Thanks in regards to the BGA how do you know if you have it. I get this dark colored stuff on the back of my tank, I can clean it off and the next thing I know it is back.
Hydrogen Peroxide vs BGA
- Thread starter unseenone00
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BGA is more of a slime, its most commonly a dark green, but can be an aqua blue type color, or brownish even. It comes off substrate in film strips really. And until the cause is corrected it will grow back.
So what can cause it. I have a pretty heavly planted tank and I do not see any thing like this on my substrate. I started dosing ferts about two or three weeks ago. A macro and micro mix that I bought from AquariumFerts.com. Started out at 3ml which came to about one drop per gallon and I have a 46 gallon tank, then I went up to 6ml and then to 9ml that is when I started to get the slimy stuff on the back which is a dark color and the stuff on the ends of the tank is a bright green so now I am back to the 3ml everyday. Lights are 2x96 PC for eight hours, was running them longer, also running pressurised CO2. So do you think I have BGA and if so about how much is that stuff you said would get rid of it.
In most cases BGA is caused by a nitrogen deficiency. Mixed with warmer water temps, and heavier light exposure. Even poor h20 circulation.
Ok if you really want to cure the tank of it you must first fix the issues that cause it. Add Kno3 to the tank (this will get your Nitrogen back up), Get your temp a little lower, reduce the light hitting the tank's Photo period (AFTER you cure it) This is why Peroxide wont fix the issue with BGA.
Here is the cure.......
Physically remove as much as you can From everywhere in the tank. Be sure to treat everything in the tank as a whole. Dose the tank With Erythromycin. THEN WHILE DOSING EM. Do a full darkness on the tank. it means covering the tank to be pitch black. For 3 days strait it needs to have zero light of any kind. make sure your dosing enough EM as well. If you dose light it wont be effective. Once its all dying and gone water change. BUT be sure to start dosing the proper amounts of KNO3. (should already have the temp corrected, water flow and to long of light exposure) Im sure you will never see it again. If you do its more then probable that your lacking KNO3.
Ok if you really want to cure the tank of it you must first fix the issues that cause it. Add Kno3 to the tank (this will get your Nitrogen back up), Get your temp a little lower, reduce the light hitting the tank's Photo period (AFTER you cure it) This is why Peroxide wont fix the issue with BGA.
Here is the cure.......
Physically remove as much as you can From everywhere in the tank. Be sure to treat everything in the tank as a whole. Dose the tank With Erythromycin. THEN WHILE DOSING EM. Do a full darkness on the tank. it means covering the tank to be pitch black. For 3 days strait it needs to have zero light of any kind. make sure your dosing enough EM as well. If you dose light it wont be effective. Once its all dying and gone water change. BUT be sure to start dosing the proper amounts of KNO3. (should already have the temp corrected, water flow and to long of light exposure) Im sure you will never see it again. If you do its more then probable that your lacking KNO3.
When people have good lighting, co2, and lots of plants, it is because of a lack of nitrates. Even though you are dosing KNO3 now the BGA is already in the tank. Bring the nitrates up to 20-40ppm and make sure your phosphate is under 1.0ppm, .5ppm would be better. Make sure you have some current in the tank, and dose something to kill the BGA, such as Maracyn, or something with erythromycin to kill it. manual removal will definitely help as well
Okay after a few days now with having that ... hmmm, i think its 30-40 ml of peroxide in the tank? (72 gallon tank) The moss seems to be out of BGA. I still have some in hard to clean spots around the co2 reactor/UV filter so ill still get some erythromycin to dose though and dip the slate cave in peroxide heavy 5gallon bucket. But here is a new question. How do I get this dead growth from my moss off? there is new growth but a lot of brown bits and ashy looking bits everywhere. Should i trim it? blow water through it with a turkey baster?
Cyanobacteria is widely considered to be the first actual life on the planet. It is also one of the most successful forms of life. It successfully grows everywhere from Antarctica lakes to the Tropics. It's one of the first forms of life to colonize the bare rocks after volcanic activity. It spreads through air borne spores released from the soil, drainage ditches, sewers, rain gutters, essentially anywhere with moisture and nutrients. If you have had a tank set up with water, fish and light, for any period of time, then you have cyanobacteria. You may not have problem amounts, most don't but it's there. In a properly run planted aquarium, its quite likely you won't be aware of it even being there unless you use a microscope.
Erythromicin is a medication, an antibiotic, a drug that should be treated with the same respect any drug is. This should not be used as a first line of defense against BGA. All other methods should be attempted first. I've had BGA outbreaks before, they were eliminated (within a month) by cleaning the tank and filters, implementing proper fert routines and manual removal and trimming. I've never used EM. Hydrogen peroxide is just as effective against cyanobacteria as it is against the bacteria in cuts and scrapes. In water it breaks down within minutes to water and hydrogen ions. If EM is used, it should be removed from the tank via carbon which is then properly disposed of. It shouldn't be "poured" down the kitchen sink. No drug should be. Waste water treatment plants for the most part aren't equipped to deal with them and there are proper disposal methods available. Have the same respect for the environment that you do for your aquarium.
The misuse, overuse, and outright abuse of these drugs has led to the elimination of over the counter sales in Europe. I'd rather not see the same thing happen in North America.
Erythromicin is a medication, an antibiotic, a drug that should be treated with the same respect any drug is. This should not be used as a first line of defense against BGA. All other methods should be attempted first. I've had BGA outbreaks before, they were eliminated (within a month) by cleaning the tank and filters, implementing proper fert routines and manual removal and trimming. I've never used EM. Hydrogen peroxide is just as effective against cyanobacteria as it is against the bacteria in cuts and scrapes. In water it breaks down within minutes to water and hydrogen ions. If EM is used, it should be removed from the tank via carbon which is then properly disposed of. It shouldn't be "poured" down the kitchen sink. No drug should be. Waste water treatment plants for the most part aren't equipped to deal with them and there are proper disposal methods available. Have the same respect for the environment that you do for your aquarium.
The misuse, overuse, and outright abuse of these drugs has led to the elimination of over the counter sales in Europe. I'd rather not see the same thing happen in North America.
