# How to combat BBA?



## Herrwibi (26 Aug 2020)

Hi all,

I've been suffering from some BBA in my cardina shrimp tank for a few months now. It's not overly bad but its starting to grow more and more. 

Break down of my tank,

60Litre Tank
Chihiros 2ft Led light ( Set on 3 of 7)
1xsponge filter
Pat mini attached to a double sponge filter.
50w heater.
10/20% water change every week.

I know CO2 is the main culprit of BBA appearing and i've been leaving my tap water to gas off for roughly 3/4 days before doing a water change( i live in Scotland so we have very soft water ). What else could i do ?

The light intensity has been lowered and i gravel vac the substrate so that most of the waste is lifted. 

Would adding in some amano shrimp to the tank help ?

Thanks.


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## jameson_uk (26 Aug 2020)

Herrwibi said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've been suffering from some BBA in my cardina shrimp tank for a few months now. It's not overly bad but its starting to grow more and more.
> 
> ...


I had quite an issue with BBA in my main tank and my experience is that it was worst when the tank needed cleaning.   It was worst in high flow areas (on the spray bar, sponge filter ...)
I found that nothing really ate it whilst alive (I did have an SAE that nibbled but never really made a difference).  Amanos wouldn't touch it.

I spot treated with Excel to remove what was there (once it went red and died the amanos and others piled in to clean it up).   I then did a deep clean of the filter, substrate, pipework....

Now whenever I spot a patch of BBA I know it is time for a bit of maintenance.


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## Mr.Shenanagins (26 Aug 2020)

Where is the BBA growing? On hardscape? Plants? Both?


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## JackH (26 Aug 2020)

I had a bad case of BBA recently and seem to have gotten over it. From my research BBA is a result of poor or lapsed maintanence (which I was definitely guilty of!. I upped my water change regime from 1 x 50%/weekish to 2 x 50%/week, and added some fast growing plants. I also got brutal with my trimming to remove any affected leaves, and double dosed Easycarbo - applying it direct with a syringe to affected hardscape. I also made sure I was fully on top of my ferts dosing so the plants were in the best position to outcompete.


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## ceg4048 (1 Sep 2020)

Herrwibi said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I've been suffering from some BBA in my cardina shrimp tank for a few months now. It's not overly bad but its starting to grow more and more.
> 
> ...


Hello,
          Yes, you are correct. Poor CO2 is the root cause of BBA. Is this a non CO2 injected tank? I'm assuming so. If that's the case then the only options are to reduce the CO2 demand by reducing lighting. When you do the water change you can spot dose either hydrogen peroxide or Excel-type products. Mechanical removal, scrubbing, picking etc., is also an option, tedious though it might be.

Cheers,


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## tiger15 (1 Sep 2020)

I have successfully eliminated BBA with a combo of peroxide and Excel.  I spot treat with 3% peroxide on all exposed surfaces and plants during WC when the water is lowered.  For submerged epiphytes on rock, I took them out and sprayed with peroxide. Then I dose  2 ppm Glutaldehyde  (5x initial dosage per Seachem) after refilling.  The BBA will turn red and algae eaters will consume and eliminate them in few days.  Now that my plants are robust and nearly free of  algae , I continue the treatment after WC to prevent their return.

None of my fish and nerite snails were  impacted by the treatment, and they were exposed to much higher dosage temporarily as I started dosing before filling up.  I have not tried the treatment on shrimp tank though, but according to Seachem, shrimp are OK at the dosage recommended.  But I would stop treatment as soon as BBA is gone as long term Glut treatment may stop them from multiplying from what I read.


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## Madhav (2 Sep 2020)

yes Excel worked for me too, I double dosed in the tank for around 1 week to get rid of it. host plants were not damaged at all.


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## Conort2 (2 Sep 2020)

Spot dose with excel, I use it diluted in a spray bottle which works very well. Keep up with tank cleanliness after to prevent it from returning

Cheers

Conor


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