# Cyanobacteria - black outs



## Kezzab (7 Aug 2016)

Hi - suffering with cyanobacteria in the my hi-tech nano tank. Just done a 3 day black out and it's worked well, but not all gone and it's creeping back. 

How long could i safely leave the tank blacked out for without killing the plants? (crypts, anubias, AR mini)

Also, what's causing it? The tank is plants only, lowish light (guess), 5 hr photoperiod, doing 2x50% WC a week, about 1/2 EI ferts, C02 2hrs before lights on, 1 hour before off. Plants are growing quite well (after a huge crypt melt). 15ltr tank.

I feel like i've ruled out most of the possible culprits i've read on here...

Cheers


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## AndyMcD (7 Aug 2016)

Hi Kezzab,

Others will give you better advice, but here are my thoughts!

In my opinion, Cyanobacteria is associated with high organics, poor flow and too much light. 

I suspect your high crypt melt could be the cause. It may be worth giving your filter a clean. Also, gravel cleaning may help. A filter clean may also help your flow.

Do you use Glutaraldehyde (e.g. Easycarbo)? I've been using a syringe, sucking up the required number of ml, suck in some extra air, squirt at high speed the Glut + air mixture into the worst affected areas.

Also, if you get some black card, cut a piece to stop as much light getting to the worst affected areas. At this time of year, one side of my tank is affected by a bright window, so I've got an A3 piece of card on one side. In the winter, I'll use a thin strip of card, to cover where the soil meets the glass. 

Also, you could consider using floating plants, to help reduce some light hitting the substrate and using up excess nutrients. You can get rid of them when your plants are more established.

Hope this helps!


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## Kezzab (8 Aug 2016)

Thanks for your thoughts, appreciated. I need to get some floaters i think.


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## Dantrasy (8 Aug 2016)

ChemiClean will remove your bga. Then increase flow to eliminate dead spots and it most llikely won't come back. This assumes you keep up with your weekly wc'es.


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## Kezzab (8 Aug 2016)

Yikes, that's quite expensive stuff!


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## papa_c (8 Aug 2016)

The cause is always hotly debated, I'll leave that for others.

For remnants after black out I use hydrogen peroxide at 3% strength,  very  from a  chemist,  simply turn filters off, wait till flow has stopped, and spot dose, leave it for 15 minutes and you still at the BGA fizzing as it dies. Turn filters on after 15 minutes.


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## Halley (11 Sep 2016)

I used ramshorn snails


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## Glenn Birtwistle (17 Sep 2016)

I've got a similar bga problem. I used blue exit which cleared it up well. But a fortnight later it's creeping back. My flow is good with juwel internal bioflow 3.0 and a jbl 1501running , I have established plants and I only have a 6 hour photo period with a 3 hour siesta in between the 3 hours of light either side. It's a juwel trigon using the stock day light bulbs. I've tried dosing the water and spot dosing with hydrogen peroxide. Im considering a 5 day blackout as the last resort but I'm at my wits end with it.


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## Eduard18 (17 Sep 2016)

Hi there ! Kezzab you speak of a high tech nano, but you have anubias and crypts; AR mini is a demanding plant but on the other hand you have only a 5 hours photoperiod ; for me it's a contradiction ; what I would do is   throw in some fast growing plants ; 8 hours photoperiod, CO2  24/7 and keep the WC regimen , fertiliser and Easy Carbo ; make sure you have a good flow ; if your nano came with a stock filter, discard it and replace with whatever cannister filter you can get your hands on ; it will do a much better job 

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## rebel (18 Sep 2016)

Dantrasy said:


> ChemiClean will remove your bga. Then increase flow to eliminate dead spots and it most llikely won't come back. This assumes you keep up with your weekly wc'es.


Chemiclean can actually knock it for six-for month and sometimes forever! Even if you don't make any changes!! But you should do good husbandry though.Listen to AndyMcD


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## Jack Reilly (24 Oct 2016)

Glenn Birtwistle said:


> I've got a similar bga problem. I used blue exit which cleared it up well.


Blue Exit did nothing for me. The BGA actually got worse while using it.

I tried everything and finally resorted to antibiotics, which I didn't want to use. It was that or restart the tank. The growth of the BGA was so rapid that I couldn't keep on top of it and my plants were dying. That caused more imbalances in the tank and probably made beating the BGA even harder.

None of the common recommendations worked for me. Increase flow, decrease light, increase nitrate, decrease phosphate etc. After six weeks of trying various approaches I gave up. I think it's probably easier to prevent a BGA breakout than to deal with a BGA breakout.

After removing the BGA I vacuumed the substrate, did lots of water changes, and got the tank spotless. Everything is Peachy now.


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## Halley (25 Oct 2016)

Has anyone experience of using ramshorn snails on BGA? It worked for me


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## Coys (25 Oct 2016)

I'm not keen on using chemicals, but out of desperation I used _Ultralife BGA Remover _when I had a major outbreak in February 2015 that I just couldn't get rid of. It killed the BGA within a week and it's never come back. Plants and fish were unaffected.


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## Jorge Leite (4 Nov 2016)

Hi all,
I just recovered from a similar nightmare. I have a 300 litres (66 gallon?) mostly planted tank, a dozen or so Ghost Shrimps, about 20 Neons and some Ottos. I went on hollydays for almost a month and left the feeding to a neighbour. When I got back I had about a third of the floor covered with cyano and algae prety much all over the place.
I now realise a made a couple of serious mistakes there but thats beside the point now. What matters is how I dealt with it:
   - Weekly 30% WC (I am always afraid to go beyond this)
   - Manual removal of every single bit I could reach (either by syphoning or washing it out)
   - On the remnants I could not remove or syphon away, I used a syringe filled with H2O2 (I believe in english it is called Hydrogen Peroxide, the very same one we use to disinfect wounds that I bought at the supermarket). I was afraid of the consequences of overdosing so I started on one side and took my time to reach the opposite wall.
24 hours later, all the spots I had treated were clean. All I do now, is stay vigilant. Ocasionally, you will notice a reocurrence here and there, on the hardscape or on the plants themselves. Just "spray" it and it´s gone.
This happened to me, so I can vouch for this treatment. Be patient. It works!


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## harry1212 (28 Dec 2016)

Hi all, Im looking to purchase and try the ChemiClean product as I have some BGA in my aquarium. Can i just confirm with someone who has used it that this is the correct thing to buy? (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Pet-Supplies/BOYD-ENTERPRISES-CC02-Saltwater-Chemi/B00025YRJS) I cant find any other type and wanted to be sure that the saltwater version will also work for a freshwater. Thank you muchly


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## rebel (28 Dec 2016)

harry1212 said:


> Hi all, Im looking to purchase and try the ChemiClean product as I have some BGA in my aquarium. Can i just confirm with someone who has used it that this is the correct thing to buy? (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Pet-Supplies/BOYD-ENTERPRISES-CC02-Saltwater-Chemi/B00025YRJS) I cant find any other type and wanted to be sure that the saltwater version will also work for a freshwater. Thank you muchly


YES. BGA usually doesn't come back at all for most of the time I've used it. Sometimes it can come back but you can just re-treat. It is the ultimately lazy way to address BGA.


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## harry1212 (28 Dec 2016)

rebel said:


> YES. BGA usually doesn't come back at all for most of the time I've used it. Sometimes it can come back but you can just re-treat. It is the ultimately lazy way to address BGA.


Thank you very much will order some now!


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## dw1305 (28 Dec 2016)

Hi all, 





Halley said:


> Has anyone experience of using ramshorn snails on BGA? It worked for me


I have Ramshorn Snails, and I don't have any cyanobacteria, but I don't know if the snails actively graze on it.

cheers Darrel


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## Halley (29 Dec 2016)

Has anyone got ramshorn snails and excess cyano?


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## Doubu (29 Dec 2016)

I have tons of ramshorns with no cyano at all. From my experience, cyano is caused from low oxygen levels + brand new tanks. I suggest turning on an airpump while CO2 is not running if you haven't already tested. Good luck!


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## Halley (29 Dec 2016)

Yes I think ramshorns eat it 


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## dw1305 (29 Dec 2016)

Hi all, 





Halley said:


> Yes I think ramshorns eat it


It is useful to know, I'm a Ramshorn snail fan. Coincidentally there is a long running thread on PlanetCatfish about using them as <"egg janitors">.

cheers Darrel


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