... help (BGA) D:

[lachupacabra]

Earlier this year, i redid my 20g long. these are the updates i did:

eco-complete switched to ADA AS AMAZONIA
1x 65w 50/50 10,000k current satelite fixture to 2x36w coralife 6700k fixtures.
got pressurized co2
went from HOB to eheim 2213.

i wouldn't do the 50% water changes every day, but i did them most days. I didn't add any fish or anything until i knew it was cycled. I added somewhat of a lot of plants.

from the cycling stage, i got a bad case of BGA, other than that plants were growing fine and everything. I treated the BGA with erethromycin and it soon left. everything was flourishing, i did have some slow growth, but nothing too bad.

Now, i'm starting to get BGA again, and i have really slow growth.
there's a lot of mulm everywhere, on the plants on the gravel, everywhere. I've tried shaking it up and hoping the filter gets it, but it doesn't work. I've tried vacuuming the gravel, but I'm scared that too much AS will get sucked up, because that stuff is not cheap.

I'm really at a point where i'm lost i have no clue where to go.
I've thought about completely resetting the tanks, emptying out the contents washing it and reseting it up

please help me get this back on track.


current specs:

2x36w 6700k coralife lights on for 8 hours (12-2; 4-10)
ADA AS
co2 on from 10AM-9PM @ ~3bps

current stock:
2 German Blue Ram
2 German Gold Ram
a couple of guppies
a couple of ember tetras
a couple of green neons
a couple of CPD
a couple of threadfins
3 pseudomugil gertrudae

I'm pretty sure i'm way past the stocking limit and that propaply has something to do with it...


thanks in advanced

[mahoro]

when vacuming my as, i always use a net on the other end of the tube (python in my case), that way i get 99 percent of my as back...

[manifresh006]

BGA blue green algae is caused by low nitrates, low circulation or poor water quality.
I don't know about anyone else but has anyone also experienced this with ADA products?
Now that i think about it i have and it sucked... i did the treatment like you but it kept coming back even the "Blackout" method and it came back again BUT it did work.
And as you, i thought i would be able cycle the substrate with plants in the tank but that might have caused it i think i did about 5-13 50% water changes and started to slow down then just decided to start over and clean EVERYTHING again and it decided to stop growing

Yeah some people would like to fight the thing and keep making water changes until it goes away but i just thought it was enough.<<<IMO

Maybe try the >>>Blackout Method<<< first and turnoff the Co2 Untill the BGA starts to go away keep doing the water changes at least untill the ADA substrate gets cycled IF by then its still giving you problems try to start over IF YOU LIKE i myself dont like to keep struggling but its your choice

[manifresh006]

when vacuming my as, i always use a net on the other end of the tube (python in my case), that way i get 99 percent of my as back...

+1

[Complexity]

When you vacuum a planted tank, you only clean out the mulm on the surface of the substrate, never plunging the tube into the substrate itself. You want the mulm to go into the substrate so you're just cleaning off the very top.

BGA is generally due to poor quality, stagnant water. That does not fit your description at all. An Eheim 2213 should be providing plenty of water flow and filtration for that size of tank. So I find it odd that you have mulm on the plants as you described. Do the plants move in the current from the filter?

Also, water quality should be good if you're performing at least 50&#37; water changes every week which it sounds like you are.

You're heavily stocked, as you noted, but that won't cause mulm to sit on top of plants.

Can you post of picture of your tank with examples of the mulm you're seeing on the plants? I'd also like to see pics of the BGA, both from farther away and close ups to be certain it really is BGA.

As far as what to do for the BGA, you already know how to treat it. The main thing is to figure out why you're getting it in the first place. I also think it's important to double check your identification that it is indeed BGA. You may be fighting something else which may explain why your efforts to control it aren't working. Pics would be very helpful.

[Navarro]

1 Buy a 250 ml bottle of Seachem stability (do not use it yet)
3 Get erythromycin and dose for 3 days every day
2 At the 4 day turn filter off and service it.
4 drop water level a few inches and get busy! With an old credit card clean the glass truly, when you finish use the same card to "blow" the remaining dead algae lose (be very gentle)
5 Lightly siphon the exposed open areas only if you have Eleocharis acicularis or parvula as a foreground do not siphon above them other plants can tolerate this but hair grass is much more delicate.
6 Change most of the water and have your water conditioned and ready at the same temp to refill the tank.
7 Add stability as directed in the bottle; you should not have any dead fish if you do it carefully.
Cheers,
Luis

[kwc1974]

+1 on Navarro's post.

Also, Hydrogen Peroxide does wonders on nearly all algaes. I have dosed it at a 2-3ml per gallon and it killed off the algae. direct dose with a syringe. Vacuum the dead algae and do a WC.