Slimy algae question...

[doodledog]

I have some slimy algae that just blankets my aquarium. I can't seem to get rid of it even if I do water changes and a tank cleaning. I've also used Algae Destryoer Advanced and that's not helping. I think it's a cyanobacteria and needs treatment with eurythromycin, but I'm not sure. What can I do or use to rid myself of this nuisance?

 

[Lager]

You can try removing as much as possible and the blacking out the tank for 3 days. Is the the tank planted? How long are your lights on?

 

[doodledog]

I used to have some real plants, but removed them as they weren't doing well. I now onlyhave artificial plants, but maybe the intro of the live ones introduced this algae??? My lights are on about 12 hours/day, off about the same.

 

[Lager]

That is way to long for a non planted tank, try only 5 - 8 hours a day. For the present I would leave the lights off until the algae stops growing.

 

[Johnny Tuttle]

Is there any chance this is spirolina? I'm not sure of the spelling of it, but it's a blue-green algae that seems to do well when when nutrients are high.

 

[jsoong]

What color is it? I have the red/black one which is a pain to get rid of. Since cyano can fix nitrogen, even severe nutrient restriction (pwc, etc) may not help.

A short blackout did not work for mine either. It takes 4-6 days of blackout to get rid of the stuff. I would suggest removing as much of the stuff as possible by hand before trying the blackout. Do a large pwc before & after the blackout to get rid of toxins released by dead BGA. You can also remove & bleach ornaments & inanimate objects to kill the BGA then rinse very well & soak in water with dechlor before returning to the tank (after the blackout.)