The Puffer Forum

Okay so in the past 2-3 months this fuzzy blue green algae like substance has started to infest my DP tank. I try to clean out all of it during water changes and I recently drained the tank and did a through cleaning of the substrate and upgraded the filter, but the stuff still returned within 3-4 days. Thoughts?

EDIT:

I had a Java Fern that has broken up and spread throughout the tank as you can tell from the pictures. I am wondering if it has contributed to this problem as I had to clean out a lot of dead and rotting sprouts. I seriously doubt it is due to overfeeding as I feed my DP's bloodworms thru a eyedropper. This is a 10 gallon tank with 2 puffers.

I have the same problem in my 125g Fahaka tank... drives me nuts

This stuff is in my DP tank too! Maddening! No matter how much I keep the lights off/clean/waterchange it always returns. It's trying to take over my marimo balls

Cyanobacteria! Kill it! Kill it with fire!!

This stuff can spiral out of control fast and become a real problem. I recommend manual removal of the crap growing on the glass. Also, the stuff hates water movement, so use a powerhead and increase aereation. Don't forget surface agitation - very important in an aquarium. Without it, the water on the surface goes stagnant and prevents gasses from leaving the water, and prevents oxygen from going in.

The main problem with Cyano is that it is an aerobic bacteria, which means that it consumes oxygen. It produces oxygen too, yeah, but only when it is photosynthesizing (cyano, while technically a bacterium, photosynthesizes like an algae), and even still it will take in more than it puts out. The more cyano in the tank, the less oxygen in the water - up to and including the point where there's not enough oxygen in the water to sustain aquatic life.

I had a cyano explosion that I couldn't control literally wipe out my entire tank, and I had to tear the whole thing down and start over from the substrate up. Not fun. Take it seriously.

Yeah I noticed it seems to collect on the glass or on the plants towards the bottom of the tank. I put a filter rated for a 50 gallon tank and added an airstone to the mix to help increase the current and oxygenation.

It is called Blue-Green Algae, but as already stated, it is a photosynthetic bacterium which commonly incorporates several other bacterial species. Th advice already give to increase circulation is excellent, as current is very hard on the biofilm. It is important to remove all the BGA film possible along with making sure that there are no, repeat no dead spots in the tank. Circulation and current are key. I personally never use airstones, as with sufficient flow and current circulation surface breaks are really not needed and contribute to mineral spray on the top glass and tank rim.

Maracyn, which is Erythromycin, will kill BGA if moat of it has been removed manually and there are no stagnant areas in the tank.

BGA is one of the most troublesome infestations in hobby tanks, but can be eradicated and will not recur if properly cleared and blocked from re-establishing in dead spots.

HTH

I've had great success with Chemi-Clean for red slime algae (same family), in my SW systems.

The BGA are a very ancient line of "bugs", dating 'way back in the history of life on this planet. They are found in a huge variety of ecotypes.

blue-green algae is the reason why the sky is blue. It's a wonderful thing in the oceans. In aquariums... not so much.

I forgot to update this but I eradicated the infestation with a few large water changes and a 4 day blackout by leaving the lights off and wrapping the tank with towels. I also added a couple tablespoons of table salt during the blackout. Only time I interacted with the tank was to feed my DP's.