CaptainJack
Seedling
G'day fellow aquascapers. I'm stuck in an ongoing fight with blue green algae in my ~27L iwagumi.
The initial BGA outbreak was - I believe - caused by:
The initial BGA outbreak was pretty rapid/bad, and I removed a lot of it with a toothbrush and siphon. It is a bit difficult to remove it from the Monte Carlo without damaging the plant itself, so I've done what I can. I also spot treated with hydrogen peroxide twice a day for about 3 days, and this did seem to kill off a decent chunk of the remaining BGA, but the Monte Carlo in the same area also looked a bit the worse for wear, so I paused that.
Since then I decided to focus on getting some healthy plant growth, with the hope that this would create a harder environment for the BGA to thrive in. It's been almost a week, and I'm not sure if this is working - the BGA is still definitively growing, though much slower than it was. Plant growth is looking ok - dwarf hairgrass is going full speed, and the MC is doing ok.
Hoping to get some advice:
- The tank is planted with planted with Monte Carlo and Dwarf Hairgrass, as well as some Java Moss, using a dry start.
- No live stock.
- I am using CO2.
- I do 60-70% water changes every 2-3 days (for the first week it was daily water changes).
- I'm dosing with an all in one fertiliser.
- Tanks is about 3 weeks post-flood.
The initial BGA outbreak was - I believe - caused by:
- Too much light. I didn't reduce the light intensity or photoperiod (which was quite intense) when I flooded the tank. In hindsight this was way too strong for the plants I have.
- I'm using the 45cm 21W Chihiros A II. I've since reduced the intensity to 25%, and more recently 15%, with 5 hour photo period.
- Not enough flow. I bought a HOB filter that was about 110 L/h (so 4x tank capacity). However the filter really didn't cause much due to the way the outlet was angled.
- I've since replaced this with an internal filter with 450L/h and flow looks pretty good.
The initial BGA outbreak was pretty rapid/bad, and I removed a lot of it with a toothbrush and siphon. It is a bit difficult to remove it from the Monte Carlo without damaging the plant itself, so I've done what I can. I also spot treated with hydrogen peroxide twice a day for about 3 days, and this did seem to kill off a decent chunk of the remaining BGA, but the Monte Carlo in the same area also looked a bit the worse for wear, so I paused that.
Since then I decided to focus on getting some healthy plant growth, with the hope that this would create a harder environment for the BGA to thrive in. It's been almost a week, and I'm not sure if this is working - the BGA is still definitively growing, though much slower than it was. Plant growth is looking ok - dwarf hairgrass is going full speed, and the MC is doing ok.
Hoping to get some advice:
- Should I continue as is (siphoning out the BGA, and aiming for good plant growth), or try something else.
- Black out?
- Go back to the hydrogen peroxide?
- Try a different product? I can get Blue Exit, but am in Australia, and I don't think the other common BGA options are available here.
- Is it better to have too much fertiliser (to maximise plant growth) or too little (to avoid having to much excess nutrients).
- Any other thoughts?
