[supergreeneye]

i think have b.g.a. Im using 65k leds, c02 I think the lights are on about 7-8 hours a day possibly more. its a 8 gal tank ill have a pic in soon i have to take it. should i change the lights. leave them on or turn them off blackout the tank for a day or so or just do a bunch of water changes i dont want it to over run my small tank

 

[Darkblade48]

Are you fertilizing? What about sufficient flow around the aquarium?

A one day blackout will not put a dent in BGA. You can try manual removal and/or dosing with erythromycin, but unless you eliminate the root cause, it will keep coming back.

 

[danakin]

My best advice is start dosing erythromycin after removing as much as possible. BGA is a bacteria, and I tend to fall under the belief that antibiotics are the best offense against bacteria.

Make sure your nitrate levels are where they should be, make sure your tank has sufficient flow throughout, ensure your lights aren't old and ineffective (often the reason I got BGA in my old tanks). My personal experience is that light intensity is not the cause of BGA, but rather the combination of old lights that are no longer falling in with their advertised spectrum and low nitrates.

 

[supergreeneye]

oh the light is not old in fact its only about 6 months or less the nitrates and nitrites are at 0 and the filter is fine in fact its a brand new zoomed 501 the flow is fine i probably need to clean it

 

[DarkCobra]

Nitrates should generally not be zero, plants need a lot of available nitrogen in a CO2-enriched tank. Otherwise, BGA has a huge advantage, as it can "fix" (obtain) nitrogen easily from sources that plants cannot.

Detail your fertilization, including substrate if that's a significant source.

 

[supergreeneye]

i use florish for my plant food nothing special and the substrate is just what came with it basically fluval stratnum

 

[supergreeneye]

whats the dosing on erthromycin is it that package dosage
or less or more

 

[DerekFF]

I think I did 1/2 dose and it worked great. Don't quote me on 1/2 but I know for sure it wasn't full dosing. It was either 1/3 or 1/2

 

[supergreeneye]

kool thanks its a small tank so ill probably dose about 1/3 or so

 

[Hardstuff]

I ran a zoo med 501 on my 10 gallon planted tank & I know the flow is weak! I first started with a power head with sponge & a small fluval internal. Started having big problems so I went out thinking the 501 with the small fluval would carry the tank. (IT DID NOT) . BGA & green water at the same time while dosing dry ferts & keeping higher nitrates , say over 15ppm & not letting PO4 crash. What turned it all around took many changes. The BGA was over running the tank fast.
I changed lighting to 6500k 2( 15 watts fixtures) T8. Was 4200k. Next I tossed the small internal & powerhead, opting for Fluval 106, but I left the 501 zoomed along with the fluval. For other reasons I dosed the tank with flagil. An antibiotic which is for internal parasites , but I feel had a negative effect on BGA. Also 1 day accidental blackout by accident. When I turned the lights back on the tank was free of BGA & the water was clear. I added activated carbon to help clear the water more to pull out residual DOCs. The water after 3 or 4 days after the carbon was put in was extremely clear. The extra boost the tank got from the 106 blew away the Zoomed , but I left the Zoomed anyway.
Yes, flow is extremely important in getting rid of BGA. But you need good filtration & proper nutrients & lighting spectrum. Antibiotics could help alsn a final closing note I have noticed many people get this stuff growing on white fine sand as well. Most of the u-tube videos with BGA have white sand in the tanks. Something to think about. I had put some in my tank & the BGA seemed to like growing in those areas better. I have since removed as much as I can. 2 months free so far of BGA. Good luck

 

[supergreeneye]

it hasent overrun my tank yet im going to get some erthromycin and see if that helps i might also put a small power head that i have in there with some carbon as hardstuff said and hopefully that will help out

 

[bluestems]

bga had practically taken over my 7g nano, then I added an inline heater to maintain the temp at 72 and added an airline that ran at night, after co2 went off. I also trimmed the dwarf hair grass to improve the flow from the lily return.

I'm not sure which of those or if all made the difference, but within days the bga shrunk back and starting melting off. It's totally gone now :smile:

 

[supergreeneye]

well im gonna dose erthromycin and probably put a power head in there also to incrase the flow and see whet happens

 

[laqu]

when you say the 501 is weak how weak? i have a 2 gallon that i'm thinking about upgrading from a azoo 60 to a zoo med... my tank is only 8x8x8

it's always dirty ... not to mention i have to turn the azoo all the way down since i stuffed it with media

think it's weak enough.. they claim it is.

I ran a zoo med 501 on my 10 gallon planted tank & I know the flow is weak! I first started with a power head with sponge & a small fluval internal. Started having big problems so I went out thinking the 501 with the small fluval would carry the tank. (IT DID NOT) . BGA & green water at the same time while dosing dry ferts & keeping higher nitrates , say over 15ppm & not letting PO4 crash. What turned it all around took many changes. The BGA was over running the tank fast.
I changed lighting to 6500k 2( 15 watts fixtures) T8. Was 4200k. Next I tossed the small internal & powerhead, opting for Fluval 106, but I left the 501 zoomed along with the fluval. For other reasons I dosed the tank with flagil. An antibiotic which is for internal parasites , but I feel had a negative effect on BGA. Also 1 day accidental blackout by accident. When I turned the lights back on the tank was free of BGA & the water was clear. I added activated carbon to help clear the water more to pull out residual DOCs. The water after 3 or 4 days after the carbon was put in was extremely clear. The extra boost the tank got from the 106 blew away the Zoomed , but I left the Zoomed anyway.
Yes, flow is extremely important in getting rid of BGA. But you need good filtration & proper nutrients & lighting spectrum. Antibiotics could help alsn a final closing note I have noticed many people get this stuff growing on white fine sand as well. Most of the u-tube videos with BGA have white sand in the tanks. Something to think about. I had put some in my tank & the BGA seemed to like growing in those areas better. I have since removed as much as I can. 2 months free so far of BGA. Good luck

 

[laqu]

oh, my 6 gallon JUST has a bit of BGA and if i dose erthromycin i pull the purgin right?

would a UV filter work to kill it?

 

[supergreeneye]

theres just a bit on my 7.9 gal and it seems to not be spreading im dosing erthromycin and hopefully that works like everyone says if that doesn't work i don't no what im going to do

 

[supergreeneye]

also im using r/o almost exclusively but the last water change i put tap water in with the r/o to supplement the minerals in the tank and cause i dident have enought to fill it all the way and then i started noticing the bga maby thats what caused it

 

[supergreeneye]

bump

 

[supergreeneye]

im still having problems with bga i did a restart and it came back i dont no what is going on what should i do i even tried taking it out with a spoon and see where that goes i dont want to break it down and get rid of my tank but im at wits end

 

[supergreeneye]

i have bga after a full restart and it came back im dosing etromycin again i dont no what to do