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BGA in Akadama

idris

Member
Joined
3 Jan 2011
Messages
816
Location
Herts
Is this BGA in the Akadama of what had, till recently, been a near dormant tank?

1120711.jpg

Having done a big rescape a couple of weeks ago, replaced nearly all the plants, and started slowly introducing new livestock (algae crew first) it'll be a massive PITA if I have to strip the tank again.
I've read some comments about Blue Exit, but others suggesting that if BGA is in the substrate, it's probably there to stay.

Other than water changes and a black-out, any thoughts?
 
just remove it,whenever you see it.
You don't have to do a full blown water change,everytime..just enough to eradicate all visible BGA.
dig down,into the substrate,a little bit...it loves to hide there.
 
Looking at the tank in daylight, I can see a couple more areas where I suspect BGA in the substrate. In each case it is under the surface and against the front glass.

1) If I were to black out the areas where it is not evident above the surface (eg with gaffer tape) for a week or so, could that be sufficient to halt it's growth in those areas?

2) I've read that once BGA is in substrate, it's difficult to eradicate. If it is below the surface of the substrate, but is photosynthetic, how does that work?

3) I can think of three possible causes of the outbreak:
  • The tank was pretty much untouched for around 2yrs, but somehow healthy enough to keep one or two Amano shrimp and a several Kuhli Loaches alive, without water changes, light, filter cleaning or even feeding. As part of the rescape, all the substrate got churned up before the tank was replanted.
  • I've recently bought new plants.
  • I've switched from tap water to using rain water from a water butt.
I suspect the dormancy and rescaping is the most likely cause, and the new plants least likely, but is the water butt a possible source?
 
In my case, the new plants brought in the cyanobacteria (BGA). With a combo of EasyLife Exit Blue and a three and a half day total blackout, I managed to get rid of it. I can recommend this cure. It proved to be durable (it was 6 weeks ago). I did not experience any harmful side effects on the plants and fish.
 
It's possible it's come from the water butt,I've had issues in the past with it after using rainwater and can only presume that's where it might have came from.
 
In my case, the new plants brought in the cyanobacteria (BGA). With a combo of EasyLife Exit Blue and a three and a half day total blackout, I managed to get rid of it. I can recommend this cure. It proved to be durable (it was 6 weeks ago). I did not experience any harmful side effects on the plants and fish.Did you have it in the substrate?
Good to know. Did you have it in the substrate?
I've read conjecture that Exit Blue just deals with "stains" and not the BGA itself. Any thoughts?
 
In my case the tank (about 160 l net water volume) and the substrate (Tropica Aqua Soil) were new (one month old). First I saw BGA on a few new plants. Later there were some green patches on the surface of the substrate around the new plants. I do not know the effect mechanism of Exit Blue, but the cure was very successful. During the total blackout I did not use the CO2 injection, but the external filter and the air pump were on constantly. The BGA needs light for life, it can live only on the surface and not in the soil.
 
I don't know if it's linked but I notice your substrate looks exactly how mine did when I got a BGA outbreak. It was kind of powdery and dense in terms of grain distance and producing gas bubbles. I think something in the substrate may have become anaerobic but that's an educated guess. I picked up that the BGA was coming from the substrate. I also had issues though with inert larger grain size that was relatively thin, so what gives?

Since then I'm using Alfagrog under the substrate, running at 23-25c instead of 25-30c, doing regular water changes and sucking up detritus and reduced lighting intensity by 50-60%, added fresh robust plants and there's no sign of it. Early days but I think a combination of factors make it cozy for BGA. You just need to make it less cozy.
 
Hi @idris

Yes, you have cyanobacteria (aka BGA) in your tank - the unmistakeable blue green colour. You may find something of interest in this thread:


In the above thread, you will see that I had success with Easy-Life Blue Exit. Now is the time to act before it gets out of control. And, at that point, Blue Exit may not be effective.

JPC
 
It's possible it's come from the water butt,I've had issues in the past with it after using rainwater and can only presume that's where it might have came from.
Hi @MirandaB

That's very interesting. I have made a note of your observation.

Out of interest, do you use a tap water conditioner (e.g. Seachem Prime) on your rainwater? I believe some people do - just in case there are any 'nasties' in the water.

JPC
 
Hi @MirandaB

That's very interesting. I have made a note of your observation.

Out of interest, do you use a tap water conditioner (e.g. Seachem Prime) on your rainwater? I believe some people do - just in case there are any 'nasties' in the water.

JPC
I don't as I keep a bag of carbon in the water butt and periodically run a pump in there to make sure it's circulated through it.
Just got a microscope so going to look at a sample of it under there and see if I can see any.
 
Just got a microscope so going to look at a sample of it under there and see if I can see any.
Hi @MirandaB

Ah, jolly good! I'd be interested to know if it's the same species as that which I referenced in post #11 above. It's one of the filamentous types - Oscillatoria - so called because the filaments oscillate from side to side.

Please keep us updated.

JPC
 
Hi @idris

Yes, you have cyanobacteria (aka BGA) in your tank - the unmistakeable blue green colour. You may find something of interest in this thread:


In the above thread, you will see that I had success with Easy-Life Blue Exit. Now is the time to act before it gets out of control. And, at that point, Blue Exit may not be effective.

JPC
Having been reading this thread (and understanding some of it) one thing that stood out to me is how low Nitrate can lead to BGA. Doesn't that imply that, once a tank is properly cycled, having too few fish can make BGA more likely?
 
Having been reading this thread (and understanding some of it) one thing that stood out to me is how low Nitrate can lead to BGA.
Hi @idris

Somewhere in my archives, I believe that the connection between low nitrate and cyanobacteria has been called into question. I will check this out further because it comes up a lot on forums. I have this hunch that it has been disproven but I will pursue this and report back on my findings.

JPC
 
It is possibly <"this thread?">. The reasoning would be that not all cyanobacteria (Blue-green Algae) are nitrogen fixing ("diazotropic"), and some naturally occur in <"eutrophic conditions">.

cheers Darrel
Good afternoon, Darrel

You are correct in saying that not all cyanobacteria are nitrogen-fixing. Indeed, the cyano that I investigated in my tank(s) - Oscillatoria - is one such example.

JPC
 
I've read conjecture that Exit Blue just deals with "stains" and not the BGA itself. Any thoughts?
Hi @idris

There is a lot of misleading information on the Net. The use of the word "stain" in this context is possibly related to a cyano 'treatment' containing that name. What is stopping you from wanting to try Blue Exit? It worked for me and it has worked for others. There is good science in support of its use. But, if you do decide to try it, please read through the thread to which I previously linked. And, feel free to ask questions whilst putting it to the test. Unfortunately, Blue Exit does not come with any guarantees. But nor does anything else.

And, just in case you're wondering - no, I am not an Easy-Life employee!

It's your call.

JPC
 
4 days in complete darkness and one more day of Blue Exit to go.

I had been using some TNC Carbon before, particularly in the hope of it helping the Dwarf Hairgrass establish, but figured I should stop that for the moment. And the lights were on for 7hrs.
In terms of getting back to usual, is it now worth staying off the Carbon and running a reduced photo-period for a week or so?
 
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