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BBA fight: please help me to pin point the cause.

Do you have shrimp or mind having them? Yes, Amano shrimp don't like eating BBA. But I've followed Tropica's recommendation about 1 Amano shrimp per 5 L and found that their continuous grazing really prevents BBA and green fuzz algae to grow. They also reduce organic debris which is thought to cause algae.

Your tank already looks very healthy already. So it should not be a tough job.
 
Well there is something going on. Youre convinced its not co2. Ask yourself honestly what could it be? So many variables.....How much do I trust my pH meter?Is my dosing routine perfect? Maybe too much organics?
All you need to do to proof that its not organics is just to do biweekly water changes, dosing EI right after a water change and see how the algae responds. Of course remove all you can before hand.Also do the water changes after the photoperiod. May want to consider liquid carbon dosing for some time. Or peroxide if you dont have shrimps. Peroxide will help you a bit by oxidizing organics as well.
Also I might have asked you this before but what is the KH in your tank? Unless its quite high it wont make a difference.

For sure I have high organics in this tank, even just because it is over 5 years old and I have played a lot with it. With Co2, why should not trust the Ph meter? I calibrate it regularly, and replaced it a few months ago.

I regularly spot dose with peroxide and/or excel, but those are just temporary fixings. What about bacteria/sludge removers?

As for KH, my water is pretty hard, GH 13 and KH 7.
 
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=33522

Interestingly enough you BBA is only on plants at the bottom. Does that suggest something? It tells me 2 possibilities.

Do you think that's lack of Co2 at the bottom? I see bubbles running everywhere, bottom included... And, again, I pump 70ml of Co2 per minute, which is, I think, a lot. I have also tried to rise it up to 100ml per minute, but didn't make any difference. PH drop was over 1.8. Crazy high!
 
Do you have shrimp or mind having them? Yes, Amano shrimp don't like eating BBA. But I've followed Tropica's recommendation about 1 Amano shrimp per 5 L and found that their continuous grazing really prevents BBA and green fuzz algae to grow. They also reduce organic debris which is thought to cause algae.

Your tank already looks very healthy already. So it should not be a tough job.

I do have both Amano and Red Cherries, a lot of them... But they don't seem to care about BBA. Too bad...

My tank is mostly healthy, I give away a bucket of trimmings every 2 weeks, but this damn BBA is just annoying. Thanks!
 
For sure I have high organics in this tank, even just because it is over 5 years old and I have played a lot with it.
Then you know what you can to sort it out. Just good old wcs.

With Co2, why should not trust the Ph meter? I calibrate it regularly, and replaced it a few months ago.
Well it should be allright then, but never trust machines 100%:cool:.


What about bacteria/sludge removers?
Nah, I mean snails will do no harm of course but wcs are the best way and maybe feed less.

Do you think that's lack of Co2 at the bottom? I see bubbles running everywhere, bottom included... And, again, I pump 70ml of Co2 per minute, which is, I think, a lot. I have also tried to rise it up to 100ml per minute, but didn't make any difference. PH drop was over 1.8. Crazy high!
Yes. Either this or high organics or both.It doesnt necessarily mean there is a lack of co2 at the bottom right now though. You can try to up co2 just a tad maybe up to 80-85 ml per minute although this number means nothing really cause we havnt got anything to compare to. Ph is much more telling.

My tank is mostly healthy, I give away a bucket of trimmings every 2 weeks, but this damn BBA is just annoying. Thanks!
Just keep up with wcs (2x a week with syphoning) and up co2 a bit. Remove all BBA by hand. In a couple of weeks you should see improvement. But removal by hand has to be thorough.
 
you can try dosing liquid carbon directly where the concentration of algae it. it cleared my bba problem in a few weeks
 
you can try dosing liquid carbon directly where the concentration of algae it. it cleared my bba problem in a few weeks

Yes, That's usually what I do, but BBA keeps coming back. Now, I am trying to keep Co2 a little bit higher, and keep up with more WC for a while. And of course, a better fertilization regime. I will keep you posted. Thanks!
 
May 31, BBA UPDATE: gone. Yes, BBA is gone! Here is what I have done to make it disappear from my tank for the past month:

1. Got back to regular EI schedule by daily alternating macros with micros. Dosing 1/3 less than the recommended EI, just because I perform water change every 2 weeks.

2. Four weeks ago, after water change, I added recommended dose of Excel (the high dosage recommended after water change). That destroyed completely all BBA I had, but also damaged some of my Vals (too bad!) that have now recovered :)

3. Raised Co2 a little until I could see pearling on plants (tanks Tom for the tip I read on another thread somewhere!). As a reference, I raised Co2 to reach 80ml per minute. And I'll keep it that way from now on!

So... this has been my recipe to get rid of BBA after 8 months of struggling!

I think the following points helped a big deal:

1. Excel helped to get rid of everything bad was out right at that moment (BBA)

2. Raising Co2.

3. Getting back into regular fert routine without being afraid of "toxicities". I mean, all my plants got better, Alternathera Reinikii included which was struggling in a long time! In particular I think the increase of micros helped the most.


I hope my experience could be useful for other people. I'll keep watching my tank to see if that damn BBA will ever come back, but so far so good! Thanks again to anyone on this forum for the help given.

Best,
Fab.
 
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