Algae Issues

[lljdma06]

As someone who has fought BGA for months and months and months before getting rid of it (no offence to Liz and Ian, but they haven't), let me say this.

1, Blackouts won't work on their own on a heavy outbreak. Trust me. I tried it. I tried it repeatedly. I did little ones. I did week long ones. I did two 4 day ones with a water change inbetween. They did not work on their own. If your outbreak is as heavy as you claim, then it's unlikely you will be able to beat it with blackouts alone.

2. Dosing EI helps. BGA is more likely to get a hold in a tank with low nitrate because it can fix it's own nitrogen so when other plants are struggling with low nitrates BGA can still flourish. Obviously having higher plants helps as well.

3. Circulation, circulation, circulation. You need flow. And lots of it. I used a spray bar. It worked wonders. To the point where after I took it out, a small amount of BGA returned, but it never got out of control again.

4. I never tried abx. We can't get them in the UK for tanks. So I've no experience with them. However, I am a great believer in not using meds if you don't have to. So my personal preference would be to try everything else first, and then only use abx as a last resort. I would actually buy a whole new tank and transfer the fish into that before buying abx.

Is it both tanks or just one? Could you, for example, put all the fry in with their parents, remove everything from the other tank, scrub decor with a bleach solution and replace the substrate, then put all the fish in that tank and do the same with the other?

Honestly not offended. And I reiterate, a lot of people don't by into the flow theory, but as someone who never seems to get BGA, I can say that the biggest common denominator in all of my systems has been copious amounts of flow. I agree with Caz, don't do the meds until as a last resort.

L

 

[ian]

Thats fair enough, if you lived closer i'd send you some N03. Good luck with it Krib, it is the hardest algae to battle. Just remember to manually remove what you can.

 

[kribensis12]

As someone who has fought BGA for months and months and months before getting rid of it (no offence to Liz and Ian, but they haven't), let me say this.

1, Blackouts won't work on their own on a heavy outbreak. Trust me. I tried it. I tried it repeatedly. I did little ones. I did week long ones. I did two 4 day ones with a water change inbetween. They did not work on their own. If your outbreak is as heavy as you claim, then it's unlikely you will be able to beat it with blackouts alone.

2. Dosing EI helps. BGA is more likely to get a hold in a tank with low nitrate because it can fix it's own nitrogen so when other plants are struggling with low nitrates BGA can still flourish. Obviously having higher plants helps as well.

3. Circulation, circulation, circulation. You need flow. And lots of it. I used a spray bar. It worked wonders. To the point where after I took it out, a small amount of BGA returned, but it never got out of control again.

4. I never tried abx. We can't get them in the UK for tanks. So I've no experience with them. However, I am a great believer in not using meds if you don't have to. So my personal preference would be to try everything else first, and then only use abx as a last resort. I would actually buy a whole new tank and transfer the fish into that before buying abx.

Is it both tanks or just one? Could you, for example, put all the fry in with their parents, remove everything from the other tank, scrub decor with a bleach solution and replace the substrate, then put all the fish in that tank and do the same with the other?

My outbreak it bad =( It's in both tanks. I am going to be gone from my tank from this friday until the 18th so it will be another black-out for that time. I'm praying that the super-extended black out will do it. If it doesn't, I will try to increase flow. There is an issue here. I have cheapo walmart filters and I'm running two tanks on a powerstrip and don't have room for another plug-in unless I somehow get power from somewhere else. My roomate and I both run a lot of electronics and there is enough power strain that when we plug in a vacum, the white xmas lights that run around the room get dim. So I can't exactly add an air pump. I might have to look into buying some aquaclear filters (my favorite). I don't like the idea of dosing with medicines, but if it comes down to it, I will do so. This is when I wish tea tree oil would do the trick. It works wonders with other bacteria. The only thing about this BGA that I've noticed is that it doesn't smell. That seems to be a popular theme on websites.

lljdma06: Hmm. Interesting. Maybe it's the florescent lights I have?

Side note on me killing plants:

A highschool bio teacher had a 1.5 gallon tank sitting in his greenhouse in the shade running with a little filter. It was completely filled with aquatic plants. he used no light for them, did not feed them any nitrates or fertilizers, no fish in there, and they grew like weeds. He gave me some. Maybe it was the transition to a lit tank, but they ALL died.

 

[lljdma06]

My outbreak it bad =( It's in both tanks. I am going to be gone from my tank from this friday until the 18th so it will be another black-out for that time. I'm praying that the super-extended black out will do it. If it doesn't, I will try to increase flow. There is an issue here. I have cheapo walmart filters and I'm running two tanks on a powerstrip and don't have room for another plug-in unless I somehow get power from somewhere else. My roomate and I both run a lot of electronics and there is enough power strain that when we plug in a vacum, the white xmas lights that run around the room get dim. So I can't exactly add an air pump. I might have to look into buying some aquaclear filters (my favorite). I don't like the idea of dosing with medicines, but if it comes down to it, I will do so. This is when I wish tea tree oil would do the trick. It works wonders with other bacteria. The only thing about this BGA that I've noticed is that it doesn't smell. That seems to be a popular theme on websites.

Rio brand power heads have a decent flow and they are stupid cheap. I've used them for anything from my planted tanks, saltwater tanks and to agitate saltwater after I mix it. Aqueon also makes a new power head that really boasts some serious flow and is much cheaper than the Koralias. Ever think about removing the Xmas lights? I mean, it is, after all, March? Some BGA smell, some don't cause guess what? There are strains of BGA! Wooooooo

lljdma06: Hmm. Interesting. Maybe it's the florescent lights I have?

Well? What lights have ya got? I've grown plants in Miami with stock lighting, they grew slow, but they stayed alive. Crypts, vallis, sags all love hard water.

Side note on me killing plants:

A highschool bio teacher had a 1.5 gallon tank sitting in his greenhouse in the shade running with a little filter. It was completely filled with aquatic plants. he used no light for them, did not feed them any nitrates or fertilizers, no fish in there, and they grew like weeds. He gave me some. Maybe it was the transition to a lit tank, but they ALL died.

More than likely what ended up killing them was indeed a change in hardness. In the closed container, as the plants soaked up the minerals, I imagine it got pretty soft in there. Could also have been the lighting switch. A bunch of factors. If they were stemplants this makes more sense. You'll do better to stick with rosette type plants if you've got hard water. I'm stubborn, I've grow plants well in some pretty tough water conditions, I refuse to believe that people can't grow plants. Gotta be something you're missing. I'm not special, I have no amazing "green thumb" skills.

L

 

[kribensis12]

I have a terrestrial green thumb, just not an aquatic one!
The christmas lights are more for decoration, they give the room a glow. But if I end up getting some power heads of just new filters I will unplug them. I couldn't tell you what lights I have currently, only that they came with the 10g tanks in a kit from walmart (not good ones I guess).

 

[lljdma06]

I have a terrestrial green thumb, just not an aquatic one!
The christmas lights are more for decoration, they give the room a glow. But if I end up getting some power heads of just new filters I will unplug them. I couldn't tell you what lights I have currently, only that they came with the 10g tanks in a kit from walmart (not good ones I guess).

Florescent?

 

[kribensis12]

Yep.

 

[lljdma06]

Yep.

If its a standard t8 tube, them it's 15w I think. I've had tanks with that before.

 

[kribensis12]

Interesting. I might try that after I get back from break.

 

[Million]

There is a Erythromycin product I can buy here:
http/www.amazon.com/Seachem-606-ParaGuard-250ml/dp/B0002A5X7I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330897243&sr=8-2

I may be missing it, but where does it say it contains erythromycin? I'm lucky that I can prescribe erythromycin myself, had a BGA outbreak before

 

[kribensis12]

There is a Erythromycin product I can buy here:
http/www.amazon.com/Seachem-606-ParaGuard-250ml/dp/B0002A5X7I/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1330897243&sr=8-2

I may be missing it, but where does it say it contains erythromycin? I'm lucky that I can prescribe erythromycin myself, had a BGA outbreak before

When I did a google and amazon.com search for "fish erythromycin medicine" that was the first to pop up..

 

[DrRob]

No erythromycin in that one mate.

It's often sold in the states as Maracyn.

 

[kribensis12]

So, I am STILL having issues. I decided to pick up some Maracyn because I haven't been able to beat the BGA. I did a big water change and eliminated almost all signs of the algae. I bought the maracyn 2 days after that (the BGA had already started its quest for world domination) and the recommended dosage was 1 packet for 10 gallons. I've seen countless sites that have said dose only half. I dosed full anyway. Well, last night was the third night in a row that I've added the Maracyn and it still has showed NO SIGNS of disappearing. It hasn't spread anymore, but it hasn't died. I only have another dosage to last for tonight and that's it. I've heard that it normally goes away after 2 days. The filter pads in both tanks DO contain charcoal BUT they are several months old and what little amount of charcoal is in them will not be able to absorb anymore. What's going on? I don't really have enough $ to dose the tank again and I'm very hesitant to use meds anyway.

 

[SO19Firearms]

I've not read all the thread
How did the waterchange, Potassium Nitrate, airstone, 4day blackout, water change work out for you?

 

[kribensis12]

I can't effectively get ahold of and dose with potassium nitrate because I am in college. I have tried MANY water changes, airstones, longer than 4 day black outs ect. Nothing has worked yet.