46g
Fluval 305 (All biological filtration, biomax + water polishing pads + ceramic cylidners (similar to biomax but smoother) + foam)

8 golden pristella tetras
2 Bolivian Rams
3 Black Skirt Tetras
Unknown # of MTS
2 Nerite snails

Dosing procedure: 4 days w/ full maracyn recommended dose, 4 pks per day (tank was rated 46g but after substrate and rocks and such i estimated it at 40g so 4pks a day)

I ran out on day 5 so i had to wait 2 days to get it, but LFS had water sprite so i added that to my tank, most of the BGA had already gone, only tiny tufts of it were still on some of my leaves, looked a lot like fuzz algae but upon touching it, realized it was bga, just a lighter green

I dosed full amt on day 7 and 8

I left my lights of on day 8 and 9, but did not cover the tank up. After turning on the lights I saw no BGA.

Added Amano shrimp 3-4 days after, no water change yet (i didnt not see a need to since my water params had not changed). The shrimp did fine.


I did notice that there was a dark brown film UNDER the BGA, looked like heavy duty brown diatoms, but my nerites started to eat that brown stuff and after adding the amano shrimp, the brown stuff is almost all gone except for patches at the tips of my sword which are at the top of the tank.

I also noticed that my most heavily infected leaves now have little pin-hole holes all over it, indicating a potassium deficiency? I dont know what the cause of this is, if it was soil, the bga, or maracyn?

My other plants are fine, 2 of my dwarf chain swords started sending out runners mid medication time and grew 4 extra plants for me. My anarchris also started to grow very well around day 6 and 7.


I know discus are much more sensitive to meds than tetras are. My fish have also become very hardy because I was in school until May last year and before then 6 of the pristellas and all 3 black skirts had lived in neglect because my parents forgot to feed them a lot and never changed the water so they may have been accustomed to hard times...

 

Good info, thanks. What you are describing, what looks like heavy duty brown diatoms is what I'm seeing now where prior there was cyano. I don't have snails in this tank (loaches make sure of that!) and the only algae crew I have is a one inch ABN so he's got his work cut out for him, lol. I used to keep a dozen otos in this tank but after I caught a few of them sucking the slime coat off of one of my discus (otos doing this? I think this is unheard of...maybe they were starving??) they went into my 75, where they are very happy.

Keeping my fingers crossed....​

 

did you BGA outbreak happen shortly after your Otos were removed? maybe thats the factor that changed and allowed the BGA to grow?

 

did you BGA outbreak happen shortly after your Otos were removed? maybe thats the factor that changed and allowed the BGA to grow?

The outbreak happended after I moved the otos, but it wasn't shortly after, it was a few weeks. Still, it makes me wonder if there isn't some correlation??

 

Are you sure it's diatoms and not dead cyano?

 

dead cyano dissolves and breaks into shreds that dissolve further. This stuff is under the cyano, if you suck up cyano its right under it, almost like the cyano was growing over it, this might be what excess organics means? Or possibly cyano waste. I know when i dosed maracyn, the powder would rain down like snow and areas where the powder bits landed would result in little craters in the cyano, kinda hard to describe but the little area around the cyano would be shredded and blowing in the current. After a little while, when i checked back, i would see that the cyano had broken off and vanished. Just pieces of it would loosen off the leaf and be pulled away by the current as the dosing went on until it was just gone. However, i do know my snails and shrimp are eating part of it that they can get to.