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BBA driving me nuts.

Mr P

Mr P

Member
Joined
4 Oct 2011
Messages
166
Location
NW london
hello.my tank stats are 175litres.filter.1100litre per hour.koralia 1600.spray bar full lenth of tank.co2 drop checker is light green.2x 24watt T5 lights 6hours on..eco complete substrate . i only recently had to replant my tank due to BBA.i noticed today that it is already starting to make a comeback i use james c EL recipe and dosing i have read alot on this forum about poor co2 usally being the cause of BBA.i use an ae atomiser ,i can see the bubbles getting all round the tank. theBBA is more heavy on the slow growing plants,cryptys and on the subtrate and wood.i have been doing large water changes every couple of days to try and get on top of the problem.i also am dosing the ferts at the high end of the recommended dose. please help aarrggghhh.many thanks.
 
skankypup said:
hello.my tank stats are 175litres.filter.1100litre per hour.koralia 1600.spray bar full lenth of tank.co2 drop checker is light green.2x 24watt T5 lights 6hours on..eco complete substrate . i only recently had to replant my tank due to BBA.i noticed today that it is already starting to make a comeback i use james c EL recipe and dosing i have read alot on this forum about poor co2 usally being the cause of BBA.i use an ae atomiser ,i can see the bubbles getting all round the tank. theBBA is more heavy on the slow growing plants,cryptys and on the subtrate and wood.i have been doing large water changes every couple of days to try and get on top of the problem.i also am dosing the ferts at the high end of the recommended dose. please help aarrggghhh.many thanks.
Click to expand...

Which needle valve and regulator are you using?
 
Too much co2 also cause bba. With atomizer and the tons of bubbles around the tank this is my first tip. Since you have less light and probably more slow growers its safer to slow down the injection a bit, then add some id this isnt enough. Too much flow can also cause it if the flow lift up the soil particles, but with this much this may not be a problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Too much flow I found to cause me bba on hardscape. Also since i started to use O2 at night no bba. Not sure why. :)

The issue should not be lighting, 6 hours is more than enough. :)


___________________________
 
thanks for your help chaps,i am using a JBL regulator with its own needle valve.should i keep the same amount of ferts going in?i do have a lot of crypts,i also have a carpet of sagittaria teres.which is doing fine and a couple of swords ,i have a lot of fish in the tank so would this make a difference to things.i must admit that i done quite well before just using easy carbo and tpn and did not have the problems i have now.i tried to grow harder plants, hc ,rotala but was defeated by algae in the end so i planted the tank with easier to grow plants this time.does the tank really warrant the use of co2 and el dosing?. the tank is primarily a fish tank and do not want to harm the fish in any way.i also have a 2foot tank which i am try to aquascape properly.thanks again . :thumbup: skankypup
 
Hi all

viktorlantos said:
Too much co2 also cause bba.
Click to expand...
I must say I've never heard of that one Viktor :?

ghostsword said:
Too much flow I found to cause me bba on hardscape.
Click to expand...
I've definitely had this issue in the past.

2 x 24w T5's on 175l shouldn't present you with any problems. I'm running 2 x 45w T5's on a 180l and don't have any issues.
I have started a few tanks without fish in the past, and seriously cranked up the CO2 for a few weeks and never had a drop of algae. The problem comes when you introduce livestock and have to crank it back down. You sometimes end up on the borderline, so unless your flow is spot on, everywhere, you may get this problem. This is what I have found anyway.
 
CeeJay said:
I must say I've never heard of that one Viktor
Click to expand...

Yeah i mainly seen this on small and nano tanks. But appeared a couple times. I see a reason to add only the necessary CO2 to the tank. At the beginning less later more.

I've seen BGA next to the injection areas where the CO2 was on the highest level with low flow tanks. Once the CO2 reduced to the optimal level the BGA disappeared. Also mainly the shady plants got the BBA this way, like Anubias Crypts but the decor too. Maybe this is about the low O2 level on that area then. Pros can tell us the things behind it.
 
thanks ceejay and victor,i have turned the power head off for the time being,the BBA gets very thick at the bottom of the tank where there is strong flow,i think my failure before with harder to keep plants was that i did not get enough gas and ferts in the tank, this timei think i have had too much going in.i have the drop checker a nice light green colour,it is down near the substrate,what should i look for to know that i am injecting enough gas?.i really want to get this right becase i love to see well setup tanks they look beautiful and i would like to do this well.thanks again .skankypup.
 
[quote="viktorlantos]
I've seen BGA next to the injection areas where the CO2 was on the highest level with low flow tanks [/quote]

I've had algae growing on my ceramic diffuser plate and any plants directly infront of my spray bar or where the flow was high were prone for BBA - swapped to a lily pipe - no futher issues.

Regards
Paul
 
thanks dolly sprint.i do have quite a flow across the tank bottom,which is where most of the BBA is.without the powerhead on there is a gentle movement to the plants.in my 2ft tank i took out the powerhead a few days ago,the plants are pearling and appear to have started to grow a bit quicker things seem better without areally strong flow but i have seen enough articles on this forum to say otherwise.i know there is a fine balance in getting things right and these vary from tank to tank but there is alot on this forumto take in,then you have to find what suits your setup.very confusing.i hpoe to get it right one day .thanks skankypup. :)
 
Hi

Its like walking on a tight rope - one wrong footing - your off the rope and the tanks the same. Hit the sweet spot and your laughing - any tweeks that you do, remember what you did as you can revert back to original set up and tweek one thing at a time.

Regards
Paul.
 
viktorlantos said:
Too much co2 also cause bba. With atomizer and the tons of bubbles around the tank this is my first tip. Since you have less light and probably more slow growers its safer to slow down the injection a bit, then add some id this isnt enough. Too much flow can also cause it if the flow lift up the soil particles, but with this much this may not be a problem.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

Can too much co2 really cause BBA? I know you can have to much co2 for the well being of the livestock but really too much for plants?
Also, can too much flow be a bad thing as well? Is it possible to be blowing co2 and nutrients straight off the plants :rolleyes:
 
BBA.... :mad: I was fighting what seemed like a never ending battle with this beast. I have finally won that battle, but the war is far from over! Like others have said, neglect conditions and it will return!

I think the most important thing to do in the first instance is to remove ALL affected leaves pronto, even if this means a hard, brutal cull. You need to get them out. Ensure good flow, and crank up Co2 to the highest level you can get away with! I also spot dosed Excel to badly effected areas. The only other thing I can think of was that I increased dosing of Kh2Po4 levels (This was more to combat a GSA issue but since doing this the BBA has retracted it`s advance) Dunno if it`s related?

This information goes against what some of the more experienced aquarists are telling you, but I found this worked for me!

Good luck. Stick with it. It`s a great feeling when you finally beat it?
 
I had a fair bit of BBA and as others have posted in high flow areas. I had some Cyprus Helferi with badly infected leaves on the surface and I think it came from the wood in close proximity. A hard pruning, toothbrush and easy carbo during water change followed with a good spot dosing seems to have cleared it up in 1 week. Oto's love it when it's in it's pinky orange dead state.

I put the initial outburst down to fluctuating co2 during the first month or so of the setup. It's easy to beat using the above tactic but as all algae's, if you don't fix the cause it will be back>
 
i have been dosing liquid carbon daily to try and get rid of the algae,i think that i may have found part of the problem ,my JBL regulator is leaking gas badly.not happy as it is only 4months old, it is not leaking at the bottle but from around one of the gauges.i have been struggling to get a consistent flow with the gas and may be this is part of the problem.i will stick with the liquid carbon for the moment till i get the regulator sorted.many thanks again,skankypup.
 
Ahh, I believe fluctuations in Co2 levels are known to be a cause of BBA? Maybe this is your problem. Is it the Regulator from the Proflora Series?
 
The main issue with BBA is the organic waste buildup so you need to concentrate heavily on water changes until the plant mass rises enough to keep the water free of it, you might need to do at least two 50% changes a week. Also there's no such a thing as "CO2 fluctuations causing algae", the correct therm is not enough CO2 added in correlation with the light level, so either you up the CO2 addition or lower the light intensity until things settle in.

Cheers,
Mike
 
Regarding spot dosing. Would you advise on removing any known BBA sources and simply spot dose on affected areas and then proceed with a water change?

I presume this is spot dosing Easycarbo neat? I have some manzanite branches affected with this and it is a little unsightly.
 
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