figure. this has worked for me, although i'm not quite sure why. i removed any BGA i could see daily, and after a while it just stopped coming back)

-Spot treatment with hydrogen peroxide (chemical will degrade quickly. be sure to use a dilute concentration or BGA isn't going to be the only thing that will die. might be a good idea to do a water change after spot treatment just in case, or even take out all fish/shrimp before you do spot treatment, and then put them in after doing spot treatment + water change if you want to be extra safe)


I hate BGA.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Thanks for that.
I'm doing with the manual removal (and have been for a while).
I've put activated carbon in the filter and this seems to have helped along with putting in much more lighting (i added a 55W Power compact T5 bulb).
I am thinking the circulation in the tank isn't high enough to get rid of the 'algae', but my little dwarf cichlids don't like living in a jacuzzi! 
I've also ordered some Phosphate remover and am going to switch the carbon for this - thinking it'll remove a nutrient, but not the rest - from the water. It might work and worth a try i reckon!
All these so far seem to be reducing the bloom, so will see how it goes any more advice will be most appreciated!


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

Reducing your photoperiod slightly may help as well (I did this instead of a blackout.)

After manually removing as much slime as you can, make sure that you also vacuum up any little bits that have fallen onto the gravel so they don't start growing again. If you get any little patches returning, put some hydrogen peroxide (full strength) in a syringe and zap a few ml on it.

Also add lots of new, healthy plants and fertilize properly. Phosphates or lack thereof aren't a significant factor with BGA.

More interesting info on BGA: The Skeptical Aquarist


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

It usually shows up when nitrates are very high or very low. Manual removal and the correction of that issue will lead to its demise.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Thanks guys for that info.

I hadn't thought about the photoperiod, but it is too long really coz i have the T8s on for over 12 hours. The T5 only comes on for 10 hours though. It means i can see the fish before i have to get to work!

Nitrates are very low, almost undetectable, but i'm not prepared to add nitrate, EI style, don't want to add nutrients to my tanks with delicate fish in.
My idea was reducing phosphate to make sure it matches the Nitrate level - ie very low! But i understand this isn't usually the problem with this type of problem!

Oh well we'll see how it goes, coz it is going, slowly...


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## redstrat (Apr 3, 2006)

BGA can also be a sign of to much dead or dying plant material or fish waste in the aquarium, after you manually remove as much as possible be sure to vacume up as much ditritus as possible. I have also found increasing nitrates, if they are low, can help as well as increasing CO2. I have read several places that atribute the presence of BGA with low CO2 in high light tanks. Shorter photo period, 6-10hrs, surely wouldn't hurt. If you combine all of this with a direct treatment of hydrogen peroxide using a syringe while all filters and pumps are off and let it sit for 30mins then do a 50%wc you should definately see a quick reduction if not an irradication of BGA.  

I hope this helps, it worked for me.


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## hgladney (Nov 30, 2006)

*not a question I ever expected to ask*

Thanks for this comment--BGA showing up at very low and very high nitrates explains some minor BGA issues I've been having.
Not sure if this should be a new thread. Not intending to be rude by hijacking this thread!
My current test kits may be too old and a bit unreliable, but they're telling me I've got very low nitrite (<3 mg/l) and very high nitrate (between 25 and 50 mg/l, probably closer to 50--yeah, real precise color judgement!). Haven't tested P, but it's probably too high from my PMDD doses. K comes out 12 mg/l, which could probably be tuned a little higher for those nitrate levels. I'm waiting for arrival of a new hardness test to check on CO2 levels. It could qualify as a moderate to high light tank with low CO2. (Other tank info on my profile if it'd help.)
No wonder the dirty water was making my houseplants so happy...
I suspect I've got really good bacteria (deep 5-6" gravel & lots of intake sponges on powerheads) reducing nitrites to nitrate. Adding new plants since the AGA convention in soil mix to the tank probably caused an ammonia spike that got soaked up by the plants and bacteria, so not a huge surprise. I'll have to test further to see if nitrates stay high after this.
I'd think that the high nitrate would be driving things back in the direction of producing ammonia--so I'm assuming the plants and bacteria are soaking ammonia up as it comes.
I was doing PMDD on my usual "look at the plants" (aka seat of pants) levels from before the changes, so now I can try to do more water changes and stop adding nitrates with PMDD (1/2 tsp potassium nitrate added in 1/3 weekly water changes on a nominal 90 gallon tank, probably closer to 78 gallons real).
Not what I ever expected to ask, but should I be changing filtration etc to encourage more denitrification to NO2 gas, or should I try to slow down conversion of ammonia to nitrate, for the benefit of the plants. If so, how?
Thanks for any advice!


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

Pressure CO2 kit on it's way!
Have syphoned most of the detritus up, but with two large Ancistrus and lots of bogwood it soon builds up again. When there are baby cichlids imminent i do let it build up as it's a great source of micro-organisms, but no babies at the mo!
Hydrogen peroxide sounds a little drastic! But i have heard of others recomending that!
Think i'll try less risky things first and save that and a blackout for last resorts! 
Going to put a seista in tomorrow to reduce the total daily photoperiod to about 10hours and so i can still see and feed them before i go to work.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

> Not sure if this should be a new thread. Not intending to be rude by hijacking this thread!


Certainly doesn't bother me, like i say to the kids in my class, if you've got a question, ask it, coz chances are at least 10 other people will want to hear the answer too!



From what i understand, Plants will absorb nitrogen in any form, including Ammonia and Nitrite so should help with reducing that whatever, but bacteria will convert any they can to nitrate in an efficient filter.
IS your water for water changes free, or low, in nitrates as this was a problem for me when i used tap water for water changes?


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

Sorry, this doesn't relate to your most recent post, but I forgot to mention that a filter that isn't cleared regularly of all the detritus that accumulates there will also contribute to BGA


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