* I Think It's Blue-green *

[JellyPi3]

I have two 20L acrylic tanks with a fighter in it.

Not too long ago, both were suddenly invaded with a thick green layer of slimy algae, which traps oxygen bubbles. I cleaned out both tanks, and replaced the grvel in one, and scrubbed the gravel in another.

Now, the tanks both have the algae back, even thought i scrubbed them both. However, the with the old gravel in is very bad. Its just a thick layer of slimy algae on the plants, gravel and even on the surface.

Both tanks have plants, and Otto's in them. The have light from normal bulbs, not flourescent ones, for 8 hours a day.

I have tried using the chemicals, but they seem to have no effect.

What can i do? Do you think i should just ditch the tanks and buy new?

 

[aaronnorth]

don't ditch the tanks, do a 3 day blackout, no feeding the fish or plants and no peeking, run no CO2 either.

Take a look at the algae guide in my sig for a detailed answer, 2nd one down.

 

[Saedcantas]

I recently had an ongoing battle with BGA in my heavily planted 10Gal. It was a total nightmare and manual removal was getting me absolutely nowhere as were blackouts.

I bought some Maracyn from an American supply shop on Ebay. 5 day course and hey presto gone forever, thank god!!!!!!!!!

Lotte***

 

[aaronnorth]

maracyn an kill filter bacteria though cant it? blackouts work for some, and not for others, it is the same as everything else.

 

[Rob.S]

What can i do? Do you think i should just ditch the tanks and buy new?

No, ditch the tanks, and find another hobby. OK, a bit of an over reaction. There's loads of postings on how to get rid of BGA, I hope you have more luck than me, despite throwing shed loads of cash at the problem.
Here are a few things that I've tried.......

Stuff the tank full of plants. Add Co2. Blank off the glass at substrate level (BGA just grows higher up the glass). Use EI ferts (well, at least the plants grow better). Install more powerful pump, to remove dead spots (yea, right. BGA grows directly opposite the outlet pipe of a TetraTec 1200 running at full chat). I'm now double dosing KN03, as I've read that increasing Nitrate may help.

Blackouts are the only thing that thas worked for me - it lasts for about 5 days.

 

[Saedcantas]

maracyn an kill filter bacteria though cant it? blackouts work for some, and not for others, it is the same as everything else.

There is a risk yes, so it is something to consider before going ahead with it. I personally didnt have so much as a blip on the radar throughout, no filtration troubles at all

Lotte*

 

[Wolfenrook]

BGA is usually a sign of poor tank maintenance and/or circulation. So to eradicate it you need to look to how much flow you have from your filter and whether you are doing enough water changes. Get these right and it should go away. Oh and watch for leaves at the aquarium surface, these act as nutrient traps by blocking the flow from your filter and provide a lovely starting place for BGA to grow from.

Ade

 

[KraKen]

Here's what worked for me when I had a bit of a BGA problem(although it was far smaller than yours).

Get a bunch of anacharis and let some of it rot in the tanks, this releases an antibiotic substance that helps prevent and kill BGA.

Remove as much of it as you can and regularly stir the grave to prevent it from becoming anaerobic.

put black electrical tape around the bottom of the tank to prevent light from entering the gravelfrom the sides.


I'd also suggest replacing the incandescant lights with full spectrum daylight fluorescents since, based on the color of BGA, the higher frequency light would be less usable by it and would encourage the growth of plants and beneficial algea. I did something similar to this when I had red algae and, coupled with other measures, it worked wonderfully.

Good Luck

 

[Amunet]

We had a BGA problem a while ago... it got SO bad, it completely covered most of the plant leaves and the majority of the gravel area. Just BLEH.
I cleaned out as much as I could manually... I took out plants and got as much off of their leaves as I could and replanted them.
I then did a 3 or 4 day blackout.
Lights off and a blanket over the tank.
I actually did feed my fish during the time though heh. The tank is already in a dark part of the house, so raising the blanket up still provided the tank w/ no light at all.

But after the 4 days.. the BGA was completely gone.
We ended up getting a bad case of black brush algae after that but that's a whole other thing heh

 

[aaronnorth]

Get a bunch of anacharis and let some of it rot in the tanks

rotting plants also leach ammonia and nutrients in the water - but if it works...

 

[AndyTaylor]

I had great success with Erythromycin tablets (a form of Myracin). Along with blacking out the substrate with Duck Tape and making sure that I keep up with maintenance, it seems to have wiped out my BGA with no damage to the filter bacteria.

I used about a quarter of a tablet (in a 170L ) tank. I crushed it directly into the centre of the main BGA outbreak and 2 days later.... All gone. Hasn't come back since.

Treatment on it's own is pointless though, you need to address the underlying conditions that are encouraging the BGA in the first place.

 

[Wolfenrook]

Treatment on it's own is pointless though, you need to address the underlying conditions that are encouraging the BGA in the first place.

Exactly! It is also not needed if you eradicate the causes. Up your circulation, make sure you are performing weekly water changes including cleaning any detritus from your substrate, make sure you have enough nutrients in your water (including a source of carbon) and bga will go away in time, and not come back.

Treat it with chemicals or rotting plants (ach! anathema!), and it will return and probably bring it's friends as well.

Ade