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Goodbye BBA!

M

Matti

Member
Joined
12 Aug 2021
Messages
89
Location
Helsinki, Finland
I've had this BBA problem for a long time, especially on my buces. Nothing worked, tried all the know tricks: lights, Co2, ferts, feeding. Tried to manage it with glut but that started to melt my plants, bad stuff. Hyperperoxide kind of worked, but don't have the nerves for daily spot treatments.
So I finally removed all the BBA plants and soaked the on bleach, BBA gone! It was bit messy to put them all back, as most of them were glued on rock.

What you do is take 1 part of household bleach and 3 parts of water. Soak the plants for 30s, it kills BBA instantly.
After that soak them in a bucket with water and some dechlorinator, like EasyLife Aquamaker.

What I am now hoping that BBA does not come back. I changed my filter from Dennerle HBO to Oase Biomaster 250. That should be enough for a 55l tank!
I also reduced lighting and try to avoid overfeeding.

Matti
 
You haven't changed the conditions in your tank, so it will likely return.

I use APT fix, which does an excellent job. I find it much more effective than H2O2 or Seachem Flourish Excel. I spot apply it once a week if see any BBA, but since I started using it I only need to apply it every 4-5 weeks and I usually only need a ml or 2.

My tank looked like a BBA farm at one point, with a nice side garden of spot algae on the glass. That was primarily because of too much light and too much feeding. I had my new light on the default setting which was way-way too much light. By cutting the light intensity and duration as well as the feeding in half I eliminated the green spot algae and most of the BBA over a couple months. That's when I started using APT fix.

Ripping all my plants out, bleaching them and replanting them is something I wouldn't do. What I mean is that I personally would not do it. I'm not saying you shouldn't, but I fear you will need to do it again in a few weeks / months.

Now that you have removed the BBA from your plants it would be a good time to incorporate a product like fix. Keep a close eye on things so you see the first return of the BBA and treat it immediately

I know none of this removes the cause of the problem, but unless you identify the cause and treat it you are left to manage the BBA.
 
kayjo said:
I know none of this removes the cause of the problem, but unless you identify the cause and treat it you are left to manage the BBA.
Click to expand...
Hi @kayjo

I suspect we don't pay enough attention to dissolved organics in our aquariums. It is a tricky one. For a start we often can't see it. We can't directly measure it with hobbyist kits. But, I'm of the view that we can detect the presence of dissolved organics by measuring ORP/Redox. The chemistry behind ORP/Redox is complex. But, we don't need to venture into that just yet. Phew! What appears to be the case is that dissolved organics (from waste) are broken down by heterotrophic bacteria in the water column and on surfaces. This process releases nutrients that can feed algae and/or Cyanobacteria. And this consumes oxygen. This has the effect of lowering the ORP/Redox value. In my experience, using an ORP meter, there appears to be a correlation between the ORP value and the presence of unwanted algae and Cyano.

So, what can be done about the dissolved organics? How do we prevent them building up? Water changes obviously will help and filter maintenance (i.e. cleaning). Then there are filtration media such as Granular Activated Carbon (GAC) and proprietary products such as Seachem Purigen. They're not perfect by any means but worth considering.

That'll do for now.

JPC
 
kayjo said:
You haven't changed the conditions in your tank, so it will likely return.

I use APT fix, which does an excellent job. I find it much more effective than H2O2 or Seachem Flourish Excel. I spot apply it once a week if see any BBA, but since I started using it I only need to apply it every 4-5 weeks and I usually only need a ml or 2.

My tank looked like a BBA farm at one point, with a nice side garden of spot algae on the glass. That was primarily because of too much light and too much feeding. I had my new light on the default setting which was way-way too much light. By cutting the light intensity and duration as well as the feeding in half I eliminated the green spot algae and most of the BBA over a couple months. That's when I started using APT fix.

Ripping all my plants out, bleaching them and replanting them is something I wouldn't do. What I mean is that I personally would not do it. I'm not saying you shouldn't, but I fear you will need to do it again in a few weeks / months.

Now that you have removed the BBA from your plants it would be a good time to incorporate a product like fix. Keep a close eye on things so you see the first return of the BBA and treat it immediately

I know none of this removes the cause of the problem, but unless you identify the cause and treat it you are left to manage the BBA.
Click to expand...
ATP fix? Another glutaraldehyde product?
Bleach is a the real BBA killer and it's a real joy to see those bastards die within your eyes. But there is the possibility that BBA comes back.
What I'm now hoping is that by reducing light and better filtration I get the problem solved for good.

Matti
 
Matti said:
Bleach is a the real BBA killer and it's a real joy to see those bastards die within your eyes. But there is the possibility that BBA comes back.
Click to expand...
Hi @Matti

If you are relying on spot/patch treatment, there will inevitably be BBA that escapes your attention. Yes/No? And, do you have to lower the water level every time you do this?

JPC
 
jaypeecee said:
Hi @Matti

If you are relying on spot/patch treatment, there will inevitably be BBA that escapes your attention. Yes/No? And, do you have to lower the water level every time you do this?

JPC
Click to expand...
No, i don't lower the water level as you cannot do the bleach treatment in the tank, you have to remove the plants and rinse the chloride before placing them back.
 
Matti said:
Bleach is a the real BBA killer and it's a real joy to see those bastards die within your eyes. But there is the possibility that BBA comes back.
Click to expand...
Agreed, to watch it turn white in front of your eyes, knowing its breathed its last breath after a bleach dip is much more satisfying than seeing it turn red following a two day course of excel. It's almost poetic "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"

Sadly if we ain't fixed the root cause, it returns, to quote the terminator "I'll be back"
 
I can appreciate that would be satisfying, having lost a lot of my epiphytes to BBA.
 
Matti said:
No, i don't lower the water level as you cannot do the bleach treatment in the tank, you have to remove the plants and rinse the chloride before placing them back.
Click to expand...
Hi @Matti

That's one heck of a lot of work if it's only a temporary 'solution'. And the use of bleach is like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

JPC
 
MichaelJ said:
Yes, after the bleach bath you are supposed to rinse it thoroughly under running water and then let it sit for about 8 hours in clean water with a dechlorinator added generously (such as Prime). I've been using Purigen for a long time and never had a problem.
Click to expand...
I just soaked the plants in bleach for 30s, rinsed them under tap water for 30s, and after that 30-60s seconds in a jar with water and dechlorinator, in my case EasyLife Aquamaker, I've also used Tetra Aquasafe. No need for 8 hours soaking as the dechlorination reaction happens instantly.
No problem for plants as it's only a 30s chloride bath, but absolutely lethal for any algae including BBA!

I find this a much safer way than using glut. With glutaraldehyde your basically adding a disinfectant to your tank and in my case it started to melt my Alternanthera, and killed my one and only beloved Otto!
Bleach is a much safer 30s kill them all solution.
 
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this is just a temporary solution, and not a smart one imo either its better to address the issue that you get BBA in the first place, usually BBA comes with alot of pollution in the water / and fluctuations in CO2 i would get co2 in check and gravel clean etc. every square inch of the tank and how long ago is it that you cleaned the filter ?

post a picture of your tank so we could help you better.
 
John q said:
Agreed, to watch it turn white in front of your eyes, knowing its breathed its last breath after a bleach dip is much more satisfying than seeing it turn red following a two day course of excel. It's almost poetic "I love the smell of napalm in the morning"

Sadly if we ain't fixed the root cause, it returns, to quote the terminator "I'll be back"
Click to expand...

😂 Only an aquarist would understand this feeling towards a bit of algae
 
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