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[sandfire]

Hi, I had to share my experience with everyone.

I upgraded my lighting system in my 65 gal tank a little while ago from 60 watts to 175watts and also added some new substraight. Within hours I had Cyanobacteria (BGA) appearing in the substraight, I kept siphoning it out but it then appeared on most the plants and I could not keep up with it.

I read an old topic by George Farmer, "Algae in planted aquarium" and he recommended:

Quote:

"Treatment

There are two main methods to treating BGA. The first is a blackout. Cover the tank completely; do not let any light in at all. Wait for 3 days, no peeking or feeding the fish, then uncover, hopefully the BGA will have disappeared. I have not personally used this method but I am assured it works."

I covered the glass with black bin liners (high tech stuff ) and waited 3 days and 3 nights…

I just uncovered the tank this afternoon and BGA is completely gone, no sign of it any ware!

Fish look very well rested and the plants are fine, they seem to have continued to grow despite no light.

Thank you George Farmer!

 

[aaronc]

Hey

Glad to see the forums have helped you, they are a godsend

Well done on beating the BGA, be sure to keep an eye on it

Aaron

 

[nicklfire]

Yea glad you beat it "for the moment"

There's an evident problem in your tank which is why the BGA came about in the first place. You did a temp fix to get rid of it, but that does not mean it's not going to come back. You just starved out the algae from the light which it needs right. Just keep your eye on it, if your balance is out of wack it'll come back.

 

[BHornsey]

Looking at your post, I would say that excess light would be a contributory factor. At around 3wpg you're pushing the tank a bit.
What fert routine are you using?

 

[sandfire]

Looking at your post, I would say that excess light would be a contributory factor. At around 3wpg you're pushing the tank a bit.
What fert routine are you using?

I think the light triggered it but I have been wondering what the BGA is feeding on myself.

Water test results as of this morning:
Amm: 0ppm
Nitri: 0ppm
Nitra: less than 5ppm
Phos: 2ppm (that could be it)
Iron: 0ppm (or dear)

I have been useing eSHa Cryptoplus - Plant Growth Booster and eSHa Pro-Phyll - Plant Food and Nutrients, Sera Florena (day drops) and root tabs.

There is a limited amont on CO2 in the tank but its needs upgrading to match the new lighting.

Plants looking good very strong red pigment in some of them now and the A. Crispus is also going rather red as well. Looks nice... now.

But unless I figure out what made it appear in the first place it could come back. It appeared in the new substraight I put in and only in the new substraight to start but them went a little nuts.

 

[nry]

Is BGA not one that loves low nitrAte levels? 5ppm is low, the EI levels suggest 20-30ppm is a good aim so your levels are a fair bit off.

 

[JamesC]

The main cause of your BGA in a high light tank is low NO3. This needs to be at least 10ppm and preferably 20 to 30 ppm. Remember though that NO3 and PO4 test kits are notoriously inaccurate. Poor CO2 also doesn't help.

Unless you get your NO3 up the BGA will come back. This can be done by adding potassium nitrate - see pinned EI article.

Plants turning red is an indication of them being harmed by limiting nitrate and not high light.

James

 

[Waterloo Kid]

I had a very similar thing happen to me. I would do a 3 day blackout and the BGA would disappear. Within days it would start to return though.

I used to have 160W of lighting on 10 hours a day. I now have 80W (T8s) on for about 7 hours a day with the other 80W (T5s) on for about 4 hours every other day. On Sundays I run both sets for 12 hours to give the plants a ‘boost’. This results in very slow growth but it suits me as I don’t have too much time after looking after the kids.

The BGA has gradually faded and is now absent from the tank. I have had a slight increase in other forms of algae (thread and stag horn types) although the levels are completely manageable. My nitrate levels have always been very low (untestable mainly). I did have some success using Rowaphos to reduce my phosphate levels but I found this expensive.

Anyway, that’s my experience.

WK

 

[sandfire]

Thanks guys!

I have always aimed for low Nitrate and Phosphate in my tanks thinking it stops the algea, most of my ferts have no nitrate/phosphates in them. But can see what you mean.

I have reduced the lights so they are on for 10 hours a day...they were on from 8.00am till 11.00pm with the low light level and I did not think to reduce it after I increased the light

 

[BHornsey]

I have always aimed for low Nitrate and Phosphate in my tanks thinking it stops the algea, most of my ferts have no nitrate/phosphates in them. But can see what you mean.

That's a bit of a myth that's been going on for years. The primary cause of algae blooms is ammonia.
Plants need Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphate as the Macro ferts and a good trace mix to cover the micro ferts. They also need carbon.
Plants will take their nitrogen from ammonia if they're healthy but it's normally supplemented by Potassium Nitrate (KNO3). This also provides the Potassium. Phosphate can be dosed via Mono Potassium Phosphate (KH2PO4)
Uptake of the compounds is driven by light. More light, more need for ferts. At the light levels you have the water column is being exhausted, limiting the plants and leaving the ammonia available for the algae.
You either need to swat up on EI and start a fertiliser routine or reduce the light levels to 1 - 1½ wpg.