[Noah091]

Hey guys. I have a problem and I am unsure exactly what is going on....

A few days before Christmas I ordered some Manzinita from Save on Crafts. The wood had been sandblasted and dried and was even advertised as aquarium safe. A few weeks after I put the wood in I started to notice a whiteish slime surrounding the wood. It eventually came off the wood about an inch and almost looked like a cloud surrounding the wood. Everything I have read said that this was normal, and was most likely a bacteria that would eventually go away after the BB in the aquarium won out. Eventually the thickness and fullness of the white slime went away and what was left was a green slime that smelled horrible. I have been doing my best to vacum this up every chance, but everytime I do it seems to come back. It has completely covered my plants, leaving a film on them. I had been scraping it off here and there until recently, when I decided to fully re-scape the tank. I took out everything except the substrate, and took about 50% of the water out. I rinsed every plant and all the moss I had under warm water, making sure to get every piece of this slime off. I vacuumed the substrate extremely thoroughly until there were no noticeable traces of the green slime. I also removed the manzinita and have not put it back in.

Fast forward to today (about 4 days later). I am starting to notice small traces of this slime again. Although the tank is the best it has been in a long time it doesn't seem like it is completely gone. The first place I usually notice it is on my java moss. The moss seems like a trap for the slime. I am starting to notice a very light film on the plants now, and some green on the glass near the substrate in areas of the tank. Thinking that maybe this has been algae have I have been using a little extra excel to see if this would help the problem. Google searching earlier today I discovered blue/green algae. Is this what this sounds like to you? It doesn't look blue at all, mainly green/dark green. I am pretty frustrated with this stuff and I am unsure what to do. Does anyone have any advice?

edit: Added pictures a few posts down.

Thanks,
Noah

 

[Noah091]

Sure, i'll have to turn the light back on and wake the fishys. Give me a minute or two

 

[Noah091]

 

[Noah091]

Yep blue green algea.

Figured

What exactly should I do? I am still a fairly big noob. I am not running Co2 and only adding excel and flourish as directions have it listed. Through research it seems that Minocycline totally destroys BGA, but I also run the risk of losing my good bacteria filter. I'll also add that through the few months I have had my tank, the tank has 0 for nitrates almost all of the time. Would adding KNO3 be a good first line defense? Where can I buy KNO3 and what am I looking for?

If anyone with experience with this stuff can help and walk me through this I would very much appreciate it!

Dug up a good reply from Plantbrain back in 2005

BGA can easily and for no cost at all be killed in 3 days in any tank.
Is free a good price?

Do a 50% water change and remove as much as you can. Add 1/4 teaspoon of KNO3 per 20 gal of tank. Turn the lights/CO2 off and cover the tank for 3 days.

Turn CO2/light back on and do another water change and add the KNO3 back again and then add KNO3 at least once a week or more thereafter to prevent the return.

This is 100% effective and is free.

Anitbiotics do not grow plants nor address the cause.
Adding KNO3 addresses the long term cause, your tank will look better as a result, KNO3 is dirt cheap and plant's use both NO3 and K to grow.

Hey, it's your money.

KNO3= stump remover, www.gregwatson.com also sells it.

Works faster/as fast and makes the tank look better than pills.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Posting this so others who have this problem can see. Thread can be found at http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=13247.

I think this is the first thing I am going to do. I'll try to keep this thread updated as much as possible on my progress.

 

[Noah091]

Picked up some KNO3 today and I plan to start tonight. Following the advice Tom gave another member of the forum back in 2005, I plan on using using 1/3 tsp for every 20 galons of water in my tank. This tank being a 29 galon I am shooting for 3/8 tbsp of KNO3. I will then unplug light and cover the tank for 3 days and treat with KNO3 again.

A few questions before I start...

Should I feed the fish during the 3 day blackout?
Should I dose the same amount (3/8 tsp) after the 3 day blackout?
After the initial 50% WC, when should I do the next WC?
The only force for generating water flow I have is the HOB filter that came with my aquarium. I know it is hardly sufficient, but will this work? I plan on replacing my aqaueon quietflow 30 with a aquaclear 70 soon to help with this.
Lastly, are there any other ferts I should be adding other than the KNO3 while trying to get rid of this stuff?

Thanks,
Noah

 

[Noah091]

Nice detective skills, lol.

Yeah, its not a cube, just totally standard. I am on the last night of my blackout. Will check the tank tomorrow and hopefully it'll be gone.

I know its only 3 days, but I feel guilty for having not fed my fish that long.. hope they are okay. I didn't really over feed them at the start of all of this.

I started with adding 3/8 tsp KNO3. and covering with a blanket. While the tank has been covered I picked up a new filter (Fluval C4) and a powerhead (Hydor Koralia 240). Hopefully these will give my tank much more flow becasue before there was virtually none.

I am just waiting for my diffuser and co2 drop kit to come from china and i'll start my DIY Co2. Tomorrow afternoon i'll uncover the tank and feed the sh*t out of the fish. I'll then do 50% WC, add the new filter and the powerhead, refill and then dose another 3/8 KNO3.

Hopefully all works out. I'll let ya guys know.

 

[Noah091]

Yeah I definitely overlooked the circulation aspect in planted tanks. I am still a noob and learning. Luckily I have yet to lose a fish throughout my learning experiences. I'm hoping this blackout takes care of the bga. If not I picked up some eryth just in case.

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