BBA delayed reaction to CO2 issues

[igirisujin]

Hello,

I said in my journal that I have had some issues keeping the CO2 injection rate stable in my 25cm. I think I've fixed the problem now by adding another needle valve. Whereas previously the bubble rate seemed to gradually creep up until I reset it (hence unstable), now it keeps a steady one bubble per 2-3 seconds.

I'm now seeing BBA appear on my hardscape and Anubias leaves. I would like to determine whether the cause of this BBA was this unstable CO2, or another issue. Therefore, I'd like to ask a couple of questions.

1. Is there much of a delay between a given CO2 issue and the appearance of BBA/CO2-related algae? If so, is it possible to estimate how long after the issue this algae may appear?

2. Scrubbing with a brush is not a good option given the delicate nature of the hardscape (next time I will use glue or putty!), and given the lack of availability of liquid carbon in Japan, would you expect BBA to disappear by itself once the cause is rectified?

Thanks

 

[Bryce]

I could be wrong here but I believe bba usually comes from plants driftwood etc that you bring into your tank from another tank that had it or spores from it. I read that somewhere before. If you get plants that were growing submersed in another tank your supposed to soak them in like a 19:1 ratio of bleach water to kill everything off. I often wondered if you had all tissue culture plants and sterile driftwood would it be impossible to get bba? I don’t know the answer. The few outbreaks of it I had were soon after introducing plants that came from my lfs. I removed all the plants and wood infected and used H2o2. It’s a real pain to get rid of naturally, I go nuclear on it.