Blue Green Algae Outbreak

[revilo88]

Got a 48x12x18 thats been running since january. Lightly stocked with;

1 Gold gourami
9 black widow tetras
4 Ghost shrimp

filtered by rena XP2 and hydor Biowheel

change about 15 litres a week.

Stocked with quite an array of plants with a medium stocking level, DIY fermentation CO2.

I use kent marines two plant additives once a week following the recommended dosages.

Parameters;
PH 6.5
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0-5

Everything has been fine up until now, now suddenly getting a massive blue green algae outbreak.

To put it into context, this morning i gave the gravel a vacuum. This afternoon you can already see it starting to spread over the gravel again!

I dont know what to do, i know i need to act relatively quickly before it chokes my plants.


Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[RadaR]

Causes include;

Dirty gravel/sand and filters containing organic waste leaching ammonia (undetectable concentrations).
Not large enough water changes in order to get rd of the undetectable ammonia (15litres is small water change on a tank that size).
Not enough water circulation, i.e. dead spots.
Low Nitrates, (below 10ppm, try maintain 20ppm).

 

[revilo88]

Causes include;

Dirty gravel/sand and filters containing organic waste leaching ammonia (undetectable concentrations).
Not large enough water changes in order to get rd of the undetectable ammonia (15litres is small water change on a tank that size).
Not enough water circulation, i.e. dead spots.
Low Nitrates, (below 10ppm, try maintain 20ppm).

I dont think it could be the gravel, as im quite picky about giving it a good vacuum once a week.

It could be the water changes, i may try a bigger one. say 30 litres?

There is very little flow, particularly low down in the tank. This could be possibly causing it, ive put a small powerhead low down to create some more flow now.

How can i keep nitrates high and do large water changes each week? seems difficult to me.

 

[RadaR]

If your tap water has good amount of nitrate then yes do larger/more frequent water changes. Double effective there, because obviously you'll be introducing nitrogen, but also taking away the ammonia and the BGA spores.

 

[Super Dude]

i tried everything, and nothing worked. then i tried maracyn (antibiotic) being that the bga is a photosynthetic bacteria, it was wiped out entirely in 4 doses.

 

[revilo88]

i tried everything, and nothing worked. then i tried maracyn (antibiotic) being that the bga is a photosynthetic bacteria, it was wiped out entirely in 4 doses.

Do you know where i can get hold of maracyn?

 

[Super Dude]

i tried everything, and nothing worked. then i tried maracyn (antibiotic) being that the bga is a photosynthetic bacteria, it was wiped out entirely in 4 doses.

Do you know where i can get hold of maracyn?

it should be at your lfs. it is probably the most common fish medication

 

[RadaR]

It gets rid of it, however you're not addressing the underlying cause of the BGA and therefore it will come back. If the cause for your BGA is low nitrate and/or low flow then your plants aren't growing as well as they should/could be. Wouldn't you want to fix that? Undetectable levels of ammonia also cause BGA and these levels can quite easily bring on other types of algae. Another reason to treat the underlying cause, surely?

 

[Bigpig]

i tried everything, and nothing worked. then i tried maracyn (antibiotic) being that the bga is a photosynthetic bacteria, it was wiped out entirely in 4 doses.

If you live you UK you will have to go to a Vet to Get Maracynl. As Its illegal to sell antibotics over the counter.

 

[Bigpig]

It gets rid of it, however you're not addressing the underlying cause of the BGA and therefore it will come back. If the cause for your BGA is low nitrate and/or low flow then your plants aren't growing as well as they should/could be. Wouldn't you want to fix that? Undetectable levels of ammonia also cause BGA and these levels can quite easily bring on other types of algae. Another reason to treat the underlying cause, surely?

It's Extremely hard to get ride of BGA even if you have addressed the issues.

I improved flow and started to top up nitrates, Water changes, Filter and gravel kept very clean and it still kept coming back.

Couple of treatments of Maracyn and the tank has been clear of it for months now

 

[RadaR]

It gets rid of it, however you're not addressing the underlying cause of the BGA and therefore it will come back. If the cause for your BGA is low nitrate and/or low flow then your plants aren't growing as well as they should/could be. Wouldn't you want to fix that? Undetectable levels of ammonia also cause BGA and these levels can quite easily bring on other types of algae. Another reason to treat the underlying cause, surely?

It's Extremely hard to get ride of BGA even if you have addressed the issues.

If done properly and with a blackout/manual removal it's extremely effective.
Physically, Maracyn will get rid of it, but myself and others stand by that underlying causes must be treated.

 

[Bigpig]

It gets rid of it, however you're not addressing the underlying cause of the BGA and therefore it will come back. If the cause for your BGA is low nitrate and/or low flow then your plants aren't growing as well as they should/could be. Wouldn't you want to fix that? Undetectable levels of ammonia also cause BGA and these levels can quite easily bring on other types of algae. Another reason to treat the underlying cause, surely?

It's Extremely hard to get ride of BGA even if you have addressed the issues.

If done properly and with a blackout/manual removal it's extremely effective.
Physically, Maracyn will get rid of it, but myself and others stand by that underlying causes must be treated.

I did it properly with a blackout (no peeking or feeding) got a lot of advise on these forums but it still kept coming back. like I said it extremely hard to get rid of once its in the tank.

 

[revilo88]

Obviously i do want to address the underlying cause, however its spreading very rapidly and i want to be able to at least keep it at bay until i can get hold of some pottasium nitrate.

Any other ways of increasing nitrate in the tank?(apart from increasing stocking levels), as it seems i can only find potassium nitrate online

 

[loraxchick]

i had bga something horrible! i tried everything short of antibiotics and blackout to get rid of the stuff for two months to no avail. everything suggested and researched. then i did a 5 day blackout. scraped as much of it off of everything...did a HUGE 80% waterchange and blackout for 5 days. another huge water change and ive been bga free for over 2 months now. try another blackout. sometimes you need to do two in a row(or so ive read) to get rid of it. worth a try while you find the chemicals to get rid of it. also add more really fast growing plants.
all the best. bga is the WORST!

 

[RadaR]

If you tap water has reasonable amount of nitrate then do more water changes.