# BGA keeps coming back! :(



## Stone454 (Jun 1, 2013)

points to the stickys, most likely low nitrates it's amazing what you can learn if you read the stickys


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## MiSo (Oct 26, 2005)

Get rid of it with anti biotics. Maybe the blackouts haven't gotten rid of all of it so it bounces back.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Maracyn will take it out!


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## ngrubich (Nov 29, 2011)

I agree with the antibiotic, but Maracyn doesn't always work. I had a problem with it not too long ago and just threw in several stems of camboba and the BGA went away within a week, so that's something else to consider.


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

Is it back as in blanketing the tank overnight or back as in there is a corner it lurks in and you are concerned?

If it is covering the tank then you haven't figured out what the problem is yet. If it is just lurking then perhaps you need to vacuum out that corner to remove organic matter and point some water flow over the area.


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## Dannyul (Jun 3, 2013)

Kathyy said:


> Is it back as in blanketing the tank overnight or back as in there is a corner it lurks in and you are concerned?
> 
> If it is covering the tank then you haven't figured out what the problem is yet. If it is just lurking then perhaps you need to vacuum out that corner to remove organic matter and point some water flow over the area.


It's not blanketing the tank, it's in certain areas - one patch is on a plant which is has nearly covered and another bit is on the substrate quite close to that plant. 

Maybe I need to add additional flow and *test for nitrate?*


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Add flow, clean your tank, do water changes every three days or as much as you can. I have bga, diatoms and gsa, they are very annoying. I get them on some of my plants, in light and low light and in high and low flow areas. Im dosing more PO4 which has helped reduce a bit but Im trying to keep my tank clean.

Adding antibiotics is useless, your algae will come back within a week. So finding the root problem is the solution. I made a topic about bga a while ago, got some good health, you can search for it. In the end though, tank health/cleanliness is a big factor.


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## Dannyul (Jun 3, 2013)

1) Ordered another circulation pump.

2) Repositioning the spray bar so that the water flows from the back of the tank to the front, and so flows downwards towards the substrate. One powerhead will be on the LHS of the tank forcing flow across the bottom of the tank. The other on RHS of the tank forcing water through mid-water section. Trying to achieve good water flow to as much as the tank as reasonably possible!!

3) Used a nutrient calculator called 'Yet Another Nutrient Calculator' which is supposed to be good. Digital scales have been ordered to weigh out nutrients. 

4) I have read that MAGNESIUM SULPHATE does not have to be added to EI solutions if you already have moderately hard water. My KH is 5 and GH is 13. Therefore it won't be included in my EI solutions. 

5) Ordered some fast growing stem plants - hopefully will help keep algae at bay?

6) Test kits ordered from a well-reputable company with a vast majority of good reviews regarding accuracy and precision. Will be used as a guide to monitor NO3, pH and other water parameters. These will only be used to give a general idea to how well dosed the tank is. 

7) After blackout, I'm going to keep the CO2 level at a stable 30ppm so that drop checker is green - no higher as research has proven that CO2 levels higher than 30ppm have the same effect as levels at 30ppm. Low levels are not good obviously. 

*Fingers crossed!*


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

I had BGA in two tanks months ago, I used Maracyn (erythromycin) and it hasn't come back since. Took it out in a few days. Cyanobacteria is an organism so it's introduced to your tank inadvertently (i.e. on new plants perhaps).. that's the "root cause." Causes are its introduction which are exacerbated by excess light, nitrates, phosphates.. so "kill" the organism with the antibiotic and keep what little, if any, remanence of it at bay by staying diligent with PWC's and keeping excess nutrients down. It's like saying, treat the root cause of ich...well it's introduced (quarantine fish, dip plants...etc. Or deal with consequences)! BGA is unlike algae, well...because it's not algae, so root cause can't be considered in the same respect.


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## samee (Oct 14, 2011)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> ...excess light, nitrates, phosphates.. so "kill" the organism with the antibiotic and keep what little, if any, remanence of it at bay by staying diligent with PWC's and keeping excess nutrients down...


Those are the parameters that are causing bga....dosing anti will temporarily get rid of it. I can introduce bga anytime I want but it wont survive if I have a healthy tank. The root causes like not enough flow or other factors I have mentioned are key that will help spread it. Just about all tanks have the mentioned "algae spores". Its the parameters that trigger them. The root cause is your tank conditions, not the introduction. I see it that way, if I have a healthy tank, it will kill bga on its own.

Ive dosed anti. before and it got rid of the bga....for a week before it came back. It shows that theres something off about your tank. Thats the root cause making bga spread.


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## wildroseofky (Mar 5, 2013)

blue green algae is not actually algae. It is a bacteria, Cyanobacteria. Methods used to get rid of algae will not fix it. It is an infection, not a type of plant that will respond to light, water movement, or nutrients. The only thing that will cure it is an antibiotic. Erythromycin will kill it and you probably will not have a problem with it again. The erythromycin will not harm your filter bacteria. BGA is gram negative, filter bacteria is gram positive. Erythromycin only kills gram negative bacteria. Be sure to vacuum out the dead bga or it will cause a spike in ammonia.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

blackouts hurt plant growth, which makes more room for algae to grow. i recommend not to do it


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

dzega said:


> blackouts hurt plant growth, which makes more room for algae to grow. i recommend not to do it


Not true; plants can easily survive a 2-3 day blackout with no ill effects.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

Darkblade48 said:


> Not true; plants can easily survive a 2-3 day blackout with no ill effects.


i spoke from my own experience. 
healthy plants can survive blackout easily, BUT if u need blackout, your plants are not healthy at first place, right?


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## denske (Feb 20, 2013)

Why black it out? I used Maracyn from petsmart, after 2 days it was completely gone. 
And mine was all over the place, it literally just started disappearing.


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## Dannyul (Jun 3, 2013)

I live in the UK, I cannot get my hands on that sort of antibiotic to kill BGA. Therefore I need alternative methods which I have listed in a previous post - I think there's 7. 

Thanks for the advice guys.


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Well good luck with the other methods.. if they don't work, I read somewhere hydrogen peroxide should kill it too... if worse comes to worse, maracyn can be purchased on eBay, but I imagine the shipping will be pricey to the UK.


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## Dannyul (Jun 3, 2013)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Well good luck with the other methods.. if they don't work, I read somewhere hydrogen peroxide should kill it too... if worse comes to worse, maracyn can be purchased on eBay, but I imagine the shipping will be pricey to the UK.


I will do practically anything to get rid of it because its just the BGA that's making a small part of the tank look rubbish. If it means paying for a pricey delivery cost, so be it. 

*Fingers crossed!*


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## Tmuck44 (Mar 17, 2013)

antibiotics killed my outbreak. just make sure you follow through and do a full cycle of it. haven't seen it since. been about 2 months.


_Posted from Plantedtank.net App for Android_


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

Dannyul said:


> I will do practically anything to get rid of it because its just the BGA that's making a small part of the tank look rubbish. If it means paying for a pricey delivery cost, so be it.
> 
> *Fingers crossed!*


Hi Dannyul. Good luck with the course of Erythromycin (generic name for antibiotic in Maracyn).

I am having a 3-month bout with BGA. Because it's been so long and I had some trouble removing some BGA manually, I lost most of my plants. Maybe I have been too patient. I bought a bunch of Water Sprite (meaning a lot) and some Pygmy Chain Swords Monday night, enough to make the tank look radically different, and the Water Sprite grows like crazy, assisting the cycle in the tank.

Before I put it in, I finished vacuuming the right side of the tank (10g) and under the bogwood and got out a lot of dark, almost black particles from the bottom of the tank. I also finished reducing the height of the gravel substrate to 1-1/2". I had also moved my HOB to the middle of the back, which seems to give better circulation throughout the tank, and increased the flow. I planted the plants and added Seachem Flourish Comprehensive trace nutrients. I had also sucked up almost all of the remaining BGA with a siphon. Usually the BGA starts back again and spreads after a few days. I'll have to see what happens this time.


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## Dannyul (Jun 3, 2013)

Django said:


> Hi Dannyul. Good luck with the course of Erythromycin (generic name for antibiotic in Maracyn).
> 
> I am having a 3-month bout with BGA. Because it's been so long and I had some trouble removing some BGA manually, I lost most of my plants. Maybe I have been too patient. I bought a bunch of Water Sprite (meaning a lot) and some Pygmy Chain Swords Monday night, enough to make the tank look radically different, and the Water Sprite grows like crazy, assisting the cycle in the tank.
> 
> Before I put it in, I finished vacuuming the right side of the tank (10g) and under the bogwood and got out a lot of dark, almost black particles from the bottom of the tank. I also finished reducing the height of the gravel substrate to 1-1/2". I had also moved my HOB to the middle of the back, which seems to give better circulation throughout the tank, and increased the flow. I planted the plants and added Seachem Flourish Comprehensive trace nutrients. I had also sucked up almost all of the remaining BGA with a siphon. Usually the BGA starts back again and spreads after a few days. I'll have to see what happens this time.


Please could you let me know how you get on?


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

Dannyul said:


> Please could you let me know how you get on?


It's been 2 days since I finished working on the tank and put in the plants. The fish are very happy with their new surroundings. The BGA that is left is just sitting there (knock on wood) and is not spreading. So far. Tomorrow is Fish Day for me and I may try to get some more of the BGA siphoned out. I already did a 40% water change on Thursday. At this point I don't think it's about getting every last speck of BGA out, but to present water conditions that will not let it grow and prosper.


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## wildroseofky (Mar 5, 2013)

BGA is sensitive to antibiotics that kill gram negative bacteria. Could you find another antibiotic that kills gram negative bacteria? Filter bacteria is gram positive so a gram negative killing antibiotic should not hurt your filter. Surely their is some website that can ship to your area. Amazon has shipping centers all over. I fought BGA for 6 months before giving up and getting erythromycin. I wish I had done it sooner. My tank is now over a year old and I never had another problem with BGA.


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## Dannyul (Jun 3, 2013)

I have purchased some Maracyn from the States which I believe is the stuff I need? I've heard loads of good reviews about it so I shall use it if required if BGA makes an unwelcome return.


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## aluka (Feb 2, 2013)

i am using this guide to clear my BGA. works perfectly
http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquainfo/algae_erythromycin.html


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Here's a quick time lapse of just 4 days using nothing but Maracyn against the BGA. FYI, excuse the tank...we just flooded it from DSM and still has a ways to go.


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## Wwh2694 (Dec 14, 2010)

Big water change everyday


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## Dannyul (Jun 3, 2013)

Brian_Cali77 said:


> Here's a quick time lapse of just 4 days using nothing but Maracyn against the BGA. FYI, excuse the tank...we just flooded it from DSM and still has a ways to go.


Such a beautiful tank! 

Is that a powerhead / circulation pump I see in the second picture? Apparently, the additional flow really helps combat all types of algae especially BGA so I've added two for just pure overkill really - so that the plants have a gentle sway but the current in space is quite strong! 

Will dose Maracyn if I see the single slightest blue tinge to a plant!  

Thanks, 
Dan


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## Brian_Cali77 (Mar 19, 2010)

Thank you! My GF and I put the tank together, she scaped though (first attempt) with my guidance. Anyway, we added the Hydor Pico pump temporarily to increase circulation, not because of BGA, but to help with the protein layer we were getting because we just flooded it from DSM. I just didn't want any dead spots because the tank is still establishing. But I suppose it has a side benefit with BGA suppression, where maracyn is the BGA destroyer! Lol


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## Flear (Jul 10, 2013)

isn't healthy water a good way to clear up BGA ?
seems to be the last thing people look at


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

Flear said:


> isn't healthy water a good way to clear up BGA ?
> seems to be the last thing people look at


Absolutely. But I've heard that dissolved organic compounds can be a cause of BGA. Keeping a clean tank, removing dead and dying leaves, and vacuuming the gravel if that's your substrate or removing mulm, changing your filter reduce DOC and can prevent BGA or reduce it if you already have it. Also removing it with a siphon and manually.


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## Flear (Jul 10, 2013)

i've heard nitrates and anoxic substrate, BGA having an easier time when O2 is not very high. i don't recall where nitrates figured into things, but i have heard that brought up.

manual removal is all but ineffective. apparently marine BGA there are critters that will eat it, but nothing i've heard of in freshwater due to it's toxic nature.


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## theericafish (Apr 27, 2012)

Rather than start a new thread..

I'm currently dosing maracyn 1 to kill bga also.

What are the signs of it dying? I'm seeing a little bubbling on it and its going from a green/blue to a duller semi-whitish color but a lot of it still looks very green.

I'm on my second packet after the first 24hrs.

Thanks!


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

As long as you maintain a decent NO3 residual in the water, not bottoming it out, BGA should not be an issue.

Like all algae, once you get it, you have to address what si there.....AND deal with the problem as to why you got it to begin with.

Doing just one of these does not work, you need to focus on the plants, and then get rid of the algae that is there.

So a BO or EM treatments do in fact work...........but they must be done with dosing KNO3 more or keeping up on them better. BO's are excellent, to show that killing it alone does not fix ANYTHING, YOU NEED TO FOCUS ON THE ROOT CAUSE.

Which is to say, focus growing your plants.
You do that, then algae is a minor issue.

I'm betting 99.99% of hobbyists want to grow plants, not learn 101 ways to kill algae. So focus there.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

plantbrain said:


> As long as you maintain a decent NO3 residual in the water, not bottoming it out, BGA should not be an issue.
> 
> Like all algae, once you get it, you have to address what si there.....AND deal with the problem as to why you got it to begin with.
> 
> ...


I totally agree with you but BGA is one of the few types of "algae" that I may get an infestation and treat it with EM, and it never comes back. It's still a last resort thing but once it gets too far ahead of my plants, especially if I have only HC or something similar, an EM treatment may be my only solution. HC just can't seem to keep of with BGA for me. One treatment and it's gone and never reappears, even in tanks that are set up for years.

Now on tanks with more than a foreground plant, different story. I often don't even touch it and it goes away, or just add KNO3 if it's getting worse fast. 

I am by no means saying that finding the root cause is a bad thing and I always use EM as a last resort, but I will say it is one of those things for me, that when it's gone, it never comes back, no matter if I use EM or other ways.


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## danielt (Dec 19, 2012)

Had it once, got it on Myriophillum. Seems it likes that plant as I've got it only on this type 

Disappeared by itself at some point, never dosed antibiotics. Tells me the root cause was resolved. Unfortunately, I can't tell what it was.

I clearly remember that I didn't changed half of my setup because of it. Me thinks the milis in the fertilizer dose grew a bit after its appearance.


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