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Scott
September 25th 04, 01:46 PM
Hi, is blue green algae considered to be a serious problem. what I mean is
if it gets into an aquarium does that mean that a blackout or blackouts must
be performed to remove it from they aquarium because of the speed that it
spreads at and the lack of a working treatment in the UK.

I have had blue green algae in my aquarium since I first set it up in
November last year. it started as a small patch on the gravel in the front
of my tank and very quickly spread over the plants and gravel forming into
sheets. I removed the sheets and gravel cleaned weekly but it did not stop
spreading and the algae was back in force every three days or so.

I have a standard juwel 180 aquarium with zero ammonia nitrite nitrate 1ppm
phosphate. I have also lowered the phosphate with rowaphos to 0ppm for two
months. they only effect that had on the blue green algae was to reduce its
growth rate to a quarter of what it was. that also stopped nearly all plant
growth in my tank. a blacking out the aquarium for four days while the
phosphate was at zero also did not work

I have tried using blackouts several times. I tried a three day and a four
day blackout. each time the algae was not visible after a few days. but
returned a week or so after finishing. I then tried a six day blackout this
also had the same result. recently I tried a four day blackout followed by a
three day blackout two days later, I also started using interpet blue green
algae treatment a couple of weeks before. that has also not worked and the
algae returned after nearly two weeks, a few days ago, low down in the
gravel at the front of my aquarium. I put it down to the fact that a small
amount of light might have been getting to the gravel there, and have
started another four day blackout but i may try a seven or eight day
blackout in the hope of finnaly getting rid of the problem once and for all.

I have been using tin foil to blackout my aquarium with a towel hanging down
the back to help keep out the light that goes through the hagen picture
background at the back. I have also been covering all of that with a
sleeping bag except on this occasion were I have used extra tin foil along
the bottom of the aquarium. that gets it pretty near dark in the aquarium.

any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Billy
September 25th 04, 04:35 PM
"Scott" > wrote in message
...
| Hi, is blue green algae considered to be a serious problem. what I
mean is


If you've been to these extremes, and had no luck, try the following:

BG algae is actually a bacteria, called cyanobacteria. Go to your LFS
and pick up some antibiotics. I usually use about 50% of the
recomended dosage for treating the tank. Remember to remove any
carbon from your filter, and replace it only after the treatment
period is over. Keep a close eye on youy ammonia, nitrite, etc, as
the meds *may* affect your biological filtration bacteria.

I have had horrible cases of cyano a couple times in my planted
tanks, and never had any negative results from the above, only
disappeance of the algae.



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TYNK 7
September 26th 04, 03:53 AM
>Subject: blue green algae
>From: "Scott"
>Date: 9/25/2004 7:46 AM Central Daylight Time
>Message-id: >
>
>Hi, is blue green algae considered to be a serious problem. what I mean is
>if it gets into an aquarium does that mean that a blackout or blackouts must
>be performed to remove it from they aquarium because of the speed that it
>spreads at and the lack of a working treatment in the UK.
>
>I have had blue green algae in my aquarium since I first set it up in
>November last year. it started as a small patch on the gravel in the front
>of my tank and very quickly spread over the plants and gravel forming into
>sheets. I removed the sheets and gravel cleaned weekly but it did not stop
>spreading and the algae was back in force every three days or so.
>
> I have a standard juwel 180 aquarium with zero ammonia nitrite nitrate 1ppm
>phosphate. I have also lowered the phosphate with rowaphos to 0ppm for two
>months. they only effect that had on the blue green algae was to reduce its
>growth rate to a quarter of what it was. that also stopped nearly all plant
>growth in my tank. a blacking out the aquarium for four days while the
>phosphate was at zero also did not work
>
>I have tried using blackouts several times. I tried a three day and a four
>day blackout. each time the algae was not visible after a few days. but
>returned a week or so after finishing. I then tried a six day blackout this
>also had the same result. recently I tried a four day blackout followed by a
>three day blackout two days later, I also started using interpet blue green
>algae treatment a couple of weeks before. that has also not worked and the
>algae returned after nearly two weeks, a few days ago, low down in the
>gravel at the front of my aquarium. I put it down to the fact that a small
>amount of light might have been getting to the gravel there, and have
>started another four day blackout but i may try a seven or eight day
>blackout in the hope of finnaly getting rid of the problem once and for all.
>
>I have been using tin foil to blackout my aquarium with a towel hanging down
>the back to help keep out the light that goes through the hagen picture
>background at the back. I have also been covering all of that with a
>sleeping bag except on this occasion were I have used extra tin foil along
>the bottom of the aquarium. that gets it pretty near dark in the aquarium.
>
>any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Blue green algae is a bacteria and not an actual algae.
If you want it killed, you need to treat with erythromicin.
Any antibiotic won't due, just the erythro.
You can also do mega water changes if you don't want to hit the tank with
erythro, but you will be doing that a lot, and must scrape away all that you
can see with each weekly-biweekly water change.
This will keep it under control, but will not kill it off.
I like to refer to it as the Alien slime from hell.