bga , plz advise

[amd]

i noticed a week or so ago that there was a very tink spot of blue/green cyanobacteria growing on a peice of gravel, but i wanted to see what it did first, well it isnt bad, its spreading vrey slowly, but i want to kill it quick while theres very little in there, some on glass and gracel, a feww leaves. i wanted to do the maryicin probably, but need to weigh options first, so can someone tell me?....
what causes it, how to stop it, and preventive mesures in future?
thanx
ps 55g 4 f40 ge daylights in 2 lhs shop lights, rena xp2, using dry ferts and trace dosing by EI suggested doseage. using co2 ,kh 7, ph 6.4-6.4, 1 betta, 15 neons 7cardinals 6 glow lites 2 ottos and 2 sae's

[Pure]

BGA, the scourge of the planted tank. It can be caused by any number of things or any combination there of. Low Nitrates and poor water circulation seem to be some of the major triggers.

If it is still a relatively small amount I wouldn't treat the tank with antibiotics, as they will have an adverse effect on your bio-filter as well.

For a small outbreak of BGA IMHO it's best to treat it with hydrogen peroxide. Put some in a syringe, if you can't get your hands on one the small ML doser that comes in the bottles of flourish iron will work also. Directly applying the peroxide to the BGA will kill it.

Be careful not to do to much before a water change. Often this treatment needs to be done over the course of a couple of days. If over dosed, the peroxide can damage gills as well as seriously dropping your PH. As long as you don't go over 1ml per gallon you will be safe.

What ever manner you use t kill it make sure to manually remove the dead BGA ASAP as it becomes toxic after it dies.

Keeping nitrates above 0ppm and increased flow will help prevent its return in the future.

[Nativefish Boy]

up your no3 doseage. that will help. also increase your water movement. remove it manually and go more regular vaccums.

if that fails use 200mg Eyrithromicin ( sp* ) per 10 gallons and that kills it good for once.

[amd]

whats no3 stand for and how do i add it?
i thought nitrates are bad, but how do i raise them?

[amd]

also, it has spread over night to quite a bit more, 3x more id say. if i did go the maryicin method, how would i go about that? and as for flow, i need more, all i have is my xp2 and it goes through a spraybar thats in the center back lenthwise spraying up to the surface to ripple but not break surface tention.what shoud i do to up flow.? how much i need?

[Pure]

NO3=s Nitrate. Dose it by getting some stump remover. I believe it's potassium nitrate. You can find it at most hardware stores.

Too much nitrates is bad, but in heavily planted tanks it is often too low due to the plants using it all up.

[Pure]

Dose the med just like if you were treating sick fish. Put it in the tank in the recommended dosage and remove the carbon from your filter.

You can increase the flow by adding a power head or 2, just make sure they are not pointed at the surface of the water and they should have minimal effect on the surface agitation.

[amd]

ok, im in luck there, i happen to have a fine fert from beloved greg watson calle kno3"potassium nitrate" i am using 1/2 teaspoon 3 x a week, potassium sulpfate k2so4 @ 1/8 tsp 3x week, and monopotassium phosphate kh2p04@ 1/8 tsp a week, so if i upp the dosage of my kno3, how much do i need to jump it up and do i need to change the dose of other ferts like, ones with potassium or "iv heard" phosphate is good for bga to grow, need i start waterchanging and cutting back the monopotass. phosphate? or possibly quit it all together?

[amd]

ok, can do add 2 pwrhd's. k i see we are both violently pecking ate keys to type here, and were a little off sync lol. i notices a HUGE "cloud" like structure at the top in my camboba of brown algae. its no where else but it floating....wth?

[amd]

i have a phosphate remover bag, shoug i use this?
and should i cut the mono potass. phospahte? and add more kno3? i need help, i took out my camboba today, it got too big and i didnt trimm it so it lookes all ugly after hacking over 3/4 of it off so i replaced it with 7 water wisteirias