Today we talk about BGA, and start treatment with a product i have never used. I want to see if it works. Have any of you tried it yet? Product used (amazon affiliate link, I get a commission): Waste Away: amzn.to/2qgc2MR Camera used: amzn.to/2rPQwiB My Patreon: www.patreon.com/racheloleary Fan mail can be sent to: PO box 146 Manchester PA 17345 Buy me a coffee: msjinkzd.com/about_msjinkzd/support-our-site/ Instagram @msjinkzd Website and stocklist: msjinkzd.com/stocklist/ Facebook: facebook.com/msjinkzd/
Have you tried chemi clean? Its made to kill red slime in saltwater but i have tried it many times against BGA and it works really well. I treated once and it has stayed away for over a year.
I've got cyanobacteria in one particular tank, and since there are no fish in it (just an MTS or two or who knows how many with the way they reproduce), and it's not touched the plants really, just a good part of the front glass, I've let it go as an experiment. Was going to tackle it soon, look forward to seeing how this product helps you. As you may know, animal antibiotics were severely restricted last year here in Canada (as had Europe a couple of years back), so we've got a nation of fishkeepers who are going to have to wean themselves off the medication as first line of defense (or any line, really, given the shortage of fish vets, and the expense of diagnosis/prescription if you do find one). Your approach is one practically unique among FishTubers, and will become all the more essential and appreciated as time goes on.
Ooh, good news, for once the product's available on Amazon Canada as well, and reasonably priced, close to the exchange rate. Here's the link, @Rachel , in case you want to toss it up with your affiliate code (this may work already, just typed over '.com' with '.ca'. www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002DGOC6W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002DGOC6W&linkCode=as2&tag=racheloleary-20&linkId=c3e43a6c42cd9d2bbff63bc1fd684143&th=1
I feel like you made this video just for me because I've been fighting the darn thing in two of my tanks forever. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels its the bane of their existence as a fishkeeper.
Hi Rachel ! Been dealing with it for months!!! Manual removal, increased aeration, played with nutrients, amount of light , you name it lol and the savior for me was to adjust the colors of the lights!!!! I've got the fluval led strip so not the cheap option but I swear when I adjusted the spectrum of blue, red, yellow lights, the BGA slowly disappeared on its OWN !!! Like you, I was and still am reluctant to chemicals, so adjusting the colors of the light spectrum was like a real blessing!! All the best for your experience !
You just became my #1 fish channel!!! I try doing everything as natural as possible. Not just tanks but house cleaning gardening raising animals. So good on ya for doing it the way you are.
Had heavy Cyanobacteria in a ten gallon, planted shrimp tank, that uses Seachem Prime tap water and crushed coral for hardness, a tank that's only about 4 months old. Vacced the sheets and so on for a month to see if it would reduce and no luck. Read up on all the solutions but I didn't want to dose antibiotics. So I figured Id change parameters that might affect it. Based on both aquarium forums and some science research, I did the following all at once: a) I switched fertilizer from Flourish Comprehensive to Tropica Specialized to add phosphate, potassium and nitrates, at recommended dose once every two weeks. b) Switched LED light from 4000K to 5000K, (as one research paper suggested cyanbacteria doesn't do so well in blue light, see info below); c) I added an airstone at the opposite end of the tank from the sponge filter, but near to the bulk of the Cyanobacteria growth. With those 3 main changes all of the the visible Cyanobacteria was gone within a week or so and it's not come back yet in a month and a half. Fingers crossed, since its still there lurking, unseen. Thanks for sharing all your wisdom, Rachel! "Blue light reduces photosynthetic efficiency of cyanobacteria" doi.org/10.1007/s11120-018-0561-5
Ohhhhh that’s what’s in my brackish crab tank! The funny part is the sheets form on the inside of the glass lid where condensation gathers. It’s not even submerged lol
I made the mistake of using re mineralised ro in my aquarium for water changes and I eventually ended up with 0 nitrates in my tank, I believe this caused a Cyanobacteria outbreak. The only way I managed to finally get rid of it was to remove as much manually as I could with a 50% water change then clean my external filter then black out the tank for 7 days no peaking at all. Then uncover tank do another 50% water change and another clean of the external. It hasn’t been back since touch wood 👌🏻 I now mix my ro with tap water 50/50 to get 20ppm nitrates hope this helps someone
I'm excited to learn about this product with you! I feel pretty lucky, as I haven't noticed Cyanobacteria in any of my aquariums, however I did see a massive bloom of BGA in a planted vase I had a few months ago. It appeared overnight, and the entire surface of the water was shiny and dark greenish-blue. I'm fairly certain it started after I removed the mini-filter (I wanted to use for a different project). My personal observations/conclusions were the lack of flow, as well as some afternoon sunlight - I had the vase on a countertop about a foot away from a west facing window. I tried dosing it with a few drops of Hydrogen peroxide and that ALMOST worked. Over the course of a few hours, I watched as the peroxide bubbled, agitating and then 'killing' the BGA, which snowed down to the bottom of the vase. I would then do a water change and try to remove as much of the dead bacteria as possible, and the water was clear for roughly a week, and then the cyanobacteria bloom would start over.
Rachel... If the product you are trying right now doesn't work, try this one: UltraLife Blue-Green Slime Stain Remover. I found it on Amazon. Cyanobacteria was the bane of my aquarium life as well, until I stumbled into this product. I had "that one tank" that was covered in a beautiful/disgusting sheet of green velvet. I didn't even remove the algae first. I just treated with this product. It takes a week or so before anything happens, but then the algae just dies and falls away. It is AMAZING!!! Give it a try next. :)
I've used the blue-green slime remover product with good success, but as mentioned, the bga tends to come back. My ultimate solution with bga is a total rescape, including leaving the cleaned out tank in the Sun a couple of days. I look forward to seeing how this product works and if the bga comes back.
Don't usually comment, but wanted to say thanks for experimenting and showing that even a Master Fish Keeper like yourself runs into this common problem. I am currently in the middle of the antibiotic treatment. Didn't want to use it, but after using the Peroxide and fighting it for months, I can't take it anymore. Please keep us posted as I'm sure that no matter what it will be back.
It's also a really cool organism. Being one of the very oldest fossil records at 3.5 billion years; one of the earliest diving forces for freeing the O2 in our atmosphere; and representing a key piece of evidence in how plants evolved, likely through the process of endosymbiosis. According to leading theories, you can thank cyanobacteria as the ancestor to the chloroplasts in every known land plant; as well as, those plants that migrated back to water which we can find through your many aquariums. As for the product: Most hobbyist know about Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas, but after reading 3 of Dr. Hovanec's research papers (Dr. Tim) he seems to have attempted to isolate additional genus of bacteria that perform nitrite oxidation. As today we have only studied roughly 1% of suspected bacterial species within lab settings. So its very likely that this product contains non-Nitrobacter and non-Nitrosomonas genus of bacteria like Nitrospira or Leptospirillum. The take away is the intentional introduction of a wider array of beneficial bacteria (I know you said beneficial's, but I was really curious what types). I have actually been looking for a way to do just that, so thank you for the tip :) I look forward to seeing your updates
It`s so weird how it seems to cling on to specific aquariums. My cousin had/has it. He broke down the entire tank, cleaned it and restocked it. After 3 months or so it reappeared as if nothing ever happened. I do wonder if it maybe somehow manages to survive in the silicone or something bizarre like that? We also thought of maybe letting the tank dry fully. Just leave it for a couple of months in a sunny spot. Very curious to see how this method will help, sounds good anyway. Good luck!
I had a bad dose of this in a large Cichlid tank ( 350 liters ) a few years ago . I tried lots of different ' cures ' to no avail . So I decided to strip down the tank and sterilise everything . Whilst I was getting new tanks ready for my fish I let the Cyano take over . It covered everything completely ; the substrate and all 4 sides . Once it was really thick it just started dying and disappeared completely over 3 weeks . That was about 4 years ago and it hasn't been back . Weird stuff . best of luck with it .
So basically this is more like adding to the eco system to balance it out, but instead of plants, shrimp or snails, its on a micro level. Instead of chems and meds. I love this approach. Looking forward to the results.
I read that elodea and anacharis type species are alleleopathic against cyano. Alleleopathy is always kind of a contentious subject, but this came from scientific research. Even if it's something more basic like competition for the same nutrients, it's irrelevant to us if it works. I've never had cyano to be able to test it, but if you have some elodea hanging around it might be worth it to throw some starters in there
I have a hang-on-back filter for my 10g that is on the right back corner of the tank and was constantly getting cyanobacteria on the left side. I stuck an airstone on the left wall and it went away. Any time I removed the airstone it came back, so now I just leave it there. Haven't had it return in over 6 months
Chemiclean oxidizes the cyanobacteria. I long ago gave up trying to figure out why I get it bad in some tanks, and not at all in others. I just look at it like mowing the lawn. It's just part of tank maintenance for me. My worst tanks get treated with Chemiclean about twice a year. The stuff that says "Red Cyanobacteria works great on the blue/green stuff, and kills off the grunge that grows over everything too. Doesn't affect your cycle except for a lot of dead organics in the tank after treatment. It'll be interesting to see how this works.
Patiently (ok not patient) awaiting the results since I’m in the middle of this BGA outbreak! Results please! Thx for your dedication, passion, knowledge and education for hobbyists!
I've been in the hobby for a coupla decades and bga is just something that's on my list of things that "come with the territory" of the hobby. While I've rarely had very serious battles with bga over the years, I've noticed that it usually hits any given tank during periods when I slack off maintenance in some way and once I get back on top of things it usually clears right up without even having to manually remove it. I've only ever had to directly treat for bga once in 1 of my planted tanks about 3yrs ago and I did so by manually sprinkling kanaplex powder(an antibiotic) on the algae hot spots and cut the light completely, it was gone in about 3 days and never came back.
I smelled cyano in my 55 freshwater South American cichlid tank two days ago but can't see it yet. Like you I do weekly large water changes and my nitrates are always below 20 ppm and I have lots of aeration. So frustrated but determined not to go antibiotic route although I know it works. I was just about to order chemiclean today until I saw your video. I'm happy you're trying Dr Tim's products as I looked into them awhile ago and I'm impressed with the concept. Excited to see how it works in your tank. We are having a red ride outbreak in our area presently (I live in the Gulf) and I've always wondered if the spores are getting into my tanks.
Cyanobacteria is way older than dinos by about a minimum of 250,000,000 years. Think twice as old as dinosaurs, if not even older. They were the first oxygen producers on the planet, and they made the stromatalites still living today in Australia.
Several reviews on Amazon say the Dr. Tim's was DOA when they received it. They say to buy direct from Dr. Tim's website instead. Great video, as always.
I've just recently had a bit of cyano appear after I changed my lighting routine. I removed it and pulled back the lighting and now it's gone. I got lucky. Best of luck to you all that get it.
The glass that the particular aquarium is made of is probably soda-lime glass especially if its an older tank. I bet the cyanobacteria benefit from the minerals and trace elements in the soda-lime glass more than they would in a more chemically pure/inert borosilicate glass or acryllic aquarium, worth an experiment. Soda-lime glass would be more bioactive and favorable to bacteria and if there were any harsh chemicals used to clean the tank this may have affected the surface of the glass and changed the roughness of the -SiOH groups on the surface which would creat completely different micro-nano-environement that would affect the biofilm.
I tried Hydrogen Peroxide Rachel..and then learned my Aquatic ferns couldn't take that...I tried blue green algae killer..some brand,usually used for red marine cyanobacteria. It worked for a few short weeks. What finally worked..better..was to increase flow. That got rid of 90%..but it was still there lurking. What was a knockout punch? A combo of...covering the food for the algae- sands-- with gravel. Around the same time? I started using iron. As of right now,a tank once plagued by outbreaks..looks free of it. I never reduced the lighting through all this. Sand is food..cut that off. Iron helps higher plants absorb nutrients out of the water..not just iron. That chelated stuff also I really believe helps them get more of everything out of the water..all the micronutrients. Try iron. Sands are both food and nutrient dumps. They look so good,and work so bad!
I’m actually learning about Cyanobacteria and a floating plant Azolla, apparently they share a symbiotic relationship. Also, Cyanobacteria converts nitrogen back into ammonia. Idk if that’s helpful for anyone but I thought it was interesting it came up in my class after I watched this video the same day
Great info!! Very well done Rachel!! In My reef , flow got rid of mine plus I would cycle lights off certain periods. Amazing how strong this Bacteria is in your 1 system!🤔
I find erithromycin to be the only effective, surefire way to treat it. Is it ideal? No. i'm aware with the issue of antibiotic resistance. But it is what it is. You can try other chemicals like chemiclean and other methods like increasing flow, oxygenation and blackouts but these yield mixed results at best.
I have a small spot of this in my aquarium right in the bottom left hand corner. The outflow is directly above it on the tank so it's in an area of quite low flow. I'm really tempted to try Dr Tim's product myself.
Can't wait to follow along, as I have a small Brio 35 aquarium (36 liters / ~9.5 gallons) with a lot of cyanobacteria, that I can't get rid off. If it works I just hope I can find it within the EU.
I had blue-green cyano bacteria long ago in a 10g and thought it was a beautiful translucent blue-green thing as I sliced it off the glass in sheets with a razor blade. HA! I thought it was just another aggressive algae so cleaned everything in the tank and did a water change. It didn't come back. I don't know why since you mention it is hard to get rid of. I guess I was lucky.
Eek! Also the bane of my existence. It plagued me for a while, I choked it out by covering it w/ sand continuously (and by that I mean doing it a good handful of times a day). I did add an air stone for unrelated reasons and I think that kept it away. Thankfully it never actually got to my plants. Thanks for the explanation on the causes!
Never had it until I dosed Seachem Excel and then boom BGA. Used hydrogen peroxide to kill off most of it followed by light black out. Also dosed Seachem pristine which has a bunch of bacteria to compete with the BGA.
OMG.... can you counter the antibacterial effect(s) with on.... well, soon as I started typing, you got to the part about the addition of beneficial bacteria. This sounds like a solid product & sounds like you've done some research; I hope it all works out & I'll be anticipating to hear the results....
Rachel, I have used both EM and Chemiclean to treat cyano in my fluval spec V. Such a stubborn annoyance and the smell is...well...you never quite forget it. I removed my betta and rehoused him in a different tank while I treated. Both treatments seemed to make some improvement, however, even after a deep clean and many water changes, the cyano just kept coming back with a vengeance. I'm very curious to see how Dr. Tim's bacteria works out for you. I use his ammonium chloride to fishless cycle my tanks but never paired it with the beneficial bacteria. My tanks have a different PH depending on the type of substrate I use and what I use to remineralize my RO (GH only or GH+KH) and I want the appropriate bacteria colonies to form on their own as I understand depending on ph below or above neutral the type of bacteria are different...correct me if I'm wrong. Can't wait to see the results of your test run. Please keep us posted. For the record, I was using tap water at the time, and my cyano was red and parts were black, not green.
I used to find this stuff in our local ponds all the time! By the end of the summer they'd be nothing but this film and snails, all the fish would die off
Refresh will harm snails and shrimp but Waste Away seems safe for invertebrates. I'm curious if you or others find that it breaks down driftwood faster and affects plant growth overtime by aggressively reducing nitrates and phosphates. There is always a trade off. It's definitely safer than antibiotics.
I have used both chemiclean worked but of course came back with vengeance. Tried doctor Tim’s a long with a over cleaning of rocks and substrate and phosphate remover. Hasn’t come back yet and been maybe 2 years and oh yea is a marine aquarium
I am so happy that you are trying this. So far I have tried water flow, hydrogen peroxide, and blackouts. Trying to do it the natural way. The longest I've been clean of it is 90 days. I can't wait to see if this works. Thanks🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌟
It's one of those magical ironies that the bane of your existance is also the cause of your and all other life forms existance here on earth as it was cyanobacteria that caused the great oxidation event 2.4 billion years ago when oxygen levels rose in the atmosphere. It is persistant stuff, you can find it growing inside rocks in Antarctica and just about everywhere else. It seems it's not so keen on faster water flow so you find it in slow moving parts of rivers but not where there's a decent current but more often than not, that level of current probably isn't suitable for most aquariums. I'll be following this to see how it turns out.
Yes, the nerd/pedant in me reacted a little when Rachel said it'd been around 'since the dinosaurs', when it's been around at least 10 times as long. But I'm trained as an archaeologist, and same feeling when someone says 'so you dig up dinosaurs?' Orders of magnitude difference! lol [Rachel, you are my favourite youtuber, sorry to be harder on you because you are near perfect ;) ]
So happy to see this today! After falling in love with the look of your algae tank, I decided to let it grow in my tank. Unfortunately all I have is an over growth of cyanobacteria slime. My tank is a disaster. And I'm trying to find a solution. Looking forward to seeing how this works for you!
This has been the most stressful part of my aquariums. I'm okay with algae, it helps promote diversity in microorganisms. But cyanobacteria takes over, and kills everything.
kept fish for years juts got into plants. have never seen this, ever in decades of keeping fish. planted a 30g breeder with just plants for 6-8 months of stability, saw nothing. Excited making a fully planted tank I fired up a 75g, again just plants for 6 months. Amazing, add co2 to the 75g, growth explosion! Add fish, very low stocking, to both tanks. NO issues at all. Same schedule every week, minor common algae on anubias , easily dealt with. Now for the last year or so I have been fighting this nonsense off like the plague , its everywhere, on everything, including an empty 10g that is a QT tank that has nothing in it but water lol. Worse then a virus. Sick of cleaning it up. Has even killed plants by suffocating them.
Hi Rachael Alex from Scotland here. Love your videos and your work by the way, first time Ive commented on any of your videos but your such an inspiration and Ishare your love of big predatory fish. I keep oscars, peacock bass and florida gar. Have you thought of trying the product blue green slime remover by ultralife as ive used that many a time on new aquariums which is when i seem to get affected by the dreaded cyanobacteria. It has worked for me every single time. As far as I know it is completely natural. I usually start to see the results in 3 to 4 days. Keep up your amazing work and I look forward to seeing the outcome with your cyanobacteria Looking forward to your next video Take care Alex
I’ve been battling 2 different types of algae I think... I’m a saltwater guy but still an algae battle is an algae battle imo. I’ve tried marine pure blocks with a cpl diff types of bacteria as well as Red Sea NOPOX algae control and started having great success over a 2 month period however it never completely went away and does keep returning but only in a cpl places so I let the water change go for almost 3 weeks to see the growth and got busy over the holiday and the shit just grows it seems I got rid of the first type then a different type popped up so I’m also gonna try Dr. Tim’s waste away just did a big water change and manual removal yesterday so I plan on going to get it today. Best of luck to both of use lol
Rachel up north where I used to live, there was a shallower rather organic lake with several farms around it. Every summer there would be a Blue green Algea bloom caused by runoff from farmers fields that were dosed with fertilizer containing Phosphorus and Nitrogen which are the key building blocks for the Algea in question. So by decreasing fertilizer it should get better but you don't think you use fertilizer so I have no clue. Unless it is a property of your well water?
I'm allergic to BGA, so a reliable treatment is good news. In past experience, it often goes away just as mysteriously as it arrived, but it sure makes a mess while it's here.
I've never had it, knock on wood, but if it ever appears I would like to treat it naturally. Looking forward to the updates to see how this product does and the long term results. 👍💕👍
I thought duckweed was the bane of your existence? Just a bit on Chemiclean, it has been banned in some EU countries. Lab analysis showed it contained erythromycin cetyl succinate, which is still a regulated antibiotic. There is still debate over what other active ingredient is contained within it, as it causes the mats to release from surfaces and clump together so that it will be removed through filtration.
Seems still to be available in Canada, although somethings are still slipping under the radar on the antibiotic front a year after the ban/restriction. But the price alone is a deterrent, at 2-1/2 to 3 times the cost to US customers. Dr. Tim's Waste Away is priced just a little over the expected exchange rate, so looks to be a winner on the money front, hopefully it works as well as Rachel thinks it will!
I used chemiclean and it killed a few of my Shellies. Out of about 60 I haven't had any die in 2 years. Lost 5 to it and I followed the instructions perfectly.
Definitely looking forward to seeing what the outcome of this was. Brown diatom "algae" have been a consistent issue in my tank and I'm still trying to figure out the cause. Not quite the same as your issue but curious, nonetheless, to hear what happened.
Thanks so much for this video. I ordered the treatment straight away. I have this in my Shellie tank, it covered every shell. I've noticed most people seem to get this in their Shellie tank too, I wonder if something in the shells breaks down and helps the BGA grow. I'll update on the progress!
I've just gotten BGA for the first time in my community tank and I'm excited to see how this works for you! Also, I buy ladybugs for my garden to control pests and this seems like a similar approach, and natural as you mentioned, so hopefully it works! Would be a great product to promote, if it does. The hobby will thank you, and Dr. Tim, for it! 🐟❤😀
@@travismorgan9273 you totally should! I pay 15-20 bucks for a small package, on Amazon! Lol... in Texas we get them but not in those numbers, and releasing them in my backyard keeps them on my roses and crepe myrtles a lot longer, to avoid the yucky-damp-weather pests that show up, that time of year. In my opinion, you're lucky... You must have gorgeous plants there!
I've used sludge away and I'm pretty sure the tank benefited from it...I used it because I thought the boost in benefitial bacteria couldn't hurt!!?? But I also wanted to say that I have had blue green algae breakouts numerous times throughout my life and it is always a tank with only sponge filtration!! I'm not sure if there's a connection but I'm curious how many people have seen the same with sponge filters?
I have used Ultralife Blue Green Slime Stain Remover with great results. I have found it to be safe for even the most sensitive fish and invertebrates including crystal red shrimp. With antibiotic treatments you are cautioned to remove some tetras like cardinals, any loaches, and ALL invertebrates. BG Slime Remover only takes 2 doses in 48 hours to completely clear BGA. Like you, I have one tank that it just keeps coming back so I was looking forward to see how this works. But a closer look at Dr Tim's has a caution on not shrimp safe so its not going to be an option for my shrimp tank. :-( Still it will be interesting to see how it does for you.
Hi, actually ADA suggest overdosing Bacter 100 to fight it. Since both are bacteria, they will compete for resources. I overdose seachem stability it resolve in a day
Awesome research Rachel. Thanks for the help. My buried 900 gallon tub pond had a most ugly form of cyanobacteria most of last year until our hot summer temps (desert like and dry) arrived. I too have a well and wonder if that is the source. I appreciate the product info and will try this if it returns.
Question: I have free floating alge in my tank and it's a pain because it fogs up my tank. Will adding more flow help and if so will adding water flow hurt fish who are not used to it.
Chemiclean works awesome. Had bga that would come and go but nothing solved it. Did the research and settled on chemiclean. Followed the directions and it has not came back since and I only did one treatment. Also kept an eye on water parameters and did not see anything that changed from before treatment to after treatment. Still interested in seeing the results of the test though as you do a good job with testing and showing all of us the results.
Tactical nuke. It works, expsenive and clean up is a mess. Only thing i have found that works is black out or antibiotics. Small spots h2o2 in syringe works, but its a pain
Sounds like a good idea. I love the idea of probiotics and beneficial bacteria. Looking forward to the next video on this. Also, did you move that one aquarium that keeps getting this bacteria?
My bane at the moment.... LEECHES!!!!! I got some hydrocotyle from an amateur plant grower, two weeks later I see these rotten things on the glass at night. I don't want to break down my beautiful planted tank so I've removed the fish and am hoping to starve them out. So a big lesson, quarantine your plants too. Or even a peroxide dip as well.
@@RachelOLeary 😧😥😢😦 Yeah, normally I do but it was the old " one lil piece won't cause any trouble" mentality . Stupid! I've also had to use fish antibiotics for the first time ever! An unwanted betta I was "gifted" had chronic finrot, popeye, fungus.... Pristine water, salt, improved diets etc; all the natural methods did zilch. But he kept eating and pathetically coming up to see me when I approached the Q tank. He broke me. A course of triple sulfa has put it in remission and the little bugger is thriving. He was kept in a brandy balloon for 8 months and fed slivers of ham, it's a wonder he survived at all. I really want this poor little thing to live the best life possible (yep he's definitely broke me!) and have spent more $$$ on him than any other fish I've ever owned. Jeez Louise I'm getting soft in the head!
Dr Tim's Waste-Away appears to be a similar product to FritzZyme 360 and other "sludge removal" additives, does it not? I've not used it to treat cyanobacteria, but the Fritz product has allowed me to stretch out time between water changes in my african cichlid tank due to how it helps to break down organic wastes.
I have to wonder. Is the cyano in one physical tank no matter where it's placed or is it any tank that's placed in a specific spot. In the former it could be that there's a contaminant in the glass or silicone or plastic that is beneficial to the cyano. If it's the latter maybe there's an environmental contaminant from the ceiling or something that's causing the cyano.
with how your tanks have the same conditions, AND that 1 tank been in storage, could it be caused by a different silicon on the seams of that tank!!! you also mentioned red algae, i have my suspision that the red is caused by galvenized or stainless steel in the water :)
not replying huh! well, if u ever had experience with cheap SILICON air tubing, maybe you would have noticed that they get a build up of slime!!! if u were referring to the other opinion about the red algae, then this is also something i have witnessed in my own set-ups!!! seems pretty likely in my opinion, but that is ONLY my opinion :) x
Rachel, Did you notice in the instructions, that two different Dr. Tim's products are listed in this regimen? The first listed is called "Re-Fresh", and then the second is "Waste-Away"? -- Just checking to see if you noticed this and if it is important in the use and effectiveness of "Waste-Away"? I just looked up the Dr. Tim products online, and they are two different products, or bottles.
@@RachelOLeary Great, thanks for the reply, was just wondering... I am looking forward to seeing the results you get. I enjoy all of your videos, efforts and information so much. Thank you!!!
Been thinking about doing water changes for my 10 gallon using only rain water. Do you know if there are any pro and cons doing this. ( won't be using rain water that runs off roof ect ) will place bucket on garden table to collect so not contaminated in anyway. I don't live in a high pollution area and just keep neon tetras in my tank
Rachel, is this product safe for your beneficial bacteria, and do you need to remove your fish, snails and shrimp to another tank before treating? Thanks.
Do you know anything about Dr. Tim’s First Defense? I haven’t found much info on it. It says it’s natural but I was surprised the ingredients aren’t listed. It’s also bright green in the water....
Im having issues with bga as well but i have yet to find a solution that is safe for invertebrates as i have a colony of cherry shrimp in my tank. Is Dr. Tims safe for them?
Today we talk about BGA, and start treatment with a product i have never used. I want to see if it works. Have any of you tried it yet?
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Have you tried chemi clean? Its made to kill red slime in saltwater but i have tried it many times against BGA and it works really well. I treated once and it has stayed away for over a year.
@@fudgieization She talks about ChemiClean around the 5:15 mark.
I've got cyanobacteria in one particular tank, and since there are no fish in it (just an MTS or two or who knows how many with the way they reproduce), and it's not touched the plants really, just a good part of the front glass, I've let it go as an experiment. Was going to tackle it soon, look forward to seeing how this product helps you. As you may know, animal antibiotics were severely restricted last year here in Canada (as had Europe a couple of years back), so we've got a nation of fishkeepers who are going to have to wean themselves off the medication as first line of defense (or any line, really, given the shortage of fish vets, and the expense of diagnosis/prescription if you do find one). Your approach is one practically unique among FishTubers, and will become all the more essential and appreciated as time goes on.
Ooh, good news, for once the product's available on Amazon Canada as well, and reasonably priced, close to the exchange rate. Here's the link, @Rachel , in case you want to toss it up with your affiliate code (this may work already, just typed over '.com' with '.ca'. www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B002DGOC6W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B002DGOC6W&linkCode=as2&tag=racheloleary-20&linkId=c3e43a6c42cd9d2bbff63bc1fd684143&th=1
I feel like you made this video just for me because I've been fighting the darn thing in two of my tanks forever. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels its the bane of their existence as a fishkeeper.
It's so frustrating!!
Hi Rachel ! Been dealing with it for months!!! Manual removal, increased aeration, played with nutrients, amount of light , you name it lol and the savior for me was to adjust the colors of the lights!!!! I've got the fluval led strip so not the cheap option but I swear when I adjusted the spectrum of blue, red, yellow lights, the BGA slowly disappeared on its OWN !!! Like you, I was and still am reluctant to chemicals, so adjusting the colors of the light spectrum was like a real blessing!!
All the best for your experience !
In what way exactly did you tweak the light?
I have the same problem w/Fluval 3.0 light so how did you tweak the lights?
You just became my #1 fish channel!!! I try doing everything as natural as possible. Not just tanks but house cleaning gardening raising animals. So good on ya for doing it the way you are.
Had heavy Cyanobacteria in a ten gallon, planted shrimp tank, that uses Seachem Prime tap water and crushed coral for hardness, a tank that's only about 4 months old. Vacced the sheets and so on for a month to see if it would reduce and no luck. Read up on all the solutions but I didn't want to dose antibiotics. So I figured Id change parameters that might affect it. Based on both aquarium forums and some science research, I did the following all at once:
a) I switched fertilizer from Flourish Comprehensive to Tropica Specialized to add phosphate, potassium and nitrates, at recommended dose once every two weeks. b) Switched LED light from 4000K to 5000K, (as one research paper suggested cyanbacteria doesn't do so well in blue light, see info below); c) I added an airstone at the opposite end of the tank from the sponge filter, but near to the bulk of the Cyanobacteria growth.
With those 3 main changes all of the the visible Cyanobacteria was gone within a week or so and it's not come back yet in a month and a half. Fingers crossed, since its still there lurking, unseen.
Thanks for sharing all your wisdom, Rachel!
"Blue light reduces photosynthetic efficiency of cyanobacteria" doi.org/10.1007/s11120-018-0561-5
Ohhhhh that’s what’s in my brackish crab tank! The funny part is the sheets form on the inside of the glass lid where condensation gathers. It’s not even submerged lol
That is where mine sits too
That's just normal algae
I made the mistake of using re mineralised ro in my aquarium for water changes and I eventually ended up with 0 nitrates in my tank,
I believe this caused a Cyanobacteria outbreak. The only way I managed to finally get rid of it was to remove as much manually as I could with a 50% water change then clean my external filter then black out the tank for 7 days no peaking at all. Then uncover tank do another 50% water change and another clean of the external. It hasn’t been back since touch wood 👌🏻 I now mix my ro with tap water 50/50 to get 20ppm nitrates hope this helps someone
I so appreciate the fact that you share information like this. It's invaluable to those of us who are new to the hobby! Thanks Rachel!
I'm excited to learn about this product with you!
I feel pretty lucky, as I haven't noticed Cyanobacteria in any of my aquariums, however I did see a massive bloom of BGA in a planted vase I had a few months ago. It appeared overnight, and the entire surface of the water was shiny and dark greenish-blue.
I'm fairly certain it started after I removed the mini-filter (I wanted to use for a different project).
My personal observations/conclusions were the lack of flow, as well as some afternoon sunlight - I had the vase on a countertop about a foot away from a west facing window.
I tried dosing it with a few drops of Hydrogen peroxide and that ALMOST worked.
Over the course of a few hours, I watched as the peroxide bubbled, agitating and then 'killing' the BGA, which snowed down to the bottom of the vase. I would then do a water change and try to remove as much of the dead bacteria as possible, and the water was clear for roughly a week, and then the cyanobacteria bloom would start over.
Oh my gosh I am so glad I'm not the only one. How fast it comes back makes me want to cry sometimes.
Have the same problem with bga :( I was happy to hear that it's not bad for the fish
Rachel... If the product you are trying right now doesn't work, try this one: UltraLife Blue-Green Slime Stain Remover. I found it on Amazon. Cyanobacteria was the bane of my aquarium life as well, until I stumbled into this product. I had "that one tank" that was covered in a beautiful/disgusting sheet of green velvet. I didn't even remove the algae first. I just treated with this product. It takes a week or so before anything happens, but then the algae just dies and falls away. It is AMAZING!!! Give it a try next. :)
Hi Angel, thanks for this recommendation! I just read more about UltraLife and ordered some. Hopefully I'll get rid of cyanobacteria in my aquarium.
Definitely agree about to many meds being used all the time. Clean water and changes to temperature and salinity have worked most of the time.
I've used the blue-green slime remover product with good success, but as mentioned, the bga tends to come back.
My ultimate solution with bga is a total rescape, including leaving the cleaned out tank in the Sun a couple of days.
I look forward to seeing how this product works and if the bga comes back.
Don't usually comment, but wanted to say thanks for experimenting and showing that even a Master Fish Keeper like yourself runs into this common problem. I am currently in the middle of the antibiotic treatment. Didn't want to use it, but after using the Peroxide and fighting it for months, I can't take it anymore. Please keep us posted as I'm sure that no matter what it will be back.
It's also a really cool organism. Being one of the very oldest fossil records at 3.5 billion years; one of the earliest diving forces for freeing the O2 in our atmosphere; and representing a key piece of evidence in how plants evolved, likely through the process of endosymbiosis. According to leading theories, you can thank cyanobacteria as the ancestor to the chloroplasts in every known land plant; as well as, those plants that migrated back to water which we can find through your many aquariums.
As for the product: Most hobbyist know about Nitrobacter and Nitrosomonas, but after reading 3 of Dr. Hovanec's research papers (Dr. Tim) he seems to have attempted to isolate additional genus of bacteria that perform nitrite oxidation. As today we have only studied roughly 1% of suspected bacterial species within lab settings. So its very likely that this product contains non-Nitrobacter and non-Nitrosomonas genus of bacteria like Nitrospira or Leptospirillum. The take away is the intentional introduction of a wider array of beneficial bacteria (I know you said beneficial's, but I was really curious what types). I have actually been looking for a way to do just that, so thank you for the tip :)
I look forward to seeing your updates
It`s so weird how it seems to cling on to specific aquariums. My cousin had/has it. He broke down the entire tank, cleaned it and restocked it. After 3 months or so it reappeared as if nothing ever happened. I do wonder if it maybe somehow manages to survive in the silicone or something bizarre like that? We also thought of maybe letting the tank dry fully. Just leave it for a couple of months in a sunny spot. Very curious to see how this method will help, sounds good anyway. Good luck!
I had a bad dose of this in a large Cichlid tank ( 350 liters ) a few years ago . I tried lots of different ' cures ' to no avail . So I decided to strip down the tank and sterilise everything . Whilst I was getting new tanks ready for my fish I let the Cyano take over . It covered everything completely ; the substrate and all 4 sides . Once it was really thick it just started dying and disappeared completely over 3 weeks . That was about 4 years ago and it hasn't been back . Weird stuff . best of luck with it .
So basically this is more like adding to the eco system to balance it out, but instead of plants, shrimp or snails, its on a micro level. Instead of chems and meds.
I love this approach. Looking forward to the results.
Yes, exactly! I hope it works! Stay tuned
I read that elodea and anacharis type species are alleleopathic against cyano. Alleleopathy is always kind of a contentious subject, but this came from scientific research. Even if it's something more basic like competition for the same nutrients, it's irrelevant to us if it works. I've never had cyano to be able to test it, but if you have some elodea hanging around it might be worth it to throw some starters in there
i have some here, i will give it a whirl if this doesn't work for sure.
I have a hang-on-back filter for my 10g that is on the right back corner of the tank and was constantly getting cyanobacteria on the left side. I stuck an airstone on the left wall and it went away. Any time I removed the airstone it came back, so now I just leave it there. Haven't had it return in over 6 months
Hopefully I will never need this, but I am glad that it is there if I do. Thank you for the good information.
Chemiclean oxidizes the cyanobacteria. I long ago gave up trying to figure out why I get it bad in some tanks, and not at all in others. I just look at it like mowing the lawn. It's just part of tank maintenance for me. My worst tanks get treated with Chemiclean about twice a year. The stuff that says "Red Cyanobacteria works great on the blue/green stuff, and kills off the grunge that grows over everything too. Doesn't affect your cycle except for a lot of dead organics in the tank after treatment.
It'll be interesting to see how this works.
Patiently (ok not patient) awaiting the results since I’m in the middle of this BGA outbreak! Results please! Thx for your dedication, passion, knowledge and education for hobbyists!
I've been in the hobby for a coupla decades and bga is just something that's on my list of things that "come with the territory" of the hobby. While I've rarely had very serious battles with bga over the years, I've noticed that it usually hits any given tank during periods when I slack off maintenance in some way and once I get back on top of things it usually clears right up without even having to manually remove it.
I've only ever had to directly treat for bga once in 1 of my planted tanks about 3yrs ago and I did so by manually sprinkling kanaplex powder(an antibiotic) on the algae hot spots and cut the light completely, it was gone in about 3 days and never came back.
I smelled cyano in my 55 freshwater South American cichlid tank two days ago but can't see it yet. Like you I do weekly large water changes and my nitrates are always below 20 ppm and I have lots of aeration. So frustrated but determined not to go antibiotic route although I know it works. I was just about to order chemiclean today until I saw your video. I'm happy you're trying Dr Tim's products as I looked into them awhile ago and I'm impressed with the concept. Excited to see how it works in your tank. We are having a red ride outbreak in our area presently (I live in the Gulf) and I've always wondered if the spores are getting into my tanks.
Cyanobacteria is way older than dinos by about a minimum of 250,000,000 years. Think twice as old as dinosaurs, if not even older. They were the first oxygen producers on the planet, and they made the stromatalites still living today in Australia.
Can't wait to see results!
Ugh I fight with BGA all the time. 17 tanks and it tends to creep about. Can’t wait to see if this works!
Several reviews on Amazon say the Dr. Tim's was DOA when they received it. They say to buy direct from Dr. Tim's website instead. Great video, as always.
One of my tanks has this algae, ugg. Thanks for the video!
I've just recently had a bit of cyano appear after I changed my lighting routine. I removed it and pulled back the lighting and now it's gone. I got lucky. Best of luck to you all that get it.
The glass that the particular aquarium is made of is probably soda-lime glass especially if its an older tank. I bet the cyanobacteria benefit from the minerals and trace elements in the soda-lime glass more than they would in a more chemically pure/inert borosilicate glass or acryllic aquarium, worth an experiment. Soda-lime glass would be more bioactive and favorable to bacteria and if there were any harsh chemicals used to clean the tank this may have affected the surface of the glass and changed the roughness of the -SiOH groups on the surface which would creat completely different micro-nano-environement that would affect the biofilm.
I tried Hydrogen Peroxide Rachel..and then learned my Aquatic ferns couldn't take that...I tried blue green algae killer..some brand,usually used for red marine cyanobacteria. It worked for a few short weeks. What finally worked..better..was to increase flow. That got rid of 90%..but it was still there lurking. What was a knockout punch? A combo of...covering the food for the algae- sands-- with gravel. Around the same time? I started using iron. As of right now,a tank once plagued by outbreaks..looks free of it. I never reduced the lighting through all this. Sand is food..cut that off. Iron helps higher plants absorb nutrients out of the water..not just iron. That chelated stuff also I really believe helps them get more of everything out of the water..all the micronutrients.
Try iron. Sands are both food and nutrient dumps. They look so good,and work so bad!
I’m actually learning about Cyanobacteria and a floating plant Azolla, apparently they share a symbiotic relationship. Also, Cyanobacteria converts nitrogen back into ammonia. Idk if that’s helpful for anyone but I thought it was interesting it came up in my class after I watched this video the same day
Just the thing I need. Thanks and lets hope it works!
I’ve been fighting BGA in my 160 for a year...nothing is working. This video has given me some hope.
Great info!! Very well done Rachel!! In My reef , flow got rid of mine plus I would cycle lights off certain periods. Amazing how strong this Bacteria is in your 1 system!🤔
I find erithromycin to be the only effective, surefire way to treat it. Is it ideal? No. i'm aware with the issue of antibiotic resistance. But it is what it is. You can try other chemicals like chemiclean and other methods like increasing flow, oxygenation and blackouts but these yield mixed results at best.
I have a small spot of this in my aquarium right in the bottom left hand corner. The outflow is directly above it on the tank so it's in an area of quite low flow. I'm really tempted to try Dr Tim's product myself.
Can't wait to follow along, as I have a small Brio 35 aquarium (36 liters / ~9.5 gallons) with a lot of cyanobacteria, that I can't get rid off.
If it works I just hope I can find it within the EU.
Hi Rachel dave from uk tried something similar to that and it did work for me mine never came back
I had blue-green cyano bacteria long ago in a 10g and thought it was a beautiful translucent blue-green thing as I sliced it off the glass in sheets with a razor blade. HA! I thought it was just another aggressive algae so cleaned everything in the tank and did a water change. It didn't come back. I don't know why since you mention it is hard to get rid of. I guess I was lucky.
Eek! Also the bane of my existence.
It plagued me for a while, I choked it out by covering it w/ sand continuously (and by that I mean doing it a good handful of times a day).
I did add an air stone for unrelated reasons and I think that kept it away. Thankfully it never actually got to my plants. Thanks for the explanation on the causes!
Never had it until I dosed Seachem Excel and then boom BGA. Used hydrogen peroxide to kill off most of it followed by light black out. Also dosed Seachem pristine which has a bunch of bacteria to compete with the BGA.
I've used the ChemiClean with great success in one of my Marine tanks. Thanks Rachel
OMG.... can you counter the antibacterial effect(s) with on....
well, soon as I started typing, you got to the part about the addition of beneficial bacteria. This sounds like a solid product & sounds like you've done some research; I hope it all works out & I'll be anticipating to hear the results....
Rachel, I have used both EM and Chemiclean to treat cyano in my fluval spec V. Such a stubborn annoyance and the smell is...well...you never quite forget it. I removed my betta and rehoused him in a different tank while I treated. Both treatments seemed to make some improvement, however, even after a deep clean and many water changes, the cyano just kept coming back with a vengeance. I'm very curious to see how Dr. Tim's bacteria works out for you. I use his ammonium chloride to fishless cycle my tanks but never paired it with the beneficial bacteria. My tanks have a different PH depending on the type of substrate I use and what I use to remineralize my RO (GH only or GH+KH) and I want the appropriate bacteria colonies to form on their own as I understand depending on ph below or above neutral the type of bacteria are different...correct me if I'm wrong. Can't wait to see the results of your test run. Please keep us posted. For the record, I was using tap water at the time, and my cyano was red and parts were black, not green.
I used to find this stuff in our local ponds all the time!
By the end of the summer they'd be nothing but this film and snails, all the fish would die off
Refresh will harm snails and shrimp but Waste Away seems safe for invertebrates. I'm curious if you or others find that it breaks down driftwood faster and affects plant growth overtime by aggressively reducing nitrates and phosphates. There is always a trade off. It's definitely safer than antibiotics.
Have not tried this product but certainly wonder if this works!
BGA has been around way before the dinos :)
I think they were the reason we have a lot of oxygen in the air, so they're not so bad.
I have used both chemiclean worked but of course came back with vengeance. Tried doctor Tim’s a long with a over cleaning of rocks and substrate and phosphate remover. Hasn’t come back yet and been maybe 2 years and oh yea is a marine aquarium
I am so happy that you are trying this. So far I have tried water flow, hydrogen peroxide, and blackouts. Trying to do it the natural way. The longest I've been clean of it is 90 days. I can't wait to see if this works. Thanks🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌿🌟
It's one of those magical ironies that the bane of your existance is also the cause of your and all other life forms existance here on earth as it was cyanobacteria that caused the great oxidation event 2.4 billion years ago when oxygen levels rose in the atmosphere.
It is persistant stuff, you can find it growing inside rocks in Antarctica and just about everywhere else. It seems it's not so keen on faster water flow so you find it in slow moving parts of rivers but not where there's a decent current but more often than not, that level of current probably isn't suitable for most aquariums.
I'll be following this to see how it turns out.
Yes, the nerd/pedant in me reacted a little when Rachel said it'd been around 'since the dinosaurs', when it's been around at least 10 times as long. But I'm trained as an archaeologist, and same feeling when someone says 'so you dig up dinosaurs?' Orders of magnitude difference! lol [Rachel, you are my favourite youtuber, sorry to be harder on you because you are near perfect ;) ]
So happy to see this today! After falling in love with the look of your algae tank, I decided to let it grow in my tank. Unfortunately all I have is an over growth of cyanobacteria slime. My tank is a disaster. And I'm trying to find a solution. Looking forward to seeing how this works for you!
This has been the most stressful part of my aquariums. I'm okay with algae, it helps promote diversity in microorganisms. But cyanobacteria takes over, and kills everything.
Everything? It doesn't hurt fish at all
@@nath9233 It can and has killed many a fish that sorts through the substrate for food. Loaches,Corydoras.plecos.
@@StanTheObserver-lo8rx nope
@@nath9233 Yes.
@@StanTheObserver-lo8rx whatever you say boss. But just so you know. It's harmless to fish so somthing else killed your fish.
kept fish for years juts got into plants. have never seen this, ever in decades of keeping fish. planted a 30g breeder with just plants for 6-8 months of stability, saw nothing. Excited making a fully planted tank I fired up a 75g, again just plants for 6 months. Amazing, add co2 to the 75g, growth explosion! Add fish, very low stocking, to both tanks. NO issues at all. Same schedule every week, minor common algae on anubias , easily dealt with. Now for the last year or so I have been fighting this nonsense off like the plague , its everywhere, on everything, including an empty 10g that is a QT tank that has nothing in it but water lol. Worse then a virus. Sick of cleaning it up. Has even killed plants by suffocating them.
Hi Rachael
Alex from Scotland here. Love your videos and your work by the way, first time Ive commented on any of your videos but your such an inspiration and Ishare your love of big predatory fish. I keep oscars, peacock bass and florida gar. Have you thought of trying the product blue green slime remover by ultralife as ive used that many a time on new aquariums which is when i seem to get affected by the dreaded cyanobacteria. It has worked for me every single time. As far as I know it is completely natural. I usually start to see the results in 3 to 4 days.
Keep up your amazing work and I look forward to seeing the outcome with your cyanobacteria
Looking forward to your next video
Take care
Alex
I’ve been battling 2 different types of algae I think... I’m a saltwater guy but still an algae battle is an algae battle imo. I’ve tried marine pure blocks with a cpl diff types of bacteria as well as Red Sea NOPOX algae control and started having great success over a 2 month period however it never completely went away and does keep returning but only in a cpl places so I let the water change go for almost 3 weeks to see the growth and got busy over the holiday and the shit just grows it seems I got rid of the first type then a different type popped up so I’m also gonna try Dr. Tim’s waste away just did a big water change and manual removal yesterday so I plan on going to get it today. Best of luck to both of use lol
Rachel up north where I used to live, there was a shallower rather organic lake with several farms around it. Every summer there would be a Blue green Algea bloom caused by runoff from farmers fields that were dosed with fertilizer containing Phosphorus and Nitrogen which are the key building blocks for the Algea in question. So by decreasing fertilizer it should get better but you don't think you use fertilizer so I have no clue. Unless it is a property of your well water?
I'm allergic to BGA, so a reliable treatment is good news. In past experience, it often goes away just as mysteriously as it arrived, but it sure makes a mess while it's here.
I've never had it, knock on wood, but if it ever appears I would like to treat it naturally. Looking forward to the updates to see how this product does and the long term results.
👍💕👍
I thought duckweed was the bane of your existence?
Just a bit on Chemiclean, it has been banned in some EU countries. Lab analysis showed it contained erythromycin cetyl succinate, which is still a regulated antibiotic. There is still debate over what other active ingredient is contained within it, as it causes the mats to release from surfaces and clump together so that it will be removed through filtration.
Seems still to be available in Canada, although somethings are still slipping under the radar on the antibiotic front a year after the ban/restriction. But the price alone is a deterrent, at 2-1/2 to 3 times the cost to US customers. Dr. Tim's Waste Away is priced just a little over the expected exchange rate, so looks to be a winner on the money front, hopefully it works as well as Rachel thinks it will!
I used chemiclean and it killed a few of my Shellies. Out of about 60 I haven't had any die in 2 years. Lost 5 to it and I followed the instructions perfectly.
Definitely looking forward to seeing what the outcome of this was. Brown diatom "algae" have been a consistent issue in my tank and I'm still trying to figure out the cause. Not quite the same as your issue but curious, nonetheless, to hear what happened.
Thanks so much for this video. I ordered the treatment straight away. I have this in my Shellie tank, it covered every shell. I've noticed most people seem to get this in their Shellie tank too, I wonder if something in the shells breaks down and helps the BGA grow. I'll update on the progress!
Hi Rachel, did you ever do a follow-up video on this blue green algae adventure? =)
I've just gotten BGA for the first time in my community tank and I'm excited to see how this works for you! Also, I buy ladybugs for my garden to control pests and this seems like a similar approach, and natural as you mentioned, so hopefully it works! Would be a great product to promote, if it does. The hobby will thank you, and Dr. Tim, for it! 🐟❤😀
The Zen Ginger dang! You buy ladybugs? They cover the siding on my house every fall. I need to start selling them! I will be rich!
@@travismorgan9273 you totally should! I pay 15-20 bucks for a small package, on Amazon! Lol... in Texas we get them but not in those numbers, and releasing them in my backyard keeps them on my roses and crepe myrtles a lot longer, to avoid the yucky-damp-weather pests that show up, that time of year. In my opinion, you're lucky... You must have gorgeous plants there!
I've used chemiclean in my salt tanks with great results, I have not tried the fresh water version. Thanks Rachel....
Me: Panicking - When 3 of my favorite RUclips channels release videos at the same time. Hahaha
hahahaha, sorry about that!
No worries. It gives me a good reason to grab a cup of coffee, watch, and relax.
hahaha...I said same thing...sweet..new vids from my favs all at same time...time for a snack and a cup of coffee. Lol
I've used sludge away and I'm pretty sure the tank benefited from it...I used it because I thought the boost in benefitial bacteria couldn't hurt!!?? But I also wanted to say that I have had blue green algae breakouts numerous times throughout my life and it is always a tank with only sponge filtration!! I'm not sure if there's a connection but I'm curious how many people have seen the same with sponge filters?
I have used Ultralife Blue Green Slime Stain Remover with great results. I have found it to be safe for even the most sensitive fish and invertebrates including crystal red shrimp. With antibiotic treatments you are cautioned to remove some tetras like cardinals, any loaches, and ALL invertebrates. BG Slime Remover only takes 2 doses in 48 hours to completely clear BGA. Like you, I have one tank that it just keeps coming back so I was looking forward to see how this works. But a closer look at Dr Tim's has a caution on not shrimp safe so its not going to be an option for my shrimp tank. :-( Still it will be interesting to see how it does for you.
Hi, actually ADA suggest overdosing Bacter 100 to fight it. Since both are bacteria, they will compete for resources. I overdose seachem stability it resolve in a day
Awesome research Rachel. Thanks for the help. My buried 900 gallon tub pond had a most ugly form of cyanobacteria most of last year until our hot summer temps (desert like and dry) arrived. I too have a well and wonder if that is the source. I appreciate the product info and will try this if it returns.
this is such a frustrating problem. It once destroyed a whole tank of mine.
I have this in my one tank. I was wondering why my snails weren't eating it!
Question: I have free floating alge in my tank and it's a pain because it fogs up my tank. Will adding more flow help and if so will adding water flow hurt fish who are not used to it.
Chemiclean works awesome. Had bga that would come and go but nothing solved it. Did the research and settled on chemiclean. Followed the directions and it has not came back since and I only did one treatment. Also kept an eye on water parameters and did not see anything that changed from before treatment to after treatment. Still interested in seeing the results of the test though as you do a good job with testing and showing all of us the results.
I'll be watching this like a hawk...!
Tactical nuke. It works, expsenive and clean up is a mess.
Only thing i have found that works is black out or antibiotics. Small spots h2o2 in syringe works, but its a pain
Ah this grows in my waterfall filter, but its never spread outside it or overgrown.
I've never had to deal with blue-green algae, and hope I never will but can't wait to see how this works... Just in case.
I've had to deal with it only twice in 18 years of fishkeeping, but man is it a pain when it mysteriously appears.
I'm very curious about how this turns out.
Sounds like a good idea. I love the idea of probiotics and beneficial bacteria. Looking forward to the next video on this. Also, did you move that one aquarium that keeps getting this bacteria?
It's been all over the fishroom. Current placement is a brand new rack, different lighting etc.
My bane at the moment.... LEECHES!!!!!
I got some hydrocotyle from an amateur plant grower, two weeks later I see these rotten things on the glass at night. I don't want to break down my beautiful planted tank so I've removed the fish and am hoping to starve them out. So a big lesson, quarantine your plants too. Or even a peroxide dip as well.
I actually mentioned plant quarantine from my tubs for that EXACT reason. Leeches are a bitch to deal with!
@@RachelOLeary 😧😥😢😦 Yeah, normally I do but it was the old " one lil piece won't cause any trouble" mentality . Stupid!
I've also had to use fish antibiotics for the first time ever! An unwanted betta I was "gifted" had chronic finrot, popeye, fungus.... Pristine water, salt, improved diets etc; all the natural methods did zilch. But he kept eating and pathetically coming up to see me when I approached the Q tank. He broke me.
A course of triple sulfa has put it in remission and the little bugger is thriving.
He was kept in a brandy balloon for 8 months and fed slivers of ham, it's a wonder he survived at all.
I really want this poor little thing to live the best life possible (yep he's definitely broke me!) and have spent more $$$ on him than any other fish I've ever owned.
Jeez Louise I'm getting soft in the head!
@@graphite2786 sounds like you did the right thing for the little guy!
@@RachelOLeary The things we do for our pets....
Suggestion. Add some floating plants to reduce light levels at the area of the tank the cyanobacteria is growing.
the entire tank was floating plants, that is where I started
Dr Tim's Waste-Away appears to be a similar product to FritzZyme 360 and other "sludge removal" additives, does it not? I've not used it to treat cyanobacteria, but the Fritz product has allowed me to stretch out time between water changes in my african cichlid tank due to how it helps to break down organic wastes.
I am unfamiliar with fritz's products, so cannot say but it sounds like it.
I have to wonder. Is the cyano in one physical tank no matter where it's placed or is it any tank that's placed in a specific spot. In the former it could be that there's a contaminant in the glass or silicone or plastic that is beneficial to the cyano. If it's the latter maybe there's an environmental contaminant from the ceiling or something that's causing the cyano.
I'll be very interested to see if this works, I'm all for going natural!
with how your tanks have the same conditions, AND that 1 tank been in storage, could it be caused by a different silicon on the seams of that tank!!!
you also mentioned red algae, i have my suspision that the red is caused by galvenized or stainless steel in the water :)
Seem unlikely.
@@OriginalMindTrick oh, sounds like we have an expert, go on then, which part "seems unlikely"?
not replying huh! well, if u ever had experience with cheap SILICON air tubing, maybe you would have noticed that they get a build up of slime!!! if u were referring to the other opinion about the red algae, then this is also something i have witnessed in my own set-ups!!! seems pretty likely in my opinion, but that is ONLY my opinion :) x
Rachel, Did you notice in the instructions, that two different Dr. Tim's products are listed in this regimen? The first listed is called "Re-Fresh", and then the second is "Waste-Away"? -- Just checking to see if you noticed this and if it is important in the use and effectiveness of "Waste-Away"? I just looked up the Dr. Tim products online, and they are two different products, or bottles.
I did see that, but also saw anecdotal experiences of just using waste away, so will try it on its own first.
@@RachelOLeary Great, thanks for the reply, was just wondering... I am looking forward to seeing the results you get. I enjoy all of your videos, efforts and information so much. Thank you!!!
Try a twinstar yotta or equivalent. It destroyed my BGA in a week.
Just restarted one of my tanks because of this gross thing. This time planning to use self made fertilization, will see how it goes
Is this product ok for amphibia? I keep African drawf frogs.
Been thinking about doing water changes for my 10 gallon using only rain water. Do you know if there are any pro and cons doing this. ( won't be using rain water that runs off roof ect ) will place bucket on garden table to collect so not contaminated in anyway. I don't live in a high pollution area and just keep neon tetras in my tank
I use rainwater all the time. Should be fine,
Alright, thank you for replying I appreciate it 😁
That aquarium is haunted by the Ghost of Algae Past...
😂😂😂 truth
Is this comparable to Seachem Pristine? Seems to be a similar product
Rachel, is this product safe for your beneficial bacteria, and do you need to remove your fish, snails and shrimp to another tank before treating? Thanks.
Do you know anything about Dr. Tim’s First Defense? I haven’t found much info on it. It says it’s natural but I was surprised the ingredients aren’t listed. It’s also bright green in the water....
Im having issues with bga as well but i have yet to find a solution that is safe for invertebrates as i have a colony of cherry shrimp in my tank. Is Dr. Tims safe for them?