# BGA: Adding Nitrate, advice please



## 1stwizard (Jun 16, 2006)

*'Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water'*

I had a superb planted 48" tank up until two weeks ago, that is until BGA came along and is attempting to ruin it, and succeeding!.

My test kits all shows a zero reading for Nitrates (which I thought was the best reading to aim for!) and I've now been advised by kind posters on here to increase my Nitrate levels to combat BGA.

Can anyone give me some advice as to the best way to increase the nitrate please?, bearing in mind, I'm in the UK when it comes to products.

I have a lot of Hornwort in the aquarium, which strips Nitrate I believe, and I will be cutting back on that. And would cutting back on fish numbers help?. I have several other tanks, so moving fish is an option.

My fish are mainly Otto's, Tetra's and Koolie Loaches, plus my two Blue Rams.

I'm sorry if I seem 'below speed' on this subject, but this problem is doing my head in!.

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Cheers


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

There are several options for adding Nitrates:

- Seachem has a product called Flourish Nitrogen which works well. I know of at least one online site in the UK which sells Seachem products:

http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=4&sort=20a&page=2

- Otherwise you could buy KNO3 in powder form and use the Fertilator (http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator.php) to calculate how much to add. Here (also aquaessentials):

http://www.aquaessentials.co.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=522

The main difference between the two options is that the commercial products (Seachem etc) can be more expensive over the long run, especially for larger and/or multiple tanks. However it's a simpler method than dealing with powders and measurements.

Question of budget and personal choice...


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

1stwizard, check your local pharmacy and see if they can supply you with some solid KNO3, which is potassium nitrate. While you're there, ask if they can also give you some KH2PO4, which is potassium phosphate. Using both of these in a fertilizing regimen, whether it be PPS or EI will give your plants much needed nutrients to help outcompete algae. As for BGA.... I think the best way to get rid of it is just to manually remove it while keeping your nitrate levels around 20-30. I've been fighting it for a couple weeks now, but I'm finally seeing some improvement after dedicated removal of ANY BGA I see, and a steady testing of my nitrate levels and subsequent tweaking.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

You really need a complete fertilizing routine, nitrates, phosphates, trace elements and a carbon source, such as CO2 or Flourish Excel. And, of course, you need adequate lighting, about 2 to 2.5 watts per gallon for fast plant growth or 1.3 to 1.5 or so watts per gallon for slow plant growth, but a lot less algae problems. An entertaining website that doesn't take too long to digest is http://www.rexgrigg.com/ and you can learn a lot more about the subject there.


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## 1stwizard (Jun 16, 2006)

Many heartfelt thanks to all of you who replied, I'm cetainly going to try a few of the things you suggested. It would seem I'm about to become very busy!.

Believe me, I'm very grateful to you all.


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## DaveS (Jun 9, 2006)

I can feel your pain on this one. I fought horrible BGA problems in my 75g tank on and off for a long time before I finally got things under control. I would like to offer one observation before you start chucking nitrates into the tank however. I did quite a bit of testing on my BGA infected tank once I learned that there wasn't a one-time quick cure that would help me out (and that most certainly includes using antibiotics). What I found was this: once a BGA outbreak becomes more than just a nuisance, it is too late to start measuring nitrates. In my tank, I could add KNO3 as much as I wanted but all I was doing was feeding the BGA which could burn through increadible amounts of nitrates in short order. I think the first step is to get the BGA under control, and then start with a good testing routine to figure out what triggers the outbreaks. A simple blackout of the tank for four days or so will kill off the bulk of the BGA, and it should stay away for a least a couple of weeks which will afford you enough time to get some good baseline measurements. If you haven't addressed the underlying problem(s) you will start to see the BGA making a comeback, at which time you will most likely need to repeat the process. Eventually however you should start to see a pattern which you can use to get the tank balanced.

Dave


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

I agree with Dave. Manually remove as much bga as you can, then do a complete 3-4 day blackout. If you're using CO2, turn it off during this time. After the blackout, do a real good cleaning and 60-70% water change. Then start on a fertilizing routine. Do you have a high light, high tech tank, or are you low tech? That will determine how much and how often you dose.

A couple more references for you to read:
http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/index.html
http://www.barrreport.com/forums/showthread.php?t=395
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/science-of-fertilizing/15225-estimative-index-dosing-guide.html


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## kekon (Aug 1, 2005)

Getting rid of BGA manually if one has huge amounts of it will fail. Even when someone has small amounts of BGA removing it manually is very ardous and tiring. I had BGA once (and 2 weeks ago again...) and i removed it manually but it always returned within 3 days. Some folks overcame the problem by manual removal but it's very, very tiring and can last for months. If one has a huge BGA outbreak it's much better to get erythromycin and dose to the tank. In this way you can get rid of BGA in a week. Adding nitrates helps, but it is not always successfull.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

Just got over a HUGE infestation of this nasty stuff myself (I would have won the worst algae contest...) I totally understand where you're coming from.

Get as much removed manually as you can- seems futile, but is necessary. Vacuum any loose bits that settle on the gravel, and toss any plants that you can't easily remove it from (eg. feathery leaves.) Do a blackout for 3-4 days; totally cover the tank.

Once this is done, again remove any spots of BGA that may remain and pack the tank with as many fast growing plants as possible. Now get your nitrates (and other ferts) in order so the plants can gain the advantage. 

Keep inspecting the tank daily- if any little spots of this return, you can zap them with a few millilitres of hydrogen peroxide (don't add tons or you'll harm your fish.)

There's always antibiotics, but I personally don't care for them as an option.


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## turnstile (Oct 23, 2005)

I'd go for antibiotics as well to kill the BGA. No hassle, no harm to anything else in the tank (and no, it doesn't affect filter bacteria), no sweat. I'm also not sure why it's being told that BGA appears in tanks where nitrates are zero as I had a tank with 50ppm nitrates in which had BGA appear and flourish.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

turnstile said:


> ... I'm also not sure why it's being told that BGA appears in tanks where nitrates are zero as I had a tank with 50ppm nitrates in which had BGA appear and flourish.


I think it would be more accurate to say that low Nitrates can cause BGA _given that all other nutrients are in good supply and the tank does not have an overabundance of mulm/organic debris_.

If you have an unbalanced tank and/or lots of mulm/organic matter then yes, BGA will still appear at higher NO3 levels.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

turnstile said:


> I'd go for antibiotics as well to kill the BGA. No hassle, no harm to anything else in the tank (and no, it doesn't affect filter bacteria), no sweat. I'm also not sure why it's being told that BGA appears in tanks where nitrates are zero as I had a tank with 50ppm nitrates in which had BGA appear and flourish.


Glad someone said that. The organics IMO are a much bigger factor in the cause of BGA then the lack of No3. I've had BGA two times in young tanks and got rid of it by simply doing a good gravel wash, doing more water changes, reducing feeding and stocking if possible.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

You can have 50 ppm of nitrate in the tank, but not have good enough water circulation to have that much in all areas of the tank. I have found that blue green algae seems to start in corners, under dense plantings, or other areas where my water probably isn't circulating well. I assume those areas could be deficient in nitrate even though the tank as a whole has plenty. So, good water circulation is also a factor. But, I agree with Laith that there is more to it than just nitrates.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

*Nitrogen and Cyanobacteria/BGA*

Maybe this will help:

"Nitrogen is absolutely necessary to living organisms. But, though nitrogen makes up four-fifths of the atmosphere, it is locked away. The molecule of atmospheric dinitrogen consists of two nitrogen atoms bound together so strongly that only a few kinds of bacteria have the ability to capture the stable gas, using enzymes that are collectively called "nitrogenase." Nitrogenase molecules are huge and complex, giants among enzymes, built of two twisted and balled-up proteins, that combine and recombine to convert a molecule of N2 to two molecules of usable ammonia, NH3. Though nitrogenase enables conversion of atmospheric nitrogen so that it can be employed in life processes, it has a fatal weakness; it fails in the presence of oxygen. To protect the nitrogenase from oxygen, many nitrogen-capturing cyanobacteria have evolved special nitrogen-fixing cells encased in thickened cell walls. Certain filamentous cyanobacteria are able to fix nitrogen gas dissolved in the water within these protective calls, called "heterocysts." Consequently, we might manage to reduce nitrate to unmeasurable levels without daunting cyanobacteria."
-from http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/algae/cyano.shtml (one of my favorite sites.)

This article goes on to suggest the cyanobacteria are sensitive to their own metabolic waste products (oxygen)- thus the effectiveness of increasing water circulation, and the use of oxidizing agents like hydrogen peroxide and potassium permanganate.


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## LordSul (Mar 17, 2006)

Would, reduction of the lighting period be another way to combat BGA?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Reduction of the lighting period certainly, in my experience, reduces the chance that an algae bloom will occur. But, once we get a growth of algae I don't think reducing the lighting period will get rid of it. A complete blackout will work for some algae, but most require manually removing what is in the tank, or killing it with hydrogen peroxide or bleach. Once that is done, then a reduced lighting period should help keep it from starting up again. Right now I'm using a lighting period of only 7 to 8 hours.


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## werner (Jul 6, 2006)

I lowered my photoperiod by 1.5 hours, instead of doing a blackout (plus manual removal, lots of new plants, proper fertilization, squirts of H2O2) and have been cyanobacteria free for the last month and a half.


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## erijnal (Apr 5, 2006)

hoppy, your thoughts on the poor circulation leading to areas of low nitrates would perfectly explain why adding a small pump got rid of my BGA. Never thought about it like that lol


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

erijnal said:


> hoppy, your thoughts on the poor circulation leading to areas of low nitrates would perfectly explain why adding a small pump got rid of my BGA. Never thought about it like that lol


That was my thought only after Tom Barr advised us that lack of good circulation subjects areas of the tank to low CO2 as well as nitrates. I'm just good at retaining such advice!


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