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I have BGA in three of my tanks. All three are shellie tanks. This is my first experience with it so I'm pretty much lost as to how I should deal with it.

-20g with 6 fish ~1" long, shells, no plants, Eco-Complete African Cichlid Substrate, 20W flouroescent light, Whisper 30 filter set at highest output

-10g grow-out tank, all fry less than 1", shells, no plants, Aragonite substrate, 15W light, Whisper 10 at highest output

-10g with 2 1" adult fish plus fry, PVC, crushed coral substrate, 15W light, sponge filter

There is a lot of water movement in all 3 tanks, I do 25% water changes weekly, and I'm very careful about not overfeeding.

Any thoughts on the cause? And help with getting rid of it would really be appreciated.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Theresa,

BGA is blue green algae, a cyanobacteria or a bacteria that uses chlorophyl to photosynthesize. It is omnipresent in the environment so you did not contaminate your tanks.

This is a great link to an article on the slimy crud - cyano.shtml" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Skeptical Aquarist

Bottom line is, "How do I kill this stuff?"

1. Increase oxygen,
2. Siphon as much away as possible,
3. Limit light,
4. Limit phosphates and potassium.

You have increased your level of filtration by setting your filters to "high", now drop your water level so that the discharge splashes into the tank. This action will increase oxygenation.

BGA grows in sheets. Try to siphon away as much as possible or use a brine shrimp net to pick it up. Get as many pieces as possible.

Make sure that your tanks do not receive excess ambient light from windows. Put your tank lights on a timer. You do not have to worry about live plants in your set-ups so light them in the morning for an hour or two if you can see the tanks and light the tanks after you come home for an hour or two.

Phosphates and potassium may be a problem in your tanks and then again it may not be a problem. Plants would normally use the chemicals and minimize the impact. Few of us test for the chemicals. Call your LFS and your local water softener company and see if they can test for these chemicals. If they are present, you can do one or all of the following items:

o Use a phosphate "pillow" in your filters,
o Increase your water changes,
o Float some ceratophyllum demersum or ceratopteris thalictroides in your tank to use up some of the nutrients.

Hornwort (c. demersum) is on the left and water sprite or Indian fern (c. thalictroides) are shown below, hopefully...



Attached Image:


__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Thanks so much for the link and the other info

I have a question about the plants. These tanks have a pH around 7.9, would either be ok with that? If not do I have other plant options?

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Hi,
Actually, if you look those plants up on the Tropica site
it says that they will thrive with pH's of 6 to 9. All
three are considered fast growing and nutrient sponges as
they suck up the nutrients and with sufficiant lighting
will out compete algae for the nutrients thus controling
the algae.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Another question regarding plants: will Java fern have the same effect?



~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Java fern is a wonderful decorative plant. However, it will have little effect on your nutrients as it grows very slowly. The water sprite and hornwort are very effective because they are easy, fast growing plants that demand nutrients to grow.



__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

That's ok, I was just asking since I have Java fern available here but this just gives me a reason to do some shopping

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Hi,
To use plants to out compete algae, you need alot, and
most of them should be stem or floating plants. Floating
plants are especially good as they float at the surface
directly under the lighting and can make use of even the
lowest watts per gallon light. Their roots drop down
into the water column and absorb the nutrients directly
from the water. Stem plants are especially fast growing
compaired to others and in that fast growth they use up
nutrients. The larger plants such as the Amazon Swords
will draw large amounts of nutrients from the gravel.

The slow growing plants such as many of the low light
plants will not impact the nutrients as much as the others
simply because they are slow growing.

Wisteria, water sprite, anacharis (left to float) and
hornwart are just some of the more common, fast growing,
great nutrient "sponges" that we use.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--