I have a cold water 20 gallon with only 7 small Daimos & Golden algae eater (who eats nothing looks like) but have the black beard starting in the heated tank upstairs with Tetras and Clown Loaches. I only ask as every case of manual removal I have seen has resulted in a quick return of blue-green algae. And unfortunately, anecdotal evidence is all we really have at the moment when it comes to battling BGA in an aquarium setting. And if you don’t treat it, it will soon take over your aquarium. This has to be one of the best articles on the subject. It sounds like you have the situation under control, If you follow the directions I am sure everything will go smoothly. I found an easy way to temporarily rid tank of 80% . I’ve also never had black-out kill plants, and almost all my tanks are planted. Below you see spots of blue-green algae at the bottom of a bucket…. Far be it to me to question your learned knowledge Ian but I’ve had a similar experience to Claire. Blue-Green Algae grow fast and cover everything in sight, coming off in sheets when attempting their removal. I know it can be disheartening, but you shouldn’t need to start from scratch. There is a bit of residue in one or two of the heavy spots, but it’s no longer green….clearly dead. Please update me with how it goes! Water quality was perfect throughout the 9 months of tank setup btw. Remember this organism has had over 3.5 billion years to develop its resources. Unfortunately, I have no experience with Kent Poly-Ox. Started adding liquid carbon when the plants stopped growing and that made a big difference and all was well until the blue-green showed up, which I understand suggests low nitrates, so I have started dosing with nitrogen and potassium as well (was already using a comprehensive for trace elements). I have my fingers crossed that your current treatment works – I can’t imagine the adventure you have had to get to this point. Instead BGA are quite happy when they are provided nitrates to grow on – they don’t need to fix atmospheric nitrogen when they can obtain nitrates from the water. As for Duckweed, that’s a whole other problem – but it shouldn’t have any impact on removing blue green-algae. In its early stages, blue-green algae just looks like a green smudge…. ), Identify and Destroy Staghorn Algae In Just 2 Days. My nitrate level is too low, does anyone have a tip on how to raise it? Over 2,000 products in stock Like with any medication, you should keep an eye on your water parameters by testing and react accordingly. The earlier you treat the outbreak, the easier it is to eradicate. And let me clarify something. You add it, and it looks like nothing is happening. But, 3 weeks later, I see it creeping back. This is a big curiosity for me but unfortunately, I can only gather anecdotal data on the subject. And each one is different. Really love this discussion. That’s awesome to hear that you had success with the black out method, where possible, I prefer to go the route where chemicals are not used. As the blue-green algae begins to thicken, it’s not uncommon to notice air-bubbles being trapped in it…. I have seen this used on a tank with ghost shrimp without issues. Will the stain remover kill my shrimp? It’s actually a bacteria called cyanobacteria.[1]. You’ll get sick for sure. But don’t worry, blue-green algae has unique characteristics that make it easy to tell it apart from the other types of algae. Also what about the drift wood and I going to have to remove this as well. That’s right, it was around well before dinosaurs roamed the earth.[2]. However, the best method is to keep green algae from accumulating. Although I must admit, my old memory isn’t what it used to be so take this with a grain of salt. 72 hours in and all of the desirable life forms remain well. Recently I blacked out a tank while I was away for a weekend, since I wasn’t feeding the tank anyway, and went from a green bottom to nothing. I used it for its 5 days then waited another 5 days as required. We had a BGA outbreak and with much research was thrilled to find your information. Its depressing. Proven effective in removing Blue Green Algae from Freshwater Fish, Plants and Invertebrates and is Safe for desirable macro-algae, nitrifying bacteria and fish. I”ve put in about 5 doses into my tank. Wish I could say the product works because BGA is a real problem in my tank – it doesn’t. Increase dosage of nitrates if plants are nitrogen starved. My gratitude to you and I am very thankful that I came across this article. Should I do this prior to or after the Ultralife addition and dying off of the blue green slime? When blue-green algae first appears in your tank, it is barely noticeable – especially if it sets up residence on your plants. It all sounds positive so far and I hope that the second dose knocks it on the head. I don’t test the water. As I touched on in the article, while some people experience great success with blacking out their tank, others find that the process does absolutely nothing. Some say that the cyanobacteria is present in the local water supply, and is introduced into your tank during water changes. Like a rotting swamp smell. So, if you are not careful with how you remove it, you could be helping the blue-green algae spread faster than before. What with the plants and lack of nitrates this seemed to excel the problem. It took 6 months for it to completely kill my amazon sword plant, by compleatoy covering every leaf. Based on this article I was able to identify the offensive attacking slime and quickly ordered the Ultralife product off Amazon. I too tried “Exit Blue” but it only partly worked. The next one is erythromycin. Thank you for the article and advice. I did a deep cleaning….scrubbing plants and walls and tube of the slime. Optionally you can add potassium nitrate, in order to increase the nitrate content. Blue Green Algae Removal from Water ‘Blue-green algae’ or cyanobacteria are a type of microscopic, algae-like bacteria which inhabit freshwater, coastal and marine waters. Yes, blue-green algae can be deadly to plants. This helped me very much, thank you! You will know when your blue-green algae is starting to die off because it dries out and turns a dark, almost black color. While manual removal may control blue-green algae, it doesn’t kill it. IE if we get it on our skin or ingest it, can’t we get really sick? I know it’s too late now, but buying individual tools for each tank will help spreading algae like this. I was adding a plant-gro supplement for a few weeks but have stopped. However at lower nitrate levels massive blooms are less likely. I think that a probiotic treatment is a legitimate method to treat CBA theoretically. The more minor places the BGA was trying to get a foothold have all but vanished!. EcoClean Solutions Mold, Mildew & Algae Remover | No … If it has that terrible smell, it is cyanobacteria. What else causes the lose of scales, dropsy, pop eye, rotting flesh, cloudy eye, and fin loss? It might be called a “stain remover,” but this stuff stops a full-blown blue-green algae bloom in its tracks. It’s no secret that many types of blue-green algae are toxic.[6]. Do you use an aquarium test kit to regularly check your water parameters? Mine is 0 ammonia, 0 Nitrite and 0 nitrates. Isn’t blue green algae poisonous to humans as well? At this stage, you should realize that something’s up. Algae stains in pools and green algae are not the same thing. Thank you for the article. The reason I’d recommend black-out as the first method of treatment is that it’s free (assuming you already own things like towels) and reversible. Algae cannot grow when nitrates are zero, plants cannot grow where nitrates are zero. Thank you for letting me know. Some say it’s because plants and algae eat nitrates while blue-green algae doesn’t. I know other treatments will, so that’s why I’m asking. After using the product it appears to me to be a beneficial bacteria of some sort of which there are numerous products on the market designed to cycle ammonia produced by fish to nitrite and nitrate. Good to know about the nitrates I will test and add N if needed. You managed to get it in both your tanks? Thanks Ian, that’ll be my next buy if this treatment doesn’t work. Thanks so much for sharing this. A few weeks ago i decided to just remove the dwarf water lettuce as its the only place in the tank that the algae grows. API POND ALGAEFIX Algae control, Effectively controls Green water algae, String or Hair algae and Blanketweed, Use as directed when algae blooms and as regular care. Proven effective in removing Blue Green Algae from Freshwater Fish, Plants and Invertebrates and is Safe for desirable macro-algae, nitrifying bacteria and fish. Besides the 5 year old clown loaches, I have Rainbowfish, corys, a couple SAE and a few otos. It’s also considerably more expensive than Hydrogen peroxide, so I would make that the starting point. Realizing there can be different strains – wondering if you have any ideas for the next step? Simply perform a water change, add a dose and wait for the slime stain remover to work. Even deeper in the substrate along the glass, it has faded into oblivion! There are multiple types of blue-green algae. Your comment will appear after it is approved by our staff. Where are you located? Like most algae, a well-maintained tank with stable water parameters seems to be the best method of preventing blue-green algae from taking over your tank. But it looked identical. Nitrate is food for plants, algae and BGA. This bacteria is believed to be over 2.3 billion years old. Once the blue-green algae is removed, this level of nitrates should prevent it from coming back. You should see to it that your fish eat the feed distributed within a few minutes. That post I shared on the nitrate phenomeon is on the barr report, where many planted tank owners share their experience. If you notice it spread, then you can rule out any other type of algae. Plants on the other hand, aren’t so lucky…. ), Aquarium water turn green? I currently have several Amano shrimp and they’re doing an awesome job of cleaning up the other types of algae and preventing some of the reinfection of the blue-green algae. Also, given my success knocking cyanobacteria back with black-out, even an “unsuccessful” treatment might reduce the cyanobacterial problem to one that can be handled manually. I.e nil nitrates favors CBA over plants due to it’s ability to fix nitrogen. They had been testing 0 so I will likely add.. 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