I struggled with BGA within the first week of filling my tank after a 1.5 month DSM for HC and DHG. Rest assured you are not alone 
I initially thought it was algae until I did a search for "tank smells" then got onto the musty type smell of BGA.
I read erythromycin (an antibiotic) will take it down but that entailed a 5 day dosing regimen and I didn't want to subject my beneficial bacteria and shrimp and otos to it for that long. Odds are they would have been fine but they were just added to the tank a couple of days before the BGA outbreak and I didn't want to give them any additional stress.
I removed them and my vals and went with the one-two punch. It worked wonders! The BGA slowly died away over the next couple of days and I can say I'm am completely free of the stuff right now. HC didn't die off but hasn't exactly flourished either. I think most of that is due to the transition from emersed to submerged growth though. I'm seeing new sprouts every day now. I should cut back some of the yellower HC. I think the BGA choked off a lot of it. That BGA grew like mad! I could not keep up with removing it by hand.
So long story. In short. One-Two punch. I'm glad I did it.
I initially thought it was algae until I did a search for "tank smells" then got onto the musty type smell of BGA.
I read erythromycin (an antibiotic) will take it down but that entailed a 5 day dosing regimen and I didn't want to subject my beneficial bacteria and shrimp and otos to it for that long. Odds are they would have been fine but they were just added to the tank a couple of days before the BGA outbreak and I didn't want to give them any additional stress.
I removed them and my vals and went with the one-two punch. It worked wonders! The BGA slowly died away over the next couple of days and I can say I'm am completely free of the stuff right now. HC didn't die off but hasn't exactly flourished either. I think most of that is due to the transition from emersed to submerged growth though. I'm seeing new sprouts every day now. I should cut back some of the yellower HC. I think the BGA choked off a lot of it. That BGA grew like mad! I could not keep up with removing it by hand.
So long story. In short. One-Two punch. I'm glad I did it.
