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Do I have BGA?

@jaypeecee

No CO2 or liquid carbon. I only have Tropica Specialised nutrition.
I think you have to dose so your plants don't get unwell or other problems will come. I'd dose after lights off so the plants have overnight to wick it up before the algae gets a look in. Back in the day there was a school of thought that mega dosing nitrates would hammer BGA. I'm not sure where that stands these days?

So you could either double dose on that philosophy or micro dose on the basis the plants will take it all in overnight and there will be nothing for the BGA by morning...
 
I think you have to dose so your plants don't get unwell or other problems will come. I'd dose after lights off so the plants have overnight to wick it up before the algae gets a look in. Back in the day there was a school of thought that mega dosing nitrates would hammer BGA. I'm not sure where that stands these days?

So you could either double dose on that philosophy or micro dose on the basis the plants will take it all in overnight and there will be nothing for the BGA by morning...

Hi Ray, do plants absorb nutrients in the dark or only when photsynthesising? I've no idea.
 
Hi Ray, do plants absorb nutrients in the dark or only when photsynthesising? I've no idea.

The pathways for nutrient absorption are not the same as those used for photosynthesis. Plants respire 24/7, they grow overnight, a wilted plant watered in the evening will perk up overnight - so my understanding is yes they can do that using stored ATP manufactured during the last light cycle. Sort of like a factory taking component deliveries overnight ready for when the assembly line starts again the next day.
 
Hi @Ruskie

This is not a clear-cut situation but that's the nature of our hobby. I think you should try a dose of Tropica Specialised Nutrition and monitor the situation closely.

JPC
 
Hi @Ruskie

It's a long time since I used Tropica Specialised Nutrition and I seem to remember that it may contain ammonium and urea. If so and if you still have RCS in your tank, it would be wise to keep an eye on ammonia/ammonium and nitrite.

JPC
 
For those of you still following this nightmare, an update.

On Friday I cleaned up the Cyano again the best I could and fitted the new pipes. Flow is definitely increased as the poor stems on the opposite side of the tank are taking a fair old pummelling. I added 1 squirt of ferts as the plants looked in need and I double dosed Blue Exit.
Saturday and Sunday I upped the dosage to triple and then quadruple. Yesterday was also a quadruple dose.

Unfortunately the Cyano is still coming back :(. Whether this is the result of adding ferts again or or not I don’t know. A couple of pics attached.

The 1st one shows the new Cyano on the L Sessiliflora - This was all removed on Friday so has come back pretty quickly.

B4BB3910-B2C9-4DDE-8504-2F4E8EFB4949.jpeg


The 2nd is Cyano returning on the moss in the middle of the tank. This moss, with the new pipework, is in the direct firing line of the outflow pipe. You can see on the stems to the left that the Cyano is starting to break up somewhat and has become more stringy.

4EB6030F-7FD6-42D0-87CA-4C7637221E03.jpeg


The 3rd is taken from the same spot as an earlier photo where it was becoming quite clumpy. It’s not quite as bad but obviously there is still a fair bit. The S Repens behind are definitely looking worse for wear compared to the earlier picture.

55EE3D5B-3A2A-483F-ADDA-4D8C518F3143.jpeg


Did the addition of 1 squirt of ferts help or hinder? I don’t know, hard to say I guess.

I’ve done another clean today and double dosed BE again. Let’s see where we are in a few days.
 
Hi @jaypeecee

An update, as requested :)

I believe steady progress is being made :thumbup:
Light is off at the moment so no pictures, I can add some later maybe.

If you recall on the last update I did a big clean and double dosed BE. I dosed BE a couple more times after that before the bottle ran out. Within 48 hours the Cyano was coming back quicker again. I feel that the Blue Exit was slowing the growth of the Cyano some what but not actually stopping it outright or eradicating it.

As luck would have it the Ultralife blue green slime stain remover I ordered (Amazon, it shipped from the US) turned up the day after the BE ran out - Fate??

So last Sunday was another clean and the first dose of Ultralife followed by another dose on Tuesday (as per manufacturers instructions) I’ve kept a close eye on the tank this week, being furloughed has its upsides I guess, and so far I believe progress has been made -
No new areas of Cyano, any covering the wood has subsided and it is slowly disappearing from the plants.
There is still some visible on the tips of the carpeting plants (the hardest to clean without uprooting) but in places that looks like it is slowly starting to die and fall off - My shrimps have also visibly been more active doing their thing which I can only assume is a good thing! One has took to chilling in a section of the moss, they never went near it before!

So, early days but it looks positive. I’m going to be patient but the Ultralife has given me some confidence that it will work and hopefully I can start giving the plants a bit more attention soon.
I have some new growth which looks healthy so with a little time I plan on trimming and replanting this healthier growth to replace the older somewhat damaged plants.

Patient baby steps.
 
Hi @Ruskie

It's good to get your feedback about the Ultralife BGSSR. It does appear to be effective. But, I have run shy of using it as I don't like adding undisclosed substances to my tanks. There is also a possibility that it is a chemical that is available at a fraction of the price charged by Ultralife. So, please keep us posted. I'm very keen to see how things develop. It's a shame that the Blue Exit failed you. My hunch is that Easy-Life's recommended dosage of Blue Exit is over-conservative.

JPC
 
Hi @Ruskie

It's good to get your feedback about the Ultralife BGSSR. It does appear to be effective. But, I have run shy of using it as I don't like adding undisclosed substances to my tanks. There is also a possibility that it is a chemical that is available at a fraction of the price charged by Ultralife. So, please keep us posted. I'm very keen to see how things develop. It's a shame that the Blue Exit failed you. My hunch is that Easy-Life's recommended dosage of Blue Exit is over-conservative.

JPC
Hi @jaypeecee

An update, as requested :)

I believe steady progress is being made :thumbup:
Light is off at the moment so no pictures, I can add some later maybe.

If you recall on the last update I did a big clean and double dosed BE. I dosed BE a couple more times after that before the bottle ran out. Within 48 hours the Cyano was coming back quicker again. I feel that the Blue Exit was slowing the growth of the Cyano some what but not actually stopping it outright or eradicating it.

As luck would have it the Ultralife blue green slime stain remover I ordered (Amazon, it shipped from the US) turned up the day after the BE ran out - Fate??

So last Sunday was another clean and the first dose of Ultralife followed by another dose on Tuesday (as per manufacturers instructions) I’ve kept a close eye on the tank this week, being furloughed has its upsides I guess, and so far I believe progress has been made -
No new areas of Cyano, any covering the wood has subsided and it is slowly disappearing from the plants.
There is still some visible on the tips of the carpeting plants (the hardest to clean without uprooting) but in places that looks like it is slowly starting to die and fall off - My shrimps have also visibly been more active doing their thing which I can only assume is a good thing! One has took to chilling in a section of the moss, they never went near it before!

So, early days but it looks positive. I’m going to be patient but the Ultralife has given me some confidence that it will work and hopefully I can start giving the plants a bit more attention soon.
I have some new growth which looks healthy so with a little time I plan on trimming and replanting this healthier growth to replace the older somewhat damaged plants.

Patient baby steps.
That’s good news;) I also have had issues, i have a thread under journals ‘ aquascaper 600” goes into detail.
All the best, fingers crossed for you :)
 
So I’ve finally (hopefully) gotten over the BGA disaster in my tank and I feel now is the time to start thinking about adding some more livestock in. Exciting.
Based on this comment in another thread it looks like the Ultralife BGSSR did the job? @Ruskie - please can you confirm that's the case?
 
Based on this comment in another thread it looks like the Ultralife BGSSR did the job? @Ruskie - please can you confirm that's the case?

Hi @Ray

Yep, Ultralife BGSSR did the trick for me.

As I stated in post #128 I believe Blue Exit was slowing the growth of the Cyano somewhat but not actually eradicating it but I did have a pretty bad case!
Ultralife BGSSR seemed to go that step further and the improvement was pretty rapid.

As my case was pretty bad most of my plants were pretty badly affected and I’ve had to remove some as they were beyond saving and replant with new. The carpeting plants being the main ones as they were so hard to clean properly without uprooting.
The ones that could be salvaged have had the new growth cut and replanted and are starting to show signs of recovery. Hopefully things will grow back in fully in time.

Now, one thing I will state is that the Cyano is not completely gone. I still get traces appearing on the glass which are easily removed when cleaning and there is a section of the wood that occasionally shows a little but these are the only places I see it but it doesn’t spread and it is way more manageable than before. I keep a close eye on it but it maybe something I just have to live with!

Just for completeness I’ve attached a couple of photos of the tank at it’s worse and the tank as it is now :)

AE4B2E23-7731-40E0-82B9-17E39B199933.jpeg


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1E2278CB-9C00-4607-B367-23D014D9EE14.jpeg
 

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Hi @Ruskie
As I stated in post #128 I believe Blue Exit was slowing the growth of the Cyano somewhat but not actually eradicating it but I did have a pretty bad case!

And, I think you've hit the nail on the head there. Serious infestations of Cyano possibly call for something stronger than Blue Exit. I am in no doubt that Blue Exit is worth using before Cyano really gets out of control. And it annoys me a little that Easy-Life, the manufacturer of Blue Exit, recommends such a cautious dose. I think I presented research that had been carried out on Blue Exit demonstrating that it didn't kill any fish at up to 100X the recommended dose! I can always check that I've got my facts right here if anyone wants me to do so.
Now, one thing I will state is that the Cyano is not completely gone. I still get traces appearing on the glass which are easily removed when cleaning and there is a section of the wood that occasionally shows a little but these are the only places I see it but it doesn’t spread and it is way more manageable than before. I keep a close eye on it but it maybe something I just have to live with!

This is interesting. I have read other people saying that BGSSR isn't 100% effective. But, it obviously gets very close to this figure. I am still doing experiments to see what else we might consider. I am unhappy about using BGSSR if it contains antibiotics. I think Ultralife's blurb says it does not contain erythromycin sulphate (going by memory) - but that's just one antibiotic from many.

BTW, congratulations on your 'new' tank - what an improvement! Well done!

JPC
 
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