# Bba and Gba success at last



## Bobdmr (25 May 2018)

I'm fairly new to the hobby and have been struggling with algae for a while now, no amount of water changing, co2 increase or light reduction has had any effect on the amount of algae what so ever, so I wanted to share my method for getting rid of bba and gba algae.  
From what I can gather, once it's in your tank it needs to be removed physically or with chemicals.

It's probably not a new idea but after watching a YouTube vid with a chap describing how he lowers the water level to expose the algae, then paints on to the algae neat flourish excel with a paint brush and another one spraying hydrogen peroxide directly on to submerged algae I had an idea.

Basically In my tank the bulk of the algae is at the bottom of the tank, mainly on slow growing leaves and the small rocks, also on the tank floor, so it really isn't practical to expose the algae and I was really reluctant to use hydrogen peroxide.

Instead I filled a syringe with double the dose of excel, turned the power head off and waited for the water to settle, i then teased out the excel (you can see it leaving the syringe if you look carefully, and it appears to be heavier than water so you know where to aim) on to the individual tufts of bba and for the gba (which is more widespread) I gave it a blanket covering.

I repeated this process over 3/4 days and noticed the bba was turning red and has now gone white, the gba has been eaten by the shrimp and Otto's 

The leaves that were heavily effected I removed and I bleached the power head outlets which were also covered.

I do keep noticing new tufts of bba but I definitely feel as though I'm winning the battle.
The rocks in the picture were almost completely green.

Hope you find this useful.


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## ceg4048 (25 May 2018)

One does not win the battle of algal blooms by killing.
If you do not solve the root cause of algae in your tank then the blooms will simply return.

Blooms occur due to poor plant health, so it is necessary to ensure healthy plants first before any type of algae can be "cured".

Cheers,


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## Bobdmr (26 May 2018)

Better shot


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## rebel (26 May 2018)

@Bobdmr , You can use your technique in combination with peroxide also. It also sinks. You can essentially do a localised one-two punch which is very effective to kill BBA.

As to prevent it from coming back, you will need to address light and CO2.


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## Sarpijk (26 May 2018)

Hi may I ask what is the brown-red plant in your tank? Looks like a cryptocoryne for sure but what species?


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## Bobdmr (27 May 2018)

Sarpijk said:


> Hi may I ask what is the brown-red plant in your tank? Looks like a cryptocoryne for sure but what species?


I think there are three varieties of crypt... the tall ones in the middle are Pechi the ones on the far right Wenditi and at the front Hobbit
Sorry about the spellings


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