jvision Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 BGA, being a bacteria, acts a lot like a plant - it likes all the things plants do (light, CO2, nutrients, etc.) However, it doesn't seem to grow in the presence of excess N. To properly get rid of BGA with a blackout, I would do a 50% WC, removing as much of the BGA as possible; dose your KNO3, then blackout for 4 days. After the blackout, do another 50% WC and double dose the KNO3 along with the normal addition of other ferts. Then continue on your regular fertilising schedule. IME, BGA is an indicator of low N. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 BGA, being a bacteria, acts a lot like a plant - it likes all the things plants do (light, CO2, nutrients, etc.) However, it doesn't seem to grow in the presence of excess N. To properly get rid of BGA with a blackout, I would do a 50% WC, removing as much of the BGA as possible; dose your KNO3, then blackout for 4 days. After the blackout, do another 50% WC and double dose the KNO3 along with the normal addition of other ferts. Then continue on your regular fertilising schedule. IME, BGA is an indicator of low N. Thanks Jason, I'll tell them to do this. Its weird you said BGA is a indicator of low N because the BGA showed up when they were still in the process of fishless cycling. So the water had VERY high Nitrates and it was still growing like crazy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cgy_Betta_Guy Posted April 20, 2010 Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) Was reading a while back that BGA finds oxygen to be toxic to itself which is why it tends to grow in areas of low water movement. If the tank is fishless cycling is there a chance there isnt enough gas exchange at the surface providing oxygen in the water since the plants are also not established yet? In addition to all the solutions mentioned above, could it be as easy as adding an air stone and spot treating with hydrogen peroxide after the black outs and water changes? Just throwing that out there for opinions in case I ever get a bad case of BGA. Edit: found the article I had been reading... Blue Green Algae control in freshwater aquarium Edited April 20, 2010 by Cgy_Betta_Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted April 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted April 20, 2010 (edited) If the tank is fishless cycling is there a chance there isnt enough gas exchange at the surface providing oxygen in the water since the plants are also not established yet? The tank was fishless cycling back in Jan/feb but is now finished and there has been fish in the tank since march. The plants weren't added until the beginning of Feb(end of the fishless cycle process) and thats when the BGA started as it was introduced on the plants. They are coming into town this weekend so I'll give them a powerhead to increase the circulation and see if that helps too. Edited April 20, 2010 by Vallisneria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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