[APD] RE: BGA

["Thomas Barr" <tcbiii at earthlink_net>]

> Have anyone tried H2O2(hydrogen peroxide) to get ridd of Cyanobacteria 
> instead of antibiotics?
>
> Arild Madsen

Blackout works the best of all the treatments for BGA to kill what's there
that I have tried. It's been 100% effective, it cost nothing. 
Remove what's there, clean tank, filter, prune, do a 50% water change after
you have done these things. Turn off lights, CO2(if you use it) and cover
with trashbags/towles etc so that no light at all gets in.Add 1/4 teaspoon
KNO3 per 20 gal. Remove after 3 days, turn on lights, CO2 and make sure to
change water regularly, have enough NO3 and clean the filter more often.
Then it does not come back which is the real issue, not just killing what's
there. Other treatments do not address that issue, folks will tell you what
kills it, which are many things, but dealing with keeping it away
thereafter is the real problem and should be included in any dealings with
algae. It's not about killing algae, it's about growing the plants. When
the plants grow well, you don't have algae blooms.

H2O2 spot treatments will work but they do nothing for the larger problem.
So do most strong oxidizers like bleach, potassium permangnate etc.
Removal and trimming will get rid of most algae problems or blackout or
filtration(UV, micron, diatom), from there it's a matter of giving the
plants what they need to grow well. 

I think many people believe that H2O2, Algae cures alls, dips etc will
solve their problems and get them over this "temporary hump". I don't think
they do at all. Folks worry about killing algae more than the real issue,
growing plants well. Till they realize that, often they go through a series
of battles with algae and trying to do these big cleanings and have algae
killing issues every week/month /few months and the plants still don't look
as good as it could. 

This also solves a great many "picky plant" issues as well. 

Regards, 
Tom Barr  


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