Thread: Black Alge?
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Old 27-06-2006, 06:44 AM posted to rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants
 
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Default Black Alge?


Dick wrote:

I wonder if the fertilizer may not be a contributing factor to the
problem.


dick


No, not to BGA.

99% of the algae issues in fully/mostly planted tanks is related to a
lack of something, not an excess.

Your plants are not growing, that's why you have algae.........they
might look okay, but compared to their potential growth, they are just
sitting there, idling till there is enough nutrients to grow.

You can easily induce BGA, Oscillitoria (species: splendens mostly), by
reducing/stopping NO3 dosing and maintaining the Traces, PO4, K+ dosing
etc. This will drive the NO3 to near zero. You'll see it along the
gravel edge and glass, typically closest to ambient light/windows etc.

So knowing this, you can kill off the BGA, but.......much much much
more importantly, now you know what is the root cause for it's
appearance, thus do preventitive maintenance.

Say you want nice looking teeth(Planted tank), do you brush them often
or do you wait till you have cavities(algae all over) and need a root
canal?

Stop neglecting the tank.
Add more KNO3 and BGA will not appear again if you keep up on
things(NO3 dosing).

Now while many tanks have different fish, loading etc, BGA grows for
very definable reasons................as well as most algae, they are
more specific than plants in terms of the environmental parameters they
enjoy and what induces the spores to germinate into adults.

I do not need to know what your tank is like, the ppms etc, I know
right away that there is either a clogged filter, too few water
changes, flithy conditions due to a very long peroid of neglect, or
much more commonly: low/absent NO3.

Many of the algae can be used to know what is wrong with an aquarist's
tank rapidly, BBA= low or too much variation in the CO2 levels
throughout the day, GW= anything that causes a slight build up on NH4.
Staghorn: urea build up from excess fish/critter loading= similar the
GW reasons. And the list goes on and on.........

Know your enemy and what makes them grow.
Too few planted aquarist know much about algae other than they hate it
and want to get rid of it.

So rather than inducing it to learn more about it, they instead focus
all their time and efforts trying to get rid of it and they end up
guessing for many years, they assume many incorrect things and then
lots of myths get circulated.

If you know what induces the spores to germinate and produce a bloom,
then you know what is going on.........

I do not see why this concept is so strange to folks............Stop
guessing and figure it out. I did and can show folks how to prove the
same obvservations to themselves and inducement methods. Then you'll
know and stop the years of guessing.

Once the BGA starts to grow, like most adult algae, the adults are much
tougher than the spores, think about it...........does a little
seedling have a better chance than a large adult tree? Of course not.
Nor the reserves and nutrient storage capacity.

So while adding KNO3 will address the long range issue and prevent it
from coming back, the 3 blackout/50% water change + good cleaning and
1/4 teaspoon KNO3 per 80 luiters of tank thereafter, 3 days of
blackout(Turn CO2 off) followed by the same 50% water change and dosing
again(turn lights on/CO2 etc) will kill all the BGA you have.

Trash bags 2 layers thick are ideal and you should make sure no light
gets in through the trash bags. Yes, you can feed your fishj, yes, you
can peak, no your plants are not so weak that this treatment will harm
them, they do send in the mail and it's not the dark mailbox that
causes shipping issues, it's freezing or excess heat melting them.

So there is a simple, FREE, non herbical, non antibiotic method anyone
can do, that addresses every type of tank(KNO3 dose is less for non CO2
tanks, marine tanks, oh yes, it works very well for marine
tanks......), it's extremely effective.

Often times with mild cases, no blackout is even needed.
A good cleaning, with some large water changes and redose with KNO3.

Some folks spot treat after with some H2O2.
Some use the pills/antibiotics in conjunction with the KNO3 dosing.

I don't care how you kill the BGA, but make sure you address why it
showed up in the first place.

Pills, H2O2 etc never would show you what induiced the
BGA..............the black will quickly be reinfected if you did not do
the KNO3 dosing..........

That is the real critical part. Antiobiotics will take longer for
reinfection, too long to make the observation that the low NO3 induces
the BGA..........

A healthy group of growing plants is a much better look than weak
plants limited by NO3, you might be okay with that.........but it's a
poor method over the long run when you could be gardening and growing
anything you want with a very few, small changes.

In general, for CO2 enriched tanks: at least 1/4 teaspoon per 80 liters
weekly in a min, for non CO2, maybe 1/16th-1/8th 2-4x a month depending
on fish load/feeding etc.

Adding cory cats will help also against BGA on the gravel.
After 12 months or more, deep vac the gravel also, this gets rid of the
sour organic material and helps improve the O2 levels/circulation in
the gravel.

Hope this helps,

Regards,
Tom Barr