bga , plz advise

[Avalon]

Your ferts are fine, if anything, they are on the heavy side. There are several ways to get BGA, and low nitrates is not the only cause. Wanna know how I know? In my cichlid tank, I have BGA, and I assure you, nitrates aren't low.

BGA can also be caused by eutrophic water, or nutrient saturated water. There are several ways to avoid this. First of all, keep a clean tank. Large water changes weekly are required. Good circulation to avoid dead spots, and removal of excess mulm and debris will also help conditions. You may want to monitor your nitrate and phosphate levels to see where you are at the beginning and end of the week and adjust dosing as necessary. The EI method assumes maximum plant growth, and if you don't have it, you will be left with eutrophic conditions, hence BGA.

You will need to kill the BGA off. Use Erythromycin and kill it; be aggressive and follow through with the dosing. It won't kill off your biological filter (I tested that long ago). Get that nasty crap out of your tank and work on your water conditions. Water changes, 40-60% every week!

[Pure]

I'm not sure if the phosphate removers work. I've heard mixed reviews. Your goal is to try an keep nitrates at about 10 ppm. I can't tell you how much and how often to dose. The answer varies greatly depending on the size of the tank, the needs of the current plants, and the level stocking level of fish in the tank. Best advise I can give you is to dose small amounts and test after each dose keep dosing and testing until you get to the desired level. Test again the next day and see how much your plants have sucked up. This should give you an idea of how often to dose again.

As far as the other ferts go..honestly I'm not all that well learned on dosing of all the individual ferts. But I don't see why you would need to change. I would guess that if you need to cut back it wouldn't be by much. Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about this will come alone.

Edit: There would be someone more knowledgeable ^^^ posting at the same time.

[Pure]

Use Erythromycin and kill it; be aggressive and follow through with the dosing. It won't kill off your biological filter (I tested that long ago).

Care to elaborate a little on that? How can the use of an antibiotic not have any adverse effects on the biological filter. This goes against everything the antibiotic is supposed to do.

Not doubting you of course, just now I'm confused. I've personally never had to use the stuff, as I normally am picky about stock and QT like a mad man. So I wouldn't know for sure. I also in the past when I saw BGA I would spot kill it with peroxide before it got a chance to take over.

So please explain your test and what happened.

[Avalon]

I don't think I could explain it better than this quote:

GRAM-NEGATIVE AND GRAM-POSITIVE BACTERIA.

Bacteria can be divided into two groups, either Gram-
negative (G-) or Gram-positive (G+). This classification is
based on if the bacteria stains (+) or not (-) in a special
staining technique - the Gram staining (invented by Christian
Gram). Positive or negative staining reaction reflects a
fundamental difference in the structure of the cell wall of
the bacteria.
ERYTHROMYCIN IS AN ANTIBIOTIC.
Erythromycin is more efficient towards G(+) bacteria
than G(-). It is one of the safest antibiotics, meaning that
it does not affect plants, fish or animals. Blue-green
bacteria belongs to the G(-) bacteria but it is a special case
with respect to sensitivity to antibiotics (i'm on thin ice
here, but I think I am correct). They are more sensitive to
erythromycin than other G(-) bacteria. Fortunately, the
bacteria important for the nitrogen cycle (your biofilter) are
of the G(-) type and are much less sensitive to erythromycin
than the blue-green bacteria. So your biological filter is
"fairly" safe.
The reason that some tanks experience an ammonia peak
after treatment with erythromycin is (probably) not because
the biological filter is non-functional. It is more likely
that it is because of the high content of protein released
from the dead blue-green bacteria which is broken down to
ammonia and/or nitrite by the "good" nitrifying bacteria in
your biofilter. This boost of protein to be broken down upsets
the finely tuned balance of different bacteria in your filter.
(Actually, if you killed of all bacteria in your tank and
filter, you would never get ammonia).

This quote was written by Tony Clementz, and can be found on The Krib.

In addition to this, you will find that as long as water changes are kept up to remove the dead stuff, along with the plants absorbing any leftover nutrients, you will notice any biofilter issues.

[Pure]

Thank you for clearing that up. I was wondering if it had something to do with gram (-) or (+). But I wasn't sure nor was I sure if the bacteria in the bio filter was - or +. Now I know.

Makes perfect sense now.

[amd]

i dont have a phosphate test but i will try the pad plus i still dont know weather to cut out mon potasss phosphate, my nitrates are always zero, and i do need better circulation. this tanks starting to get on my *(#$%^&*( nerves and about to go to the newas papers for sale section

[Lotus]

If you're dosing your tank with KNO3 and KH2P04, then neither your nitrates or phosphates should be at zero. However, and imbalance of them could be feeding your BGA.

Your nitrates shouldn't be zero, if you're dosing KNO3.

[amd]

then my tanks plantas are using them verrrry fast because i dose 3/4 of a teaspoon today and tested a few hrs ago, and i got 0... but at this point im so confused and not knowing how to rid myself of this **** im about to call it quits and do something easy like a reef or something

[amd]

ps, also out of $, patients and time for this. and i have no clue why my micro swords are dying but glosso isnt, aklthough i was looking today and think it may be going downhill, i dont know, i tried realllllly hard to get this right and for a while it was great, i didnt change a habit or anything then it all goes to $h!7

[amd]

ok so i guess im going to go get marydel and a powerhead and mabey A phosphate test kit, anyone care to elaborate on the redfeild ration, from what i read(in english) that it ballances nitrogen o phosphates and ensure no algae, correct me if im wrong. but guys i really need help here, i not sure what to be changing to prevent the bga in the future and possibly beat it alone, no meds. but...ehh im pretty much..getting to my wits end here on the bga, everything i read is right, but wrong... nonono do it this way, wrong here,this way. 1000 forums and no rewal answers out there. then theres the few out there that are just stupid"LFS's" plz god help i need to know if its the nutrients im putttin in or not adding? im gonna cool off and gather a list of ? and word them the way i mean, i got a bad prob of not being detailed. sooo yeah later