blue green algae

[EvilVOG]

Been paying alot more attention to my 10 gallon lately. Over December i was on vacation and when i came back Blue green algae had taken it over and killed off all the horwart that was in there. so i pretty much struck the tank, scrubbed it and the heater and TC pot down with hot water, and worked the sponge filter to clean it out as much as possible.

It's been back up for almost a month, and is now in use as my breeding tank (see my log in the breeding forum). The BGA has come back, and is now trying to take over the Wisteria and Moss ball i put in there.

So now, what can i do to stop it? Can i save the plants/ moss ball? How will this affect my spawn, and/ or how long should i wait to try and do something?

[betta lover1507]

actually it is ok for some algae for the fries, did you ever consider buying a snail?

[LittleBettaFish]

Blue-green algae is caused by low water flow through certain parts of your tank (known as dead spots), low levels of nitrates and build-up of organics.

When I had an outbreak in my tank I simply started dosing Seachem Nitrogen, put in a filter with a spraybar and regularly siphoned the substrate to avoid waste and debris from building up.

It hasn't been back since and none of my plants were adversely affected by its presence.

Also I believe cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) can actually be toxic as it is not in fact an algae at all. A snail will do nothing to remove it.

[EvilVOG]

Originally Posted by LittleBettaFish

Also I believe cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) can actually be toxic as it is not in fact an algae at all. A snail will do nothing to remove it.

Correct, this much i know.

The filter tho isn't running as this is my spawn tank and i have newly hatched fry in there that aren't free swimming yet.

[LittleBettaFish]

If it's in a fry tank and doesn't allow for strong water flow, really the only options you have are to remove it manually and siphon whatever debris you can off the bottom of the tank as often as you can.

[EvilVOG]

Anyone with experience... can the plants be saved or are they trash now? Particularly the moss ball, as it was kind of expensive.