jesp Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Hey all, I haven't been on in a while, but I have a big question. I am upgrading my planted tank to a nice 50 gallon from my 30 gallon. The problem is that in the past little while I have had big struggles with cyanobacteria and I do not want to transfer the problem to the new tank! How can I move plants/fish to the new tank without bringing along the blue-green curse? Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted June 16, 2010 Report Share Posted June 16, 2010 Have you tried any treatments for the cyanobacteria? I had a bit in my 58g planted tank and a black out for 4 days took care of it. As for transfering plants you could try doing a bleach dip. I"ve used the bleach dip when I had cyanobacteria and it worked, the cyan. didn't transfer over to the new tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesp Posted June 17, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 So I imagine you rinsed them off with tap water and got off anything then dipped them in a 10% solution for a second? Are there any tips for fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted June 17, 2010 Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 When I did the bleach dip I washed off as much of the cyanobacteria as I could then dipped them in a bleach solution for about a minute or so. I didn't really measure the bleach amount. I used a ice cream pail of water and then added a few splashes of bleach. I have read a few places that recommend a 1:20 ratio when doing bleach dips for algae but i've never bothered measuring that closely when I do it. I"ve bleach dipped a few different plants(vals, sag,Crypt wendtii,java fern, swords) on different occasions and they all did fine. I have had a some of the other species of crypts that didn't take the dip well and melted aftewards, but the Wendtii has been fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evolution Posted June 17, 2010 Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 Ugh! Cyano can be nasty. When I struggled with about 12 years ago I used a terrible method to quick fix it, but it only lasted for a few weeks and it returned. Man I was dumb back then. I used 4 - 250mg EM tabs per 40 gallons of water. Later I discovered that my tanks had a very high phosphate content (from the fish food i used) and 2 year old aqua glos, which apparently at the time was causing the cyano to flurish. I switched foods and changed the bulbs and the problem went away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted June 17, 2010 Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 I"d also recommend doing a total black out for 4 days. Do a water change and remove as much of the BGA, then cover the tank completely(I used garbage bags) for 4 days. Then after the black out do another big water change and remove as much of the dead BGA as possible. I did this on my tank and the BGA was killed off. Then do the bleach dip thing if you are still worried about transferring it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted June 17, 2010 Report Share Posted June 17, 2010 What Val said... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted June 18, 2010 Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 How can I move plants/fish to the new tank without bringing along the blue-green curse? How did it get in there to begin with ? Here is a fresh take; to answer the question specificly - you cannot. We are talking about microscopic bacteria. "Ya' gotta catch 'em all !! " these are not pokemons. You could start with a sterile tank and still have BGA. Aviod the conditions within which BGA grows. Increase circulation Increase nitrate Increase waterchange / gravel vacc frequency PS,. Ameca spendens will eat BGA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burbot Posted June 22, 2010 Report Share Posted June 22, 2010 A product out there called Chemiclean Red Slime Remover, it is directed at salt tanks but it works well for freash water tanks too. It does not affect the fish or plants and kills all the BGA in a few days. If the main cause of the BGA is not dealt with by water changes, gravel cleaning, reducing tank load, etc. it will return in several weeks. Cheers :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.