# BGA Is Ticking Me Off!



## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

I am having some problems with BGA. How do i get rid of this disease? Every week i do 50% WC and i scrap all of it off and it comes back just in time for my next scraping. I have read that BGA can be the cause of low nitrates. I tested my nitrated and they were around 20ppm right before a water change.

Tank Specs

37 gallon
eheim 2217 
pressurized co2 at 4bps.
I run 2 T5 HO for 6 hrs and 4 bulbs for midday burst. Lights are 2' from substrate. 
Dosing EI

Monday Wednesday Friday KNO3 1/4 TSP 1/16 KH2PO4
Tuesday Thursday CMS+B and EDTA 13% Iron 4:1 Ratio 1/16 tsp
Saturday- 50% WC

Plants: Jungle vals, blyxa japonica, and UG. This stuff seems to bother only my UG and Blyxa japonica and my front and left side glass panel.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

Look on the bottom of the front glass panel and you will see the Algae. It gets twice as worse before i scrap it off.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

A little hard to see in the image, but I think I can make out the BGA.

Your nitrate level is good, provided your test kit is calibrated and reading accurately). Are you using a drop checker to see how much CO2 you actually have in your aquarium? 

BGA may also start to form if you have little water movement. You can try to direct some water movement towards the BGA, to see if it will help improve your situation.


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## littlefish (Aug 6, 2010)

A blackout is the best method for this. Clean out as much of the algae as you can and do a 30 to 50% water change. If your nitrates are low then add some potassium nitrate to get levels to 20ppm. Remove CO2 and add an airstone. Turn off lights and cover the whole tank so no light can enter. Leave it for 3 to 4 days. No peeking and no feeding - fish will be fine without food for this period. After 3 to 4 days remove the covers and do a 30 - 50% water change. Remove airstone and start CO2. You will need to dose nitrates to keep them dropping too low again. Make sure your substrate and filter doesn't become too clogged up with mulm and also make sure you have good water circulation around the whole tank.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

i have good flow with 250 gph on a 37 gallon. The spraybar is pointed at the the UG and the Ug is always swaving in the water so thats not the problem. Do any fish/snails eat this algae?


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## Sharkfood (May 2, 2010)

Most BGA is toxic from what I understand, so few critters eat it.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

so my only option is to do a black out? This tank has been only up 3-4 weeks.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

this stuff worked really well for me.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/217588/product.web?gdftrk=gdfV2226_a_7c268_a_7c713_a_7c217588

i don't know why more folks don't use it.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

oldpunk78 said:


> this stuff worked really well for me.
> 
> http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/prod/217588/product.web?gdftrk=gdfV2226_a_7c268_a_7c713_a_7c217588
> 
> i don't know why more folks don't use it.



Did your algae come back? I dont want to get rid of it for just 2 weeks , i want it gone period!


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

The product that was linked probably contains erythromycin, which is known to kill off BGA. 

It will work, but if you do not address the underlying cause that started the BGA in the first place, you may find that it comes back.


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## dmagerl (Feb 2, 2010)

No, it does not contain erythromycin. I used it and the BGA never did come back.


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

dmagerl said:


> No, it does not contain erythromycin. I used it and the BGA never did come back.


Intriguing. What is the active ingredient in that product then? It is not listed on the website you linked.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

The MSDS for the product indicates "natural organic products".

BTW, when I used to get BGA it was because I needed to dose more nitrate and/or needed to do more and/or deeper water changes.


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## scottward (Mar 14, 2008)

1. Do a 4 day blackout
2. Run only 2 tubes (reduce light!)
3. Keep your NO3 level up


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

This is my dosing schedule:

Monday Wednesday Friday KNO3 1/4 TSP 1/16 KH2PO4
Tuesday Thursday CMS+B and EDTA 13% Iron 4:1 Ratio 1/16 tsp
Saturday- 50% WC

What if i dosed kno3 Tuesday and Friday 1/4 tsp? I could also dose kno3 Saturday after a water change and Sunday also. What would be better? Thanks for all of the replys.


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## ReefkprZ (Aug 21, 2010)

dmagerl said:


> No, it does not contain erythromycin..


 there is no way for you to state that with any confidence. just because you dont think it is doesn't mean it isnt.

the manufacturer of Ultra life has refused to list the ingredients calling it a "trade secret" It is most likley some sort of antibiotic or combination with. it has been a debated subject for a long time in the reef world. 

some say that the Ultra lifes main ingredients may actually be concentrated cyan pepper but that doens't mean there is no eurythromycin. 
Since the manufacturer refuses to list the ingredients there is no real way to know.


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## ReefkprZ (Aug 21, 2010)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> The MSDS for the product indicates "natural organic products".
> 
> .


technicly eurythromycin is organic, as long as they use organic extraction methods. if you google around I am sure you can find a springer link article listing the methods for organic exctration of eurythromycin.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi VadimShevchuk,

Don't forget if you raise your KNO3 dosing, you need to raise the rest of your Macros and Micros as well to keep everything in balance.

Have you tested your tank for the nitrate level?

If it were me, I would probably continue your schedule and dose everything +25% for a week or two and see what happens. If you could do a second water change mid-week (Wed before dosing Macros) it would probably be more effective.


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## oldpunk78 (Nov 1, 2008)

Darkblade48 said:


> The product that was linked probably contains erythromycin, which is known to kill off BGA.
> 
> It will work, but if you do not address the underlying cause that started the BGA in the first place, you may find that it comes back.


agreed, low flow and low kno3 were the causes for me. 


VadimShevchuk said:


> Did your algae come back? I dont want to get rid of it for just 2 weeks , i want it gone period!


Nope, never did.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

I will increase to dosing 1/3 of kno3 and a little bit of everything else. Hopefully it goes away.


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

Increase your KNo3 and it will be history after 2 weeks or so considering your tank is still not fully cycled....or try to find "NAJAS RORAIMA"..this Sp. is a good sucker!!!


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

Joraan said:


> Increase your PO4 and it will be history after 2 weeks or so considering your tank is still not fully cycled....or try to find "NAJAS RORAIMA"..this Sp. is a good sucker!!!


I don't think anything will eat cynobacteria-it IS toxic and that's a fact. There is even a study that links it to Lou Gehrig's Disease. Personally I have found that using Maracyn (which contains erythromycin) to eradicate it THEN increasing water flow in ALL parts of the tank, adding more nitrate and phosphate in my dosing schedule, increasing CO2, lowering light levels AND stepping up the house cleaning such as removing decaying plant matter, excess mulm, making sure that there is good flow through the bio media ect ect made it go away for good.


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## JoraaÑ (Jun 29, 2009)

MarkMc said:


> I don't think anything will eat cynobacteria-


Where did you get an idea of anything eating CB? Are you aware of the SP. what I posted earlier??? I doubt???


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

Joraan said:


> Where did you get an idea of anything eating CB? Are you aware of the SP. what I posted earlier??? I doubt???


The original poster has a problem with BGA aka Blue Green Algae which is in fact not an algae but cynobacteria. Word.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

I will not be adding more flow as i have enough right now.(eheim 2217 on a 30" tank) My plants are whirling around due to high flow. I have started to add more KNO3 and i should be getting some more stem plants to add to the tank and hopefully that will help with the algae. If my Ug starts to die then i will switch over to DHG. The UG is just sitting there and not growing but now dieing.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Try to simply reduce the organic load in your tank. Not to say KNO3 dosing might not do the trick, but at the same time, increase water changes, reduce feeding, add organic absorbing media to filter (yes even Carbon). As you pointed out you should have plenty of flow with 2217 on a 30g. For me BGA and all the other algaes get their start from the organic load simply being too much for your tanks specs.


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## stagger (Apr 5, 2006)

I think dosing your macros the same day right after the 50% WC is what most people do. Not sure if waiting the 2 extra days to dose (Mon) could cause your Algea but worth a try. Also try dosing Excel many people have stated it helped reduce or eliminate algae for them


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

I can't dose excel due to having vals which are sensitive to it. I am really thinking of trying the H2O2 treatment. Is this safe to do with fish in the tank? How much can i dose it in a 37 gallon tank? I will also clean the canister filter on Saturday. I hope this wil save my UG because this Algae is really getting me mad. Maybe i am dosing to much off KH2PO4. Ill cut back on dosing kh2po4 and ill look into cleaning the filter and h2o2 method.


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## VadimShevchuk (Sep 19, 2009)

I can't stand the algae anymore. usually i would change the water on saturday but im gonna do 50% and dose the tank with H2o2. I just tested my water and my nitrates are at 30ppm. Algae is still growing...... How much H202 do i dose?


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## MarkMc (Apr 27, 2007)

In your first post you said that you have blue green algae. Do you in fact have BGA? If you do the only way to get rid of it _quickly_ is with erythromycin or a black out. Then you need to take care of the reason you have it so it doesn't come back. I was not aware that Excel or H2O2 will kill it. That treatment is used for BBA (bearded brush algae). One method that works pretty darn well to rid all forms of algae is to lower the lighting, increase CO2 distribution and keeping levels of non-limiting fertilizers (aka having more in the tank than you need). It takes patience and most folks don't like the idea of using less light so it's pretty much ignored. I've had every algae imaginable in my aquarium and that is how I got rid of it once and for all.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Jun 15, 2008)

Hi VadimShevchuk,



VadimShevchuk said:


> I can't stand the algae anymore. usually i would change the water on saturday but im gonna do 50% and dose the tank with H2o2. I just tested my water and my nitrates are at 30ppm. Algae is still growing...... How much H202 do i dose?



*Second post down!*


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