# BGA Explosion



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Start this slowly.
What size tank is this in measurements ? It looks like you have a very low amount of plants for that much light.


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## Okedokey (Sep 2, 2014)

So you changed the filtre? It sounds like you've initiated a mini-cycle that may be still going? Water specs?

May also be cross-contamination from one tank to the other.


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## greaser84 (Feb 2, 2014)

You need to either dose erythromycin (recommended) or do a blackout for 3-5 days to get rid of the bga. BGA is a bacteria caused by low nitrates, dead spots in the aquarium and waste build up. Make sure there are nitrates in the water, add a powerhead or two too eliminate dead spots, do lots of water changes/cleanings and dose erythromycin. You probably accidentally transferred it from one tank to another via cleaning equipment, plants or sticking your hands in the tanks without washing them first.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

greaser84 said:


> You need to either dose erythromycin (recommended) or do a blackout for 3-5 days to get rid of the bga. BGA is a bacteria caused by low nitrates, dead spots in the aquarium and waste build up. Make sure there are nitrates in the water, add a powerhead or two too eliminate dead spots, do lots of water changes/cleanings and dose erythromycin. You probably accidentally transferred it from one tank to another via cleaning equipment, plants or sticking your hands in the tanks without washing them first.


+1

I get BGA when I'm lazy and my tank gets too dirty. If you have an unmanageable amount of it then treat with erythro. IMO spot treating after killing flow is the way to go.

Personally I got rid of it by being diligent in removing it, giving my tank a good pruning, doing a 2 day blackout, and doing many water changes over the course of a week. Also make sure your filter is clean.

Also make sure you have good flow throughout the tank - BGA loves dead spots.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

Looking at the pictures, my immediate thought was low oxygen caused by insufficient plant growth or aeration. If the plants weren't growing well, especially considering how much light there is (four T5HO is a lot of light for how little plants there are), then that can cause a lot of issues such as BGA. You can aerate 24/7 to see if that reduces it.

I'm against using erythromycin due to possibility of antibiotic resistance. Many bacteria are already resistant to many classes of antibiotics and can no longer be treated. A cheaper and easier alternative is to use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to both spot treat and to dose the entire tank.

Bump:


klibs said:


> Also make sure you have good flow throughout the tank - BGA loves dead spots.


This is not true! I had plenty of flow directly going over the sand and BGA was growing on it. Further, I've had BGA growing on plants in heavy flow. Thus, BGA appears to be independent of flow.


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## foster (Sep 23, 2012)

I just successfully treat BGA with Glute. The dosage was 1/2 cup per day added to my 40 gal. breeder tank. This dosage is probably to high for fish, but you could try dosing less every day. It took 5 days to eradicate it from the tank. I have a lot of flow in my tanks also, and it still formed. I discovered that a higher phosphate level may contribute to the outbreak of BGA(cyno)


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

foster said:


> I discovered that a higher phosphate level may contribute to the outbreak of BGA(cyno)


I doubt that having high phosphate contributes to BGA. It appears to be independent of PO4- levels.


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## g4search (Aug 10, 2014)

xxshabsxx,

from what I can see in the pictures, this is NOT BGA (cyanobacteria). It is a true algae, so you will have to use glutaraldehyde, or H2O2, or both. Erythromycin however, will not work here.


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## Solcielo lawrencia (Dec 30, 2013)

g4search said:


> xxshabsxx,
> 
> from what I can see in the pictures, this is NOT BGA (cyanobacteria). It is a true algae, so you will have to use glutaraldehyde, or H2O2, or both. Erythromycin however, will not work here.


I think you might be right. I can't tell if it is BGA in any of the pictures. If it isn't, then it's a micronutrient deficiency.


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## xxshabsxx (Jun 19, 2012)

Raymond S. said:


> Start this slowly.
> What size tank is this in measurements ? It looks like you have a very low amount of plants for that much light.


It's 350L, which is approximately 90*60*60.

Yeah I might need some more plants, just worried about introducing plants in a troubled tank.



Okedokey said:


> So you changed the filtre? It sounds like you've initiated a mini-cycle that may be still going? Water specs?
> 
> May also be cross-contamination from one tank to the other.


Yes, cross contamination worried me, as I've never had an issue before. What do you mean by mini-cycle?



greaser84 said:


> You need to either dose erythromycin (recommended) or do a blackout for 3-5 days to get rid of the bga. BGA is a bacteria caused by low nitrates, dead spots in the aquarium and waste build up. Make sure there are nitrates in the water, add a powerhead or two too eliminate dead spots, do lots of water changes/cleanings and dose erythromycin. You probably accidentally transferred it from one tank to another via cleaning equipment, plants or sticking your hands in the tanks without washing them first.


Cant get Erythromycin in Australia, I've tried where I live and the aquariums are no longer allowed to stock it, and the vets that do stock it, do not allow it for the tanks. I dose it with synthesis, which is a nitrate source. The flow from the filter surely should be enough, as there is plenty of flow throughout the tank.



klibs said:


> +1
> 
> I get BGA when I'm lazy and my tank gets too dirty. If you have an unmanageable amount of it then treat with erythro. IMO spot treating after killing flow is the way to go.
> 
> ...


Was thinking of doing what you said, and removing all of it as much as I can, even if I lose some substrate in the process, clean all glass, do a massive water change, dose some nitrates and then do a blackout for several days. Wonder if that would work.



Solcielo lawrencia said:


> Looking at the pictures, my immediate thought was low oxygen caused by insufficient plant growth or aeration. If the plants weren't growing well, especially considering how much light there is (four T5HO is a lot of light for how little plants there are), then that can cause a lot of issues such as BGA. You can aerate 24/7 to see if that reduces it.
> 
> I'm against using erythromycin due to possibility of antibiotic resistance. Many bacteria are already resistant to many classes of antibiotics and can no longer be treated. A cheaper and easier alternative is to use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to both spot treat and to dose the entire tank.
> 
> ...


Yes, the plants havent been growing well of late. Could that be what you said, with bad aeration? I have heard that having too much oxygen in the tank can deplete the dissolved CO2 levels, and thus make it worse. And with the peroxide, I used that in my small tank to eraticate it completely. I don't want to dose the whole tank in case it kills the fish, perhaps maybe spot treating with a syringe. Would you recommend 3 or 6%?




foster said:


> I just successfully treat BGA with Glute. The dosage was 1/2 cup per day added to my 40 gal. breeder tank. This dosage is probably to high for fish, but you could try dosing less every day. It took 5 days to eradicate it from the tank. I have a lot of flow in my tanks also, and it still formed. I discovered that a higher phosphate level may contribute to the outbreak of BGA(cyno)


Glute, what's what? I haven't heard of it.

And as the the phosphates, I dose the tank with aqua-vittro Activate which is a phosphate source. But I didn't think it was due to phosphates, and only due to bad nitrate levels.



g4search said:


> xxshabsxx,
> 
> from what I can see in the pictures, this is NOT BGA (cyanobacteria). It is a true algae, so you will have to use glutaraldehyde, or H2O2, or both. Erythromycin however, will not work here.


Definitely BGA in the tank, there is some BBA on the leaves, but the rest if detinitely BGA.

Thanks for all the replies, and sorry for a late reply, I've been busy of late.

So what I gathered from this;


Manually remove all the BGA from leaves/substrate
Clean glass veyr well
Do a large water change
Blackout for 2-3 days, doing constatn water changes
Dose nitrates if needed in the blackout period
Once back from blackout, lower the photoperiod, and add more plants (faster growing ones)

Anything else that's recommended?


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

You might have green dust algae as well as bga.

I have both those algaes and its a pain. My co2 is in check, my nutrients in check. Yet I still have these algaes. The bga is underneath my filter output and under high light. There are dead areas in the other parts of my tank but since theres not alot of light there, there is no bga. Ive heard green dust might be contributed to by high light as well, so Im lifting my light fixtures farther away and seeing if that has an effect. My tank glass also gets covered in a few days.

I used erythro but its useless if you dont get to the root of the problem, gsa will grow right back.


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## xxshabsxx (Jun 19, 2012)

samee said:


> You might have green dust algae as well as bga.
> 
> I have both those algaes and its a pain. My co2 is in check, my nutrients in check. Yet I still have these algaes. The bga is underneath my filter output and under high light. There are dead areas in the other parts of my tank but since theres not alot of light there, there is no bga. Ive heard green dust might be contributed to by high light as well, so Im lifting my light fixtures farther away and seeing if that has an effect. My tank glass also gets covered in a few days.
> 
> I used erythro but its useless if you dont get to the root of the problem, gsa will grow right back.


Yeah there is also dust algae on some of the leaves and glass.

I just did a manual removal of some of the substrate with about 95% of the BGA on it. The substrate has since been cleaned, with the BGA that was siphoned being removed, and is now sitting outside in the sun killing all bacteria.

I've also cleaned the glass completely and got rid of as much of the stuff off the leaves as possible. 

Also did a 40% water change, dosed with some nitrates, added a powerhead to the tank, and the lights are now off.

And I guess, we now wait!


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## ylot77 (Feb 11, 2008)

I'm about ready to transfer my fish to another temporary tank while I do a blackout and hydrogen peroxide treatment. We'll see if it works...


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## Ziggy (Sep 2, 2011)

ylot77 said:


> I'm about ready to transfer my fish to another temporary tank while I do a blackout and hydrogen peroxide treatment. We'll see if it works...


If you have the luxury of another tank thats fantastic, but for the benefit of others following this thread, its not absolutely necessary. As long as you do a significant water change at the start of the black out, and another a the end, and have good flow and surface agitation, fish are more than ok with it.


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## ylot77 (Feb 11, 2008)

Yes, it isn't necessary, but it is nice to be able to do. Then you can just dose the crap outta that BGA. The plants seem to like it too.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

Solcielo lawrencia said:


> Looking at the pictures, my immediate thought was low oxygen caused by insufficient plant growth or aeration. If the plants weren't growing well, especially considering how much light there is (four T5HO is a lot of light for how little plants there are), then that can cause a lot of issues such as BGA. You can aerate 24/7 to see if that reduces it.
> 
> I'm against using erythromycin due to possibility of antibiotic resistance. Many bacteria are already resistant to many classes of antibiotics and can no longer be treated. A cheaper and easier alternative is to use hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to both spot treat and to dose the entire tank.
> 
> ...


Interesting!

In my tank before I adjusted flow it would appear in corners that weren't getting hit with flow far more than anywhere else (behind / next to spraybars and such). Maybe I'm wrong in making the correlation! Who knows.

It would start in the low flow places / most dirty (under some of the less-happy plants that used to get poor flow) but after it got established in those area it appeared wherever it wanted.


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## xxshabsxx (Jun 19, 2012)

Alright. Well I just got back from my 4 day holiday, each of those days the tank had its light off.

Have seen almost 0 grown of algae in the tank, the glass had a tiny amount on it, but that could just be remnants of dust beforehand. No BGA has grown.

Just did another 40% water change, dosed some nitrates etc... and cleaned the glass. Also orded around $100 worth of plants to bring up the levels in the tank, in case the excess nutrients in water column were causing the BGA/dust algae to bloom.

Photoperiod of now around 7 hours instead of the previous 11 (turns out it was 11 and not 10 as I said before).

Also since resetting up my small tank (a week almost ago) I've had 0 growth of anything, and hopefully the lack of light in the tank (since no plants yet) means that any algae left would have suffocated itself.

Anything else I should do?


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