BGA growth has decreased very little. Last week something wierd
happened. 3 days after my water change there was little BGA growth. I
thought I had the stuff licked. That night when I got home from work
there had been an BGA explosion. Green stuff everywhere. I changed
water one day early last week.

I keep suggesting massive daily water changes but never hear
how that's worked or not worked for you.

The first step to get rid of this crap is to get the tank
very clean. I siphon out all waste, gravel vac then diatom
the tank - and change lots of water. Lots and lots.

My well water here is apparantly the perfect growth medium
for staghorn which is tengentially related to BBA. Every other
algae I can lick but this one is a problem for me. I've
had to resort to chemical means to eradicate it complete
and have found peroxide can be made to work with some difficulty
and Aquarium Pharmecuticals Algae Fix kills it dead overnight
much more safely (albit it kills all invertenrates). Copper
sulphate will do the same.



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Hey, I apologize..... There have been so many suggestions that I want
to carry out each methodically. I really appreciate all the feedback
but it's hard to use it all.... I don't want to change 100% water, add
1/2 pound of nitrates, washdown my gravel, pump CO2, ect. ect. ect. all
at the same time. I wouldn't know what worked. Y'know? I have even
tried H2O2 in my small tank (it has a touch of BGA nothing like this
though).

I definitely will try to change the water much more frequently. I don't
know how long I will have to do that..... I can't promise to do it
everyday but I should certainly be able to do it every other day.

One thing I forgot to mention is I cut the light quantity in half....
same duration (12hours). Not really any change though.

my aquarium page, info and pics at:
www.geocities.com/spiral_72/Spirals_page.html

I run almost a 50% water change last night. I added a little KNO3 to
keep the nitrates up to 10ppm. I am going to dose fertilizer tonight.
(it got tool late last night). Still pumping CO2. pH dropped to 7.1

my aquarium page, info and pics at:
www.geocities.com/spiral_72/Spirals_page.html

Doesn't matter what environmental changes you make, you will still need
to kill what's there.
a series of water changes can likely succeed, so can the blackout I
suggest which addresses the plant's needs with the KNO3, CO2 etc.
Carbon from the CO2 is 40%+ of the dry weight of the plants.
K and N from NO3 are a good lion's share of the rest.

Blackout is simple and takes 3 days, BGa will come back if you do not
add the KNO3.
KNO3 you can get at home dept for 5$ for a year's supply. Most folks
have a 1/4 teaspoon.

Pretty simple.

Regards,
Tom Barr

I run about a 50% water change two days ago (I wasn't able to last
night) but when got home yesterday the tank was perfectly clear. No,
really. No bga at all. No traces, no dead bga. None. Yea I vacuumed as
much bga as I could but I didn't get it all. All the plants are a
brilliant green. I don't understand. It's just gone!

Time will tell I guess. I am gonna run another water change tonight. I
am scared of changing too much water just because my tap is 7.6pH. The
water in my tank is (now) 7.1 with the CO2.

my aquarium page, info and pics at:
www.geocities.com/spiral_72/Spirals_page.html

Yup, I've got the KNO3. Been dosing to keep nitrates at 10ppm

Oh, yea. A phosphate test showed levels off the scale immediately after
the 50% water change. I don't understand that. I can only assume the
test is accurate. It reads 0-0.25ppm for my tap water.

my aquarium page, info and pics at:
www.geocities.com/spiral_72/Spirals_page.html

Just make sure you add plenty of KNO3 and KH2PO4.

Keep up on it and keep things clean and you'll be alright.

Regards,
Tom Barr

No BGA as of last night. pH=7.1 NO3=10ppm PO4=off the scale

I changed about 30% water while vacuuming, and installed a phosphate
sponge I just bought. The vacuum really didn't pull much out of the
gravel. The phosphate spong is supposed to remove 20mg/L in 30gallons
of water. According to my calculations that'd be 10.9mg/L assuming I
have 55gallons of water in my 55 gallon aquarium (which I probably
don't). The directions say "if the phosphate levels ain't 0.02mg/L or
less after 4 days, change the sponge for a fresh one"

I must say I have learned much during this experience. Thanks Tom.

my aquarium page, info and pics at:
www.geocities.com/spiral_72/Spirals_page.html