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bba summary of attack options

nduli

nduli

Member
Joined
26 Oct 2011
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500
Location
Bury
guys

have horrendous BBA outbreak (piccies to follow). read a great deal on this site this week in prep for attacking problem this weekend.

background of my tank

Tank specifications - - circa 130l
Lighting - 2 * 24w T5's with reflectors on for about 8hrs a day
CO2 - Pressurised - drop checker will have fluid refreshed this weekend
Filtration - eheim prof.2 2026 + 2 koralia 900's blowing same way as my spraybar that runs across back of tank and points down and forward to the front of the tank
Fertilisation routine - all in 1 easy profito (moving to TNC) .

summary of attack options appears to be this.

1) water changes (large circa 50% per week) in conjunction with most of the below
2) removal all infected leaves (this will be brutal). i will probably leave anubias and do 3) below due to the toxic sap (have some high grade sakura)
3) local double dosing of easy carbo with painting of carbo onto some leaves
4) check / regulate CO2 better not sure reg is controlling flow that well
5) add another timer to bring co2 2hrs before lights on
6) check drop checker fluid - do ppl move this around to check CO2 is getting moved around the tank well?
7) reduce lighting hrs
8 ) remove backing off tank to help improve flow (have false rock wall on back)
9) remove wood from centre of tank - see piccies to follow
10) remove eheim pre-filter off inlet to help improve flow
10a) check and improve gh of tank useful for those in soft water areas.
11) lose temper and tear down tank completely and start all again - very last resort :)

is there anything i haven't considered thats a must do? planning on tackling this weekend as i don't have any time during the week.
 
a 5 day black out will kill BBA but you need to address all your problems or it'll come back as some as you turn on the lights.
you need to do numbers 1,2,8 then 10
once you're black outs complete you need numbers numbers 1,4,5,6 and 7 and clean clean clean. failing all that you don't need number 11 just Clive.


multiple choice questions are cool :D
 
Cheers. Only one out of first round I hoped not to do was the backing on the tank wall. It's going to be a bugger of a job. Not had bba before and only seemed to have got since I moved the spray bar to the back wall and remodelled the tank.....

Idea of multiple choice was hopefully quick help from thoses experienced and also be able to add on additionals easily so that all solutions can be drawn into one place. Loads of advice on bba here but not 1 thread with all options to explore.....
 
(3) flourish excel is better than easycarbo for some mysterious reason (or was in my tank, and lots of others)
(9) scrubbing with electric (or manual) toothbrush just as good and easier for rocks and embedded hardscape - pre water change!
(12) Siamese algae eater (though maybe too big for this tank)
(13) red ramshorn snails - though you'd need a shedload


think (5) is likely to be the main problem
 
Have you increased flow? Where is BBA in relation to flow? Is the BBA different colours (red, grey, black, brown, blue). Does flow create little "eddies" - like across your rock background?
 
did you move the spray bar then fiddle with the position a few times over a couple of days.
 
Hi, major move of spray barwhen I redid tank from side of aquarium to back of aquarium. Noticed bba growing after issue with co2 (solenoid very noisey so striped down for few days - annoyingly didn't fix the issue) increased flow with 2 koralia nanos. And has only got worse in my view. Bba is dark Gray / black. No eddies spotted on back wall.
I know I have to strip back wall off just such a messy job I don't wanna do it. :). I'll get some of the kit I need for the job today and if the mood takes me I'll go at it.
 
Personally I would think about getting shot of the background. They seem to be great sites for BBA spores to settle and germinate especially in the presence of flow. In the wild, BBA grows on the back of rocks that have water flowing around them.
 
Right so job done.
Most of leaves removed. Those I could see anyway.
Painted Anubias with Easycarbo
Big water change done.
Background removed (much simpler than I thought by a long long way and was done with inhabitants in situ.)
Koralia nanos repositioned a little.
Removed eheim prefilter And back to normal eheim inlet
Also added gh booster from beeshrimp.co.uk (added a 10a to the list) as I seem to have very soft water at the moment.

Photos of before and after will be posted tomorrow if I get the time between running kids to their various parties or buying replacement hamsters :(


So using my initial system of solution identification the only ones I haven't done are 5,6,7 timer is bought just need to plug in.

Fingers crossed that's got it.
 
It does seem amazing how BBA can just appear after even the most basic change of condition within the tank!!
I recently had an outbreak, this came about 4 months after the tank was set up, everything was going very well until the appearance of the BBA.
All I had done was replace the spray bar with a new one spaced out with less but, bigger holes & that appears is all it can take!
If fact I did not try to change anything but, just waited for the tank to readjust, things are good again now but it took 6 weeks & I still have a little showing.
 
BBA seems to like decent flow across decor. I suspect changing flow, stirring up substrate and having lots of decor is a recipe for disaster :)
 
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