Blackouts

[NewbieFish]

So I am getting really sick and tired of my BGA outbreak. It really sucks looking at slime all the time as well as having to scoop it off the bottom and rub it off leaves. So in anticipation of my transition to a hi light setup I plan on doing a blackout. So I was wondering besides letting no light in for two days should I be doing anything else?

Should I being feeding the fish?
Should I do any other sort of prepatory work?
How much light contamination will mess but the process? IE taking a peek/turning a small light on to feed the fish for a short period of time

I plan on feeding the fish a big meal before hand and doing a water change afterwards.

Thanks

[Bk828]

So I am getting really sick and tired of my BGA outbreak. It really sucks looking at slime all the time as well as having to scoop it off the bottom and rub it off leaves. So in anticipation of my transition to a hi light setup I plan on doing a blackout. So I was wondering besides letting no light in for two days should I be doing anything else?

Should I being feeding the fish?
Should I do any other sort of prepatory work?
How much light contamination will mess but the process? IE taking a peek/turning a small light on to feed the fish for a short period of time

I plan on feeding the fish a big meal before hand and doing a water change afterwards.

Thanks

feed fish prior to doing the black out. Fish will be fine for the 4-5 days without food.
Make sure you cover the tank completely.
Add an airstone to the tank.

dont peek, theres nothing to see, just wait full period

But have you tried erythromycin??

[Riiz]

EDIT: Misread BGA for BBA



Yup antibiotics work, because BGA is a bacteria not an algae. Just be careful you dont destrou your bio-filter in the process.

[NewbieFish]

Yeah I would go with the chemical route (seems alot more convenient. I just don't want to kill off my bio-filter. I guess I might still go that route. My light isnt ready yet so I am trying to plan things out. Does Erythromycin degrade overtime or will I have to remove it post treatment with carbon/water changes?

[Riiz]

Erythromyicin will need to be removed with activated carbon and water changes.

[Bk828]

Yeah I would go with the chemical route (seems alot more convenient. I just don't want to kill off my bio-filter. I guess I might still go that route. My light isnt ready yet so I am trying to plan things out. Does Erythromycin degrade overtime or will I have to remove it post treatment with carbon/water changes?

you can also do spot treatment with erythromycin. that way your whole tank isnt affected with the full dose.
But many with BGA had success with both the blackout and erythro. So its your choice.

What you can do about the bio-filter is take out some of the media and keep it wet on the side. Add new and run the chemical treatment. After you are done and algae is gone, do a big water change, add carbon and run that for a few days. Then once thats all done add back your old media thats already full of bacteria.

but i must say i treated with erythro before (not for BGA) and did the treatment for 4-5 days without any ill effects on the bacteria.

[247Plants]

Jungle Fizz tabs for bacteria will work just fine and its cheap. Within hours it cleared my bga years ago and it hasnt made a comeback since....not even a little bit......

[NewbieFish]

When you guys treat with antibiotics are you going with a full recommended dose or a reduced dose?

[247Plants]

I used a full dose with the jungle tabs, but I imagine you could get away with less if all you are doing is killing bga

[NewbieFish]

Another question :D so when the BGA dies does it go brown and I will end up scooping up brown slime or does it kinda disintegrate and "dissappear" or getting removed by the filter?

[thebigshh]

Scoop out as much of it as you can mechanically. Do a water change. Use the meds as the per the directions. Scoop out any remnants of bga and do a water change after treatment. If you have a fairly heavily planted tank ( unless you have tons of fish ) I wouldn't worry to much about the benificial bacteria being harmed. Plants can handle small amonia spikes, and you'll be doing a few water changes after treatment anyhow.

[fishorama]

yes, you need to remove it because it's still on everything & gross. I get bga when nitrates drop to 0 or there is too little water movement.