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How I battled (and won) against BGA
I know the subject of BGA (cyanobacteria) has been beaten to death over
the years, but I thought this very simple approach might help someone.
I moved one of my smaller tanks (20-gal) recently. This tank is
planted. It had a small amount of BGA before moving it, and after the
move, I just couldn't keep up with it. There was so much BGA that no
matter how much of the slimy stuff I removed by hand or by vacuuming, no
matter how many water changes, it just didn't help. It was smothering
everything like a blanket, and I could even see the little green
filaments floating around in the water.
I was desperate and decided to completely turn off the canopy lights as
so many others have done. There is a fair bit of natural light in the
room, so it took about two weeks before the BGA had receded
*significantly*. It was just disappearing. The plants were not harmed
by this - on the contrary, the thick blanket that had been covering
them, was gone. Only the tank walls facing windows had any BGA left.
This I removed by scraping with a net and pulling it out. I then did a
25% water change to get the stuff that was floating around.
At this point, I treated the tank with erythromycin at the recommended
dose. After a couple of days, there was *so little* BGA left. I removed
this tiny bit manually, did a 25% water change, and dosed with
erythromycin again at the recommended rate.
I am happy to say, that about two weeks later, there is absolutely NO
trace of BGA anywhere, and the plants and fish are doing better than
ever. I am watching it like a hawk, doing weekly 25% water changes and
adding Tropica Master Grow at half the recommended dose.
Gitte