strayner Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 (edited) BGA problems! possibly due to lack of nitrates. Ordered some ferts online but wont get them till next week. Anyone want to provide a source of nitrate if they would also think that is the likely cause? Plenty of current in my tank, no direct sunlight. Edited August 18, 2010 by strayner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted August 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 (edited) . Edited August 18, 2010 by strayner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 While your waiting for your ferts to come, do a 4 day black out. The black out worked wonders for my BGA problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted August 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 While your waiting for your ferts to come, do a 4 day black out. The black out worked wonders for my BGA problem. What about my other plants though? And is it true bga can bloom with lack of nitrates? I see all sorts of conflicting info on the net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted August 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 I Think I am going to try jacking up the amount of Oxygen available and aim my powerhead directly at the patch that's growing, and spot treat with H202 (hydrogen peroxide). Right now the amount is verrryyy limited and only a faint film is evident on my sand. Hopefully if I hit it hard and fast it will disappear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Your other plants will be fine. Do a big water change and suck out as much BGA as you can. Then cover the tank completely(I used garbage bags) for 4 days. Then remove them on the 4th day and do another big water change. Your BGA should be gone after that and you can start preventative measures(Adding nitrates, increasing co2, adding flow etc). I had a big BGA issue in july. I went on vacation for 2 weeks and my small BGA spot turned into a giant plague that covered all my java fern. I did the black out and resumed my fert schedule/fixed my Co2 cannister and the BGA is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted August 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Before I do a complete blackout i'd like to see if i can limit it's growth or stop it before it gets serious. Going to do a big WC (excess phosphates?), test for nitrates (probably close to 0 ppm), increase o2. If all else fails, I am house sitting for someone next week so it would be an ok time to do a blackout. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vince0 Posted August 18, 2010 Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 Before I do a complete blackout i'd like to see if i can limit it's growth or stop it before it gets serious. Going to do a big WC (excess phosphates?), test for nitrates (probably close to 0 ppm), increase o2. If all else fails, I am house sitting for someone next week so it would be an ok time to do a blackout. i also had blue green algea, and when i did a bit of research, found that it was cause by excess decaying matter. Quick answer, trim off any plants that have it on their leaves, scrub it off any wood/stones/decor that has it, and do a 50% wc every second day removing as much detritus as possible. this methord got rid of the BGA in my high tech planted tank in 1 week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted August 18, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 18, 2010 5 ppm nitrates currently Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strayner Posted August 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted August 20, 2010 Was able to stop it without needing to take any drastic measures! yeay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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