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I have a plant with a serious black beard algae problem, and one that is developing BGA because of some dumb algae destroyer crap(the algae destroyer killed some of the hairgrass and it decayed, causing a new type of algae). Is there any way to clean them of algae in a separate container without killing the plants?

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I like Led Zeppelin.

get a dwarf otto i had one and it clean all the brown algea away with in 3 days

Bo,

You can dip your plants in a weak bleach solution of 1 part bleach to 19 parts of water. It should whack the algae without killing the plants. You do want a second bucket available to drop your plants into after the dip. Add a double dose of your de-chlorinating agent to the second bucket. Oh and don't dip the roots!

BGA was not caused by

some dumb algae destroyer crap

. BGA is naturally occuring and will blossom whenever conditions are right. It is a "cyano bacteria". My reading indicates that it is common in two different circumstances:

o In very low nitrate situations. Adding Nitrate to maintain a 5-10ppm nitrate level often eliminates the BGA.

o In poor water current situations that result in low O2 levels in portions of the tank. In these cases, increasing water movement will often eliminate the BGA.



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

To warn you...don't leave the plants in too long if you go with the part bleach solution...it will kill them.
I recently dipped all my plants in the 19:1 water/bleach solution and dipped a few of them too long. I may have dipped the roots of some of them also . I lost a few of the plants by doing this.

*Kristin*

So how long should I dip it? I was thinking like 10 seconds but I wasn't sure. Also, I'm not sure it's BGA. It's growing across some of the dead hairgrass blades and It's like a black cobweb kind of. Also, the algae destroyer killed my DG so it is officially "crap".

________________________________________________
I like Led Zeppelin.

sorry, but

BUMP

________________________________________________
I like Led Zeppelin.

I would just hold the plants by the roots and swirl them in the mixture for about 10 seconds...maybe 20 seconds. I messed up and let mine sit in the mixture for atleast a minute...sometimes more than that...and it killed them.

*Kristin*

OK, thanks. Does my description about the stuff on my hairgrass fit BGA?

________________________________________________
I like Led Zeppelin.

Hi,
Here is a site that shows the various types of algae,
describes them, tells what, gennerally causes it, and
how to eliminate them:
http://www.otocinclus.com/articles/algae.html

Hope this helps...
Frank


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

I have tried this before on my anubias moliwe. I did it for 2 min. The plant is still doing great although a couple of leaves did turn yellow after it and died. My dad did this on vallisneria and they all died. Might be supersensitive to the bleach water.