Emersed BGA?

[dylanserbin]

Hey i had a 4g emersed tank with UG. Its now filled with water and has pressurized CO2, 26w. The day after i filled it i noticed there was a small outbreak of BGA on one side. Why would this of happened? The BGA is spreaded and getting worse. I will suck it out today but i want to get to the bottom of it so i doesnt return. Im normally used to dealing with it in reef aquariums.. butnot sure what causes it for freshwater.

[dylanserbin]

bump

[oblongshrimp]

Low nitrogen levels are usually the cause of blue green algae. I usually dose with Erythromycin (usually sold as a cure for fin rot or something like that) as its the quickest way to eliminate it (since its a bacteria and not a true algae). You should also be able to do a blackout for a few days to kill it.

[dylanserbin]

ok, THanks. How much of that stuff do you dose and how often? My tank is 4g just to give you an idea of howmuch i would dose. Also what brand would do you use?

[dylanserbin]

Its also a brand new tank so when the No3 spikes it should be gone then right?

[Mr. Fisher]

Two brands:

1) E.M. (API), erythromycin

2) Maracyn (Mardel), erythromycin [NOT Maracyn II]

Follow the full dosing instructions on the box even thought the BGA will disappear after a day or two. This will insure that the stronger strains of the BGA will not come back and become resistant to erythromycin.

Erythromycin WILL NOT affect your biological filter, especially if you tank is well planted. It is SHRIMP and FISH SAFE.

You do not need to do a blackout if you use antibiotics.

Also try to keep your nitrate level at 10-20 ppm to prevent it from comming back.

KNO3 is a good source...

[dylanserbin]

where do you get KNO3 from?

[PHalas]

here http://www.aquariumfertilizer.com/ or here http://www.bestaquariumregulator.com/ferts.htm

[Mr. Fisher]

could just get Seachem Nitrogen (250-500ML bottles).

I bought a 1 lbs. bag from aquariumfertilizer.com...they are a class act. This is the cheapest way, and a bag that size lasts well over a year.

For my 20 Gallon long, I dose 1/8-1/4 tsp at water changes (1x per week).

[newday3000]

I have used Maracyn (Mardel), successfully on a 220G (holy crap it was expensive to dose that tank) but it worked perfectly. The problem in that tank was dead spot's in the tank. BGA (cynobacteria) needs still water to thrive. Once I aimed spray bars at gravel it stayed away after the dosing.

[dylanserbin]

haha oh nm.

[naturelady]

I just figured out that the algae in my tank is blue-green algae. Panic! Its a very new setup (3 weeks) and only has some plants (some doing good, some not so much) and red cherry shrimp.

I see from the discussion that erythromycin is shrimp-safe... that's good. What about adding nitrates? I had thought that they were very sensitive to nitrates.

[AshleyO]

I do EI dosing on my shrimp tank and I see no ill effects. The shrimp are reproducing so fast I don't know what to do with all of them.