Ultralife Blue-Green Slime Stain Remover has been specially formulated to combat the problem of blue-green slime, using a secret mix of natural ingredients, supplements and biological accelerators to provide the ultimate blue-green slime stain remover. The earlier you treat the outbreak, the easier it is to eradicate. BGA can. Thanks. Swimming pool algae grows due to lack of proper sanitation, filtration and high pH. But don’t worry, blue-green algae has unique characteristics that make it easy to tell it apart from the other types of algae. I have some dwarf water lettuce in my tank and its roots are a breeding ground for blue-green algae. Ha, explaining fish purchases to the wife… I know that feeling all too well as she does the budgeting in hour home. I've been keeping fish for over 30 years and currently have 4 different aquariums – it's an addiction. If you notice it spread, then you can rule out any other type of algae. Ian, I have been battling this for some time and just wondering if I should remove the plants that are covered such as my moss balls that are completely covered I also have duck weed and afraid that stuff is just going to make this a real long process. Skin contact may irritate as well, so make sure to remove contaminated clothing and rinse any exposed areas. Best of all, it won’t harm your biological filter, fish or plants – a major problem with harsher chemical treatments like Erythromycin or Maracyn. Recurring blue-green algae is something that has me stumped as I have never observed it first hand, after a successful eradication. I have a 55 gallon aquarium..with a marine lab filter made for a 100 gal tank….with one 12 year old flying fox and a variety of young barbs. Simply perform a water change, add a dose and wait for the slime stain remover to work. And quickly – it is astonishing how fast this stuff can grow in just 24 hours. Nitrates are the end product of the nitrogen cycle and unless you are doing something in particular to get rid of them, they should always be increasing until your water change drops the levels back down. I have never used Blue Green Slime Remover as a preventative measure, only on a noticeable outbreak. To use this ingredient, mix 1 cup of bleach and 1 gallon of water in a bucket. I have never had success with the blackout method, which is why I recommend UltraLife. Pressure washing and bleach aren’t the best options for cleaning green and black algae. A week on and the plants are growing again as they’re no longer competing for nutrients and light with the blue-green. Meaning there are traces of algae left behind, and it … Like most algae, a well-maintained tank with stable water parameters seems to be the best method of preventing blue-green algae from taking over your tank. Isn’t blue green algae poisonous to humans as well? I then spent a month treating the tank for various bacteria & virus meds just incase. Below you see spots of blue-green algae at the bottom of a bucket…. We had a BGA outbreak and with much research was thrilled to find your information. ), Aquarium water turn green? That is a nightmare! Adding nutrients in an incorrect amount to tanks is a real balancing act that can quickly lead to algae. I’m so happy to hear you found success with the Ultra-Life, it sounds like your tank is back on the mend for good! And when nitrates are quite high you can get BGA blooms – and it’s these blooms that most aquarists are concerned about. Good luck on the blackout, I’ve never really had success with it, but I hope it works for you. Over 2,000 products in stock Let’s be honest, blue-green algae is a menace. Only ever read experiences in online forums. Unfortunately, Sandra never replied. This will typically give advance notice of anything that could go wrong – most aquarium problems can be traced back to an imbalance of nutrients. I found an easy way to temporarily rid tank of 80% . Next you should carefully scrub and scrape the glass of your tank. But the product would have to significantly reduce nitrates. Check your nitrate levels with a test kit. Use this guide for some basic guidelines on dosing with hydrogen peroxide. I keep the tank spotless, weekly water changes etc. Years ago, when I first dealt with a blue-green algae outbreak, I attempted the blackout method without any success. When blue-green algae first appears in your tank, it can easily be mistaken for other algae, such as fuzz algae or even green hair algae.[4]. I too tried “Exit Blue” but it only partly worked. ), Identify and Destroy Staghorn Algae In Just 2 Days. The tanks affected have ranged from 20 gallons to 110. hello, thanks for the article, I have used the remover but it comes back, i have used hydrogen peroxide and comes back, i am going to use now Kent Poly-Ox, but i am afraid with my Malaysian snails, the Nerites i have i can take out. So far my fish seem to happily coexist with this creeping crud÷. Wait… if blue green algae isn’t toxic to fish that means the koi at work weren’t getting sick from it… well dang! Save more with Subscribe & Save. What else causes the lose of scales, dropsy, pop eye, rotting flesh, cloudy eye, and fin loss? How do you get rid of blue-green algae? I just assumed it was algae. It was after reading this article that I sent to the US for the UltraLife product. I did a deep cleaning….scrubbing plants and walls and tube of the slime. So while I can’t really comment on the fact that it has returned and how to prevent it. Others blame Ammonia, excess light, poor water circulation, and even dirty substrates and filters. 2. I’m really happy to hear you won your battle with BGA! Don’t attempt to boil this water for home use; neither cyanobacteria … As I touched on in my article, there are different types of blue-green algae and it is possible that some don’t react to Blue-Green Slime Stain remover, For instance blue-green algae sometimes has a distinct swamp-like smell, but I have come across cases where it doesn’t, and looks very slightly different. Recently I blacked out a tank while I was away for a weekend, since I wasn’t feeding the tank anyway, and went from a green bottom to nothing. Also, Ultralife Blue Green Slime Remover is a powder. I added 2 additional airstones and another powerhead pointed at the surface and dosed the tank last night. Postage cost as much as container – but I don’t care – BGA has gone!! I’m kinda thinking I should start from scratch. It’s just probably ineffective. Will the stain remover kill my shrimp? 1)I have no experience with clown loaches but have I have personal experience using it with kuhli loaches and they had no issues at all. If I had to guess, I would say the problem is coming from the plant-gro supplement. Thanks for sharing your experience! Content found on fishlab.com is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional veterinarian advice. Still have BGA. I.e nil nitrates favors CBA over plants due to it’s ability to fix nitrogen. thanks so much. In the case of BGA, this is not going to work. Beautiful. It’s how this hobby progresses. If you are not careful, you can kill off all the good bacteria in your biological filter and harm your fish and plants. To say that this is a low-effort way of getting rid of blue-green algae is an understatement. I have my fingers crossed the solution is as simple as this for you! And to avoid any confusion, I’m going to refer to it by what it looks like – in this case, blue-green algae. Our city water supply has become contaminated with Cyanotoxins. Then some of my corys I put the deaths down to some not so healthy bogwood which I binned. The next one is erythromycin. Just a lot of handwaving – incorrect handwaving I might add. I would love to hear from others who have had success blacking out their tank. They are most likely Red cherry Shrimp, sometimes called RCS, they are one of the most common red colored shrimp around. Really love this discussion. Nitrates were close to 0 (which I know now may have frustratingly caused it) at the time I didn’t know it was this bacteria. I have a suspicion that she only had a small amount of bluegreen algae and was able to keep on top of it before it spread too much. As I touched on in the article, while some people experience great success with blacking out their tank, others find that the process does absolutely nothing. Its color allows it to easily blend in with the green plants in your aquarium. I’ve not allowed it to get that bad and there’s no gasping. Should I do this prior to or after the Ultralife addition and dying off of the blue green slime? Have started adding a nitrate fertilizer this week to try and tip things back in the plants favour. And as it does, it will cover your plants in a slimy film that is thick enough to block out light. Would you like to share your secret as to how you did it? FREE Shipping on orders over $25 shipped by Amazon. Bag grows like weeds. I agree with your thoughts entirely: Even though it looks like we are all dealing with the same BGA, the strain and how it reacts to treatment may vary. These are my suspicions – it’s always very difficult to “diagnose” an aquarium over the internet. It still kept coming back. What is blue-green algae? And as far as bacteria go, it’s pretty weird. Some say it’s because plants and algae eat nitrates while blue-green algae doesn’t. I have a small planted tank and this algae slime killed quite a few plants before I figured out what to do. This helped me very much, thank you! Since all of the fish (severums, angels, corrys, plecos, kuhli, synadontis) and plants were faring well and there were no negative signs, I decided to go for it because…. I’m sorry to hear you didn’t find the same success that the majority of others experience. Started adding liquid carbon when the plants stopped growing and that made a big difference and all was well until the blue-green showed up, which I understand suggests low nitrates, so I have started dosing with nitrogen and potassium as well (was already using a comprehensive for trace elements). As for Duckweed, that’s a whole other problem – but it shouldn’t have any impact on removing blue green-algae. Some say that the cyanobacteria is present in the local water supply, and is introduced into your tank during water changes. Brush the leaves, decorations, and glass., wiping algae on to paper towel..You will have to do this at least 2 times a week. However, the converse is not true – the second part of your claim – that elevated nitrate levels will eliminate BGA. I’ll give the Ultra life a try. That’s right, it was around well before dinosaurs roamed the earth.[2]. If it was just a lowering nitrates and nitrates, we would see 100% water changes be comparitively effective. Would definitely recommend Ultra Life versus the messing around with manual removal or darkness or anything else. Achieve this by regulating water pH (between 7.4 and 7.6), maintaining the filter, cleaning the pool regularly, and closing it when necessary to prevent chemicals that can encourage algae growth, such as fertilizer. I think that a probiotic treatment is a legitimate method to treat CBA theoretically. One day my tank was a green mess, the next good as new. I appreciate the poster clearing that up for me. Because if it’s dead and coming back, it’s possible that there is another issue at play. That slime remover works like magic. Came on Saturday and dosed immediately as I had just done my weekly water change. At this stage, you should realize that something’s up.