# I am defeated. BGA



## MantisX (Aug 25, 2004)

First let me say I'm going to break this tank down and get a new everything. EVERYTHING. I've been keeping tanks for years and never got this stuff like this. My purpose here is just to find where I might've messed up. 

This is about a month old scape. My last scape was algae free. I reused my old Eco complete. I didn't rinse it or anything when I reused it. I also stirred it up quite a bit making mounds for the rocks. My hard scape last time was wood. This time was seiryu stones. 

I've tried a full treatment of maracyn II and this stuff never even sort of died. Every time I do a water change it explodes into more right in front of my eyes. 

So, is it the stirred up eco complete or the seiryu stone? I dose 25ppm nitrogen 1ppm phosphate and 4ml trace. 2-3 bbs c02. I also noticed my plants seemed stunted. The only thing that grew well was the Hc and Christmas moss. 

Please help so my next endeavor isn't my last. 

Thanks all
MantisX


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## HBdirtbag (Jun 15, 2015)

No help, just thought i'd say i'm wearing my "keep it dirty durham" right now as I noticed your location


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## Doppelgaenger (Jul 20, 2015)

I managed to salvage my tank from the "everything is veiled in this crap". It's absolutely amazing how it can reach critical mass.

The only reason I say salvage was because I was unable to completely drain the tank. I had shrimp fry in the tank and didn't have another place to put them, so I had to leave the water in the tank plus a decent amount of biomass in the form of poo.

I took everything out of my tank. Gravel, hardscapes and plants. I boiled the gravel and steamed the driftwood and rocks. Then I washed all the plants under the faucet and put it all back together. 

The BGA came back slightly, but daily 25% water changes with lots of peroxide dosing killed it off to the point that it hasn't come back. I'm attributing it to keeping the organics out of the substrate. when i do a water change the only thing i do is vacuum the bottom


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## CannaBrain (Oct 3, 2008)

I wouldnt tear it down. Only a month old?

You want to use erythromycin, not maracyn. It WORKS. Was a thread popped up tonight also that showed dosing glut at night w/in a week totally cleared up the tank.


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## PortalMasteryRy (Oct 16, 2012)

Awww...Hydrogen peroxide will kill it. I dosed a very high amount one time without killing any fish and it was 98% gone after 24 hours. 

Be proactive with this or algae. If it shows even in the smallest amount then spot dose right away and check to see what is wrong.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

You obviously have not solved the root cause of this algae...

H2O2 or erythro might kill it off and get you ahead of the game but unless you solve the underlying problem it will just keep coming back.

If your plants are stunted then that should tell you something... stunted plants are not using all the nutrients they may otherwise use which is probably giving BGA a big advantage. Your balance of CO2 and ferts is off and your plants are seeing a deficiency somewhere.

Throwing away all your equipment is a waste of time and money... If you set everything up the same way again you are just going to get BGA again.

My guess is that you did NOT rinse your eco complete when you reused it. There's a lot of nasty crap in there that can let BGA flourish. IME BGA loves unclean tanks and if there is a lot of nasty organic matter in there it will flourish.


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## dru (Mar 9, 2013)

klibs said:


> My guess is that you did NOT rinse your eco complete when you reused it. There's a lot of nasty crap in there that can let BGA flourish. IME BGA loves unclean tanks and if there is a lot of nasty organic matter in there it will flourish.


I typically got BGA in brand new tanks/substrate when NO3 wasn't high enough. 

Remedy: Up th NO3 dosing, make sure flow is decent, and see if ramshorn snails will eat some of it


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## littlefish_ (Aug 4, 2014)

I had a terrible case, but erythromycin got rid of it (at least, as far as I can see, let's hope). You probably already know the whole thing about it being a bacteria. It seems that it comes in on plants and other materials, and once it's established, it's super hard to get rid of without erythromycin. I'm skeptical about the flow, as I had it in places that got a large amount of current and circulation and it still grew. Keep some erythromycin on hand in case it shows up, and dose quickly. Good luck!


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## Ziggy (Sep 2, 2011)

There is enough info out there now that someone could write a sizable book on aquarium BGA alone. Within the answers given are the keys you need, but to surmise...

While there is a ton of ways to attack it, from antibacterials to harsh chemicals, none of them are particularly helpful as none of them address the cause. 9 times out of 10 the answer is not enough NO3 baby. Thats right. You can change water twice a day for a week, you can have so much flow that your tank is a whirpool, you can hit it with chemicals, but until you up the N03 (or permanently turn out the lights), you are just prolonging the agony.

Stock recommendation:
-Physically removed as much as you have patience for (as in get in there with tools and a net).
-Do a substantial water change. DOSE NOTHING.
-Do a 72 hour black out. Thats BLACK out. As in black. As in if even a slight bit of light gets through the party is off. Today's black garbage bags dont cut it (they are way to thin). Be creative but BLACK IT OUT!
-Do another substantial water change and dose. Dont be shy with the NO3.

I bet you a beer you will be back in business.

I hate the (*&% as much as the next guy/gal. Maybe more. But its never cause to tear down after a month, much less "replace everything".


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

erythromicyn bro. trust me


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

dru said:


> I typically got BGA in brand new tanks/substrate when NO3 wasn't high enough.
> 
> Remedy: Up th NO3 dosing, make sure flow is decent, and see if ramshorn snails will eat some of it


+1 flow is key


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Maracyn II is tetracycline/minocycline, and will not affect BGA. You should have used Maracyn, or some more generic form of Erythromycin.

You cannot rid a tank of cyanobacteria by "cleaning" it. There will be a few spores (or more) that you will miss, and it will be right back.

Instead of starting over, get some EM and do the treatment as suggested. It will kill them.


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## ahem (Dec 27, 2014)

You may not be able to rid of tank completely of cyano by cleaning it but it certainly makes the battle much easier. It is much harder to nuke a tank like the above of its cyano than take care of one that has some pockets left after cleaning. This assumes root causes are addressed and that you start on that plan right away or the cleaning will have been wasted time.

Cyano can be one a number of different species which have different triggers for growth. The viewpoint of one thing inducing it, whether light, CO2 too low, etc... is all overly simplistic. This is an interesting study that shows two cyano species side by side, each with very different triggers that require specific levels of both PO and N.http://aem.asm.org/content/71/6/3379.full

I think for the above tank the plan should be to clean it as much as possible. If that is green water then maybe get a UV. The tank does not appear to have a lot of plant biomass in it and quite a bit of light and nutrients. I would get more plant biomass in there at least temporarily, like some cheap hornwort bunches to float to out compete the cyano both in light and nutrients. Just a thought.


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## Bine (Jul 12, 2015)

UltraLife blue green stain remover and a deep clean plus remodel worked for me.


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## Jaxfisher (Jun 2, 2013)

Cyano cannot live in the absence of light. Cover the tank with towels or sheets, ensuring no light is getting through anywhere. Wait 3 days. Uncover and it should be gone. Don't worry; the fish can survive that length of time without food.


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## trujillp090868 (May 12, 2013)

Did all of the suggested solutions for almost a year, cleaning, flow, several h2o2 nukes always came back until eritromocin ... Bga free so far about 3 months now


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## MantisX (Aug 25, 2004)

Thanks everyone for your recommendations. I have enacted most of them and did a big clean on the tank and filter.

Where are you guys getting your erythromycin from?

Thanks
MantisX


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## littlefish_ (Aug 4, 2014)

Drsfosterandsmith is an online pet store that has it. I got mine from there, search "e.m. erythromycin." Good luck!


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## MantisX (Aug 25, 2004)

Thanks guys, I did a full dose of the EM and in 24 hours, its all gone! Now to figure out the root cause and hope it doesnt come back. I lost a few plants though due to it blanketing everything so ill need to get some fast growers back in there.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

MantisX said:


> Where are you guys getting your erythromycin from?


i asked my doctor for prescription. he had a good laught tho when i told him what for it was needed


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