Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

Hi,

John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.

I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.

With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.

I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.

If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.

I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.

I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.

Thank you
Darragh Sherwin

BGA nightmare, calling zig!

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01 Jul 2009 10:10 #1 by fourmations (NIall SMyth)

BGA nightmare, calling zig! was created by fourmations (NIall SMyth)

zig wrote:

Asterid you probably need to dose Potassium nitrate KNO3, 5ppm nitrate is to low IMHO, you run the risk of further algae outbreaks as well, the dreaded BGA:ohmy: cyanobacteria (is that alarming enough:P )

snipped from astrid's thread about HC

hi zig and all

i have bga coming out of my ears
it really killing me to a point where i feel like giving up

when i set up the tank i had lots of brown algae
which has settled down, but i got advice at the time
to lay off the ferts when algae was strong

so when the bga set in i was laying off the ferts
and really havent dosed regulalry in a month or more

so anyway I was getting nowhere and started dosing again
and the plants took a spurt but so did the BGA

i have maracyn on order (i didnt want to have to do this)

i have done a blackout before and it worked
but the bga was back within days

i have a problem with direct sunlight
but now cover the tank at the relevant time of the day

my eheim is well powerful and seems to be well positioned
for good flow

the tank is well established and growth is fine
(about 70% coverage of full bushy cuba and some
rotala, ludwigia and i put in egeria recently
as its a fast fast plant)

to be honest i dont clean my filter once a month
more like every two months,

its a 3' 100l tank with co2
and it gets easycarbo as well

fish load is fine, (22 small rasboras)

any thoughts welcome

will i go back on full ei doisng?

rgds

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zig (zig)
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Senior Member

01 Jul 2009 12:59 #2 by zig (zig)

Replied by zig (zig) on topic Re:BGA nightmare, calling zig!

Hi mate that all sounds very unfortunate:huh:

For me in the past maracyn was the only way to get rid of bga, I have used it with success, it will definitely work for you.

I cant remember the exact dosage to use, this depends on the strength of the maracyn tabs that you purchase, 200mg 400 mg etc.

I always applied the maracyn in conjunction with a blackout, crushing the tablets up was best as well, it takes ages to dissolve otherwise.

Just do it like a normal blackout, large water change beforehand, apply the ferts (yes full EI dose I would recommend especially the KNO3) apply the approprite amount of maracyn and cover the tank for the blackout, surface agitation is usually appropriate as well if you have fish in the tank, just raise the spraybar slightly to get a ripple on the surface, switch off the CO2 if you are using any and do a 72 hour blackout.

After 72 hours do another large water change and the tank will be so clear you won't believe itB) lastly redose the ferts again at full EI.

Avoid direct sunlight unless you can really control it, best to avoid it alltogether IMHO.

Your flow sounds good (bad flow will definitely cause bga in planted tanks IMO) keep the filter and substrate clean as best you can, these are other contributary factors for bga IMHO.

GOOD LUCK;)

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01 Jul 2009 13:17 #3 by fourmations (NIall SMyth)

Replied by fourmations (NIall SMyth) on topic Re:BGA nightmare, calling zig!

thanks zig

do i need to blackout at the same time as the maracyn?

another thing, while we are on the subject...
my bog standard 54l juwel tank has bga too and always has

it gets no natural light whatsoever
but the filter is not as strong as the 100l tank
(its a tetratec ex600 on a 54l tank)
i never dose this tank at all, should i dose it?
any recipes for a low light fert mix?
will i dose easy carbo?

there are plenty of plants in it
as i tend to keep cuttings of plants
that are not currently in use in my main tank

thanks

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curefan (Dave Massey)
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Junior Member

01 Jul 2009 13:40 #4 by curefan (Dave Massey)

Replied by curefan (Dave Massey) on topic Re:BGA nightmare, calling zig!

"i have done a blackout before and it worked
but the bga was back within days"....eh, no it didnt work if back in days!!!!

Trust the maracyn.

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01 Jul 2009 13:50 #5 by fourmations (NIall SMyth)

Replied by fourmations (NIall SMyth) on topic Re:BGA nightmare, calling zig!

hi

is the maracyn a long term solution?

i thought it wouild just come back
if the original reasons were not addressed

any thoughts on the low-light tank dosing?

PS curefan, did your hairgrass do well?
mine seems dormant all the time, not dead
but grows so slow, has never spread properly

rgds

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zig (zig)
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07 Jul 2009 11:57 - 07 Jul 2009 11:57 #6 by zig (zig)

Replied by zig (zig) on topic Re:BGA nightmare, calling zig!

I would dose the low light tank, half EI dosage or you could dose the pps solution listed on APC another alternative is Tropica plant nutrition+ (all in one dosing solution) at the label recommended dose.

I never get bga in low light tanks tbh, I would have thought the Tetratec 600 was enough flow for a 54l low light tank, flow is not as critical an issue in low light tanks as the nutrient uptake is not as fast.

tbh Maracyn is not a long term solution, if you get repeated bga you really need to work out why its happening.

I would definitely dose the tank though that would be a good start.

Blackout + the maracyn should sort it out.

Last edit: 07 Jul 2009 11:57 by zig (zig).

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13 Jul 2009 23:31 #7 by fourmations (NIall SMyth)

Replied by fourmations (NIall SMyth) on topic Re:BGA nightmare, calling zig!

okay

it worked (not that you are surprised)

i ran full dose for seven days (with tank running as normal, no b/o)
which may seem excessive but i gauged it,
and wanted to err on the side of caution

i am thrilled and wish i did it sooner as most people end up saying

i have addressed the main issue (fingers crossed) and hope for
no encore from the bga.

there was absolutely no effect on my biological filter
which is an issue that comes up with maracyn, apparently...
but having said that my filter is big and is full
of biological media only.

plants thriving, fish happy, no side effects

anyway, thats my experience shared

ciao

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Retirement and forum shutdown (17 Jan 2022)

BGA nightmare, calling zig!