BGA Nightmare please help

[Huro]

Hello everyone,

Ok so I just returned home after three weeks out of town only to find that my 16g bow-front has been completely overrun by BGA, it is so severe I couldn't even see into tank to check on fish initially, and when I finally could it was even worse, plants and equipment were completely incased in the junk. This tank had a minor bout previously with BGA but I thought I was rid of it please help me understand what I am doing wrong or need to do differently, for the sake of accuracy I am posting the tank info as I found it upon arrival.


16g High tech Co2 planted with fish
Ammonia 0.0, nitrates 0.0, nitrites 0.0, phosphates 0.0, KH 11, GH 12, ph 7.0 according to ph probe/monitor and Milwaukee 600 tester, temp 73

Lights come on at 9am off at 5pm. BML Dutch planted 6300k

When home I dose 1.5ml flourish excel daily as well as 1.5ml micros/macros (pps-pro fert system).

Filtration - Aqueon quite flow 10 HoB and SunSun HW 602b mini canister filter

5 neon tetras, 2 Corys

Tank is carpeted in HC Cuba, and Java moss attached to stone and wood

Thanks for taking the time to help out

[pittbully13]

Can you list a pic? Is the bml on for the whole 8 hrs? Intensity? How much co2 are you pumping in?


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[Huro]

Hi thanks for reply,


Yes the BML is on the whole time 5-9, intensity I would assume is at max (I do not have this light connected to my SOlunar controller so I am guessing). The Co2 is regulated via my Ph monitor and although I can see bubble counter I have no idea how to give you an effective estimation on bubbles per sec. At the moment I am unable to post a pic, however as soon as I am able I will post some.

I did not post originally but I use a GLA atomic diffuser, along with circulation I have wondered if this could be an issue.

[Huro]

9-5 rather

[irdajoh]

Do a black out and put air stones for a week. Don't feed, don't dose anything, don't peek. I had blue green algee before I did a blackout. Also this won't fix the issue from coming back. You need to find the cause, most likely different amount of nutrients/lighting.

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[Huro]

Thanks for reply, yes I am familiar with blackout system but hoping to determine the "cause" as you stated. Thinking that it might have been a filtration issue I switched out the units today and will do blackout while I am out of town this week.

Here are pics of what I walked into when I got home, sorry I was late posting these maybe they will help. I cleaned the tank today when I received my new canister filter, I decided to removed my driftwood for now and scrap the java moss that was attached to it. I cleaned off the HC Cuba as best as I could using tweezers and a old toothbrush with only minimal loss.

[Huro]

Tank after cleaning.. I know the quality of pictures is poor but best I could do from my phone.

[irdajoh]

That brown stuff from the top is bad news bears. kinda. Did you melflex or what ever lately ? Remember you need to run air stones while blacked out. BGA is a bacteria and o2 is toxic to it.

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[Hunter73]

Omg, that's terrible. Is that normal with this type?


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[irdajoh]

Originally Posted by Hunter73

Omg, that's terrible. Is that normal with this type?


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I caught mine verrrry early.. so I had like 3 small dime size spots.. some people have a whole tank covered sadly. Algee scary

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[Huro]

Originally Posted by irdajoh

That brown stuff from the top is bad news bears. kinda. Did you melflex or what ever lately ? Remember you need to run air stones while blacked out. BGA is a bacteria and o2 is toxic to it.

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I am not familiar with melflex but if it is a medication then no. I have only added ferts and excel.

[fish wrangler]

Try API erythromycin. That stuff just works flat out. Cured my 29 of bga with a half dose

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[Huro]

Originally Posted by fish wrangler

Try API erythromycin. That stuff just works flat out. Cured my 29 of bga with a half dose

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Thank you I will certianly look into it, just wish I knew what is causing it.

[irdajoh]

Originally Posted by Huro

I am not familiar with melflex but if it is a medication then no. I have only added ferts and excel.

So you use pps pro ferts but the parameters don't match.. You should have phosphates and nitrates in the water colum I believe.

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[Huro]

Yes I have read that a lack of nitrates will propgate this stuff but I am at loss as to why they just disappeared some folks recommend dosing them but I am not sure how comfortable I am with that.

[fish wrangler]

Originally Posted by Huro

Thank you I will certianly look into it, just wish I knew what is causing it.

I had it when my tank had seemingly good params. 0-0-15 and 3ppm phosphate. This is one "algae" that is hard to find a cause of.

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[irdajoh]

Originally Posted by fish wrangler

I had it when my tank had seemingly good params. 0-0-15 and 3ppm phosphate. This is one "algae" that is hard to find a cause of.

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3 ppm phosphate is too high I believe 2 is the goal when dosing. it's not too hard to figure out what's wrong its an imbalance in nutrients too much phosphates and not enouge nitrates. When I made my pps solution I left out nitrate mix and had this problem, once I remade it I've haven't had bga. I didn't add any bc the tank already had 10-20 ppm nitrate.

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[Huro]

Originally Posted by Huro

Yes I have read that a lack of nitrates will propgate this stuff but I am at loss as to why they just disappeared some folks recommend dosing them but I am not sure how comfortable I am with that.

I literally did a face palm this morning after reading this, clearly I should have gone to bed earlier

[irdajoh]

Originally Posted by Huro

I literally did a face palm this morning after reading this, clearly I should have gone to bed earlier

The plants use them up most likely. Or did you test after a water change?

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[Huro]

Originally Posted by irdajoh

3 ppm phosphate is too high I believe 2 is the goal when dosing. it's not too hard to figure out what's wrong its an imbalance in nutrients too much phosphates and not enouge nitrates. When I made my pps solution I left out nitrate mix and had this problem, once I remade it I've haven't had bga. I didn't add any bc the tank already had 10-20 ppm nitrate.

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My current mixture for macros is 29g K2So4, 33g kNo3, 3G KH2Po4, 20g MGSo4 as was per the instructions on my mixing bottle, what would you suggest?. Also given that I am not able to dose everyday due to being out of town could that be causing my issue?