BBA outbreak

[Bahamuts]

I had a quite spotless tank for about a year now.

About three weeks ago I had a hole in my CO2 tubing (no idea how it got there to be honest). So I replaced the tube and since then I have had a BBA outbreak.

It seems to localise in the bit where the current is the strongest. On the cyperus leaves in the middle (where the strongest light is and where the filter outlet is.).

Drop checker is lime green at lights on and towards yellow when lights go out. CO2 comes on 2 hours prior to lights on.

Every week I need to cut out about 5 leaves like the one below, covered in several tufts:


Reading on the article in the sticky, it sais the CO2 is not stable when lights are on... How would one test that though?

Should I increase CO2 more?

Is this possibly a flow issue? But why would it localise where the flow is the strongest then?

I have recently started to feed my otos on cucumber and zucchini. Zucchini is very high in iron, can this on top of the EI doising be causing this, as I guess it could leach some extra iron into the tank?

Some tank shots if that would help diagnose this (don't mind some half-wit's reflection in one of them!):





Any help appreciated

 

[ceg4048]

...Reading on the article in the sticky, it sais the CO2 is not stable when lights are on... How would one test that though?

Hello,
You might have misinterpreted the information. Nowhere is it implied that light being on automatically causes instability of CO2. Excessive lighting is a contributory factor in BBA blooms.

Should I increase CO2 more?

Yes. BBA is CO2 related

Is this possibly a flow issue?

Yes.

But why would it localise where the flow is the strongest then?

Because pummeling plants with flow can cause disruptive flow and can reduce CO2 uptake. This is like drinking from a fire hydrant.

I have recently started to feed my otos on cucumber and zucchini. Zucchini is very high in iron, can this on top of the EI doising be causing this,

No. There is no relationship between Iron and any form of algae. It's probably worth reviewing the sticky again. That is one of the main points.

as I guess it could leach some extra iron into the tank?

And if that were the case it would be a good thing.

Cheers,

 

[Bahamuts]

Thanks ceg, I will try and up the amount of CO2 and see if that helps.
Upping the flow might be a bit trickier as the filter is on "full whack"... Unless that is part of the issue and I should turn it down... But I will see how the CO2 works out first

And with instability during lights on I meants the ppm changing too much while the lights where on and this causing BBA blooms... I though I read that in the article George linked but I could be wrong 😳

 

[ceg4048]

Hi,
When lights are on plants consume CO2, so if you stopped the injection the CO2 concentration would fall, not only due to evaporation, but also due to plant consumption. The more plant mass you have the more consumption there is, so as your tank matures, more CO2 is being demanded. When the lights go off the demand stops because plants do not use CO2 without lights but they still produce CO2.

You could try trimming the plants to reduce the amount of blockage and disruptive flow being caused by all that mass. The image you show seems a bit tangled which can induce chaotic flow patterns. It's not clear whether you have a single outlet or whether this is a Lilly pipe but you might want to try and diffuse the exit velocity from the outlet so that it does not impinge directly on the Cyperus leaves.

A lot of little things can add up to cause problems. Add some liquid carbon to clear the BBA that is there (assuming you don't have any other plants that react negatively to liquid carbon. Do more water changes if possible. Do not allow food to sit and rot in the tank. There is a lot of organic waste being produced, so more water changes helps.

Cheers,

 

[curefan]

Hi,
I have some BBA also.....Ceg, when you say add liquid carbon, do you aslo have to do a blackout? Does it have to be a heavy dose of liquid carbon ?

Thanks, Dave.

 

[Westyggx]

Spot dose the bba with the liquid carbon using a syringe. A blackout will not kill bba.

 

[curefan]

Spot dose the bba with the liquid carbon using a syringe. A blackout will not kill bba.

....will the liquid carbon not just diffuse away or be carried away anyway by water movement?

 

[niru]

Spot dose the bba with the liquid carbon using a syringe. A blackout will not kill bba.

....will the liquid carbon not just diffuse away or be carried away anyway by water movement?

It would if the pump/filter is ON. So switch it off, then spot dose (say during water change routine), and let it be so for some time. only then switch on the pumps. this way the spots get higher concentrations for some time, and then the algecide circulates in the tank. Plus it can be used by plants as carbon source later on. In any case, liquid carbon chemicals disintegrate in about 12 hours. So from that day on, keep a daily dosing till you are satisfied (aka plants seem satisfied & algae reduced drastically).

 

[ian_m]

When I had a BBA breakout on a piece of my wood, lifted it out of tank and applied Excel with a toothbrush. Also applied gently to leaves that had slight BBA appearence.

Left to soak for a while, ensuring plants attached to wood don't dry out.

Put back in tank.

After a day or BBA turned white, followed by slight green and finally disappeared, either fallen off or scoffed by the fish.

Most of the BBA disappeared off the leaves in a similar fashion but one one of my plants (anubia ?) suffered from either leaving excel too long or brushing damaged the leaf and the leaf browned and died away where BBA/Excel was.

Careful as some plants are sensitive to Excel (egeria densa is one) and melt away to slush 🙁