# BBA and liquid carbon



## danmil3s

so my big tank has had a small bit of BBA algae in for a while now. mainly due to the fact i never stooped fiddling. it only seems to be on plants that have been in since it started and on the gravel. so now ive stooped fiddling i want to get rid of it for good.  part of the method i want to use is the liquid carbon over dose root.  so for it too work effectively how much do i need to use. its a 705l tank so don't want to use to little for a week and waste it. should i start at 2x the dose or should i go 3x there are fish in the tank. i know this has been answered before but i cant seem to find it. and once the algae is gone how ever long that might take, can i just stop using liquid carbon or do i need to wean the tank of it. thanks guys.


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## chrisjj

Not sure of the dose, but dose directly on the affected area with a syringe when doing it.


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## danmil3s

yeah that was my plan got to put in 30 odd ml so spreding it about won't be to hard


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## Bobtastic

Dont forget to turn off you filters/power heads whilest OD'ing. This way you can ensure maximum contact of LC and algae. 

Also be mindful that some plants, especially some mosses don't like heavy doses of LC.


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## danmil3s

yeah i turn of the power heads. no mosses unfortunately my SAE like them to much, would love some moss though. how long do you think this might take.


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## bigmatt

you can see the bba die off almost immediately - it turns pink! M


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## danmil3s

the bits on the bog wood died straight away pure dose out of water. the bba on the substrata is proving harder. maybe i need to concentrate my dose to one area everyday what do you think.


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## bigmatt

That sounds like a good plan.  Or can you just skim off the surface layer of substrate and replace it with some new stuff?
M


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## Westyggx

Im having a nightmare with BBA, i put the CO2 up to a higher level as i read this would kill it and it hasnt. I cut all the covered plants up and its now come back stronger than ever, covering my substrate rocks, inlet filter and crypts. Any tips people? Cheers


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## CeeJay

Hi Wesyyggx


			
				Westyggx said:
			
		

> Im having a nightmare with BBA, i put the CO2 up to a higher level as i read this would kill it and it hasnt.


Increasing your CO2 will not kill BBA. In fact once you've got it, it will thrive on CO2 and your nutrients. The key is not to get it in the first place. Easier said than done, I know.
BBA is usually caused by fluctuating CO2. 
You will have to carry on with manual removal and possibly the spot dosing EC as well. If all else fails, a 3 day blackout as a last resort.
Try reducing the light while you are battling this pesky stuff, to give yourself half a chance.


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## Westyggx

CeeJay said:
			
		

> Hi Wesyyggx
> 
> 
> 
> Westyggx said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Im having a nightmare with BBA, i put the CO2 up to a higher level as i read this would kill it and it hasnt.
> 
> 
> 
> Increasing your CO2 will not kill BBA. In fact once you've got it, it will thrive on CO2 and your nutrients. The key is not to get it in the first place. Easier said than done, I know.
> BBA is usually caused by fluctuating CO2.
> You will have to carry on with manual removal and possibly the spot dosing EC as well. If all else fails, a 3 day blackout as a last resort.
> Try reducing the light while you are battling this pesky stuff, to give yourself half a chance.
Click to expand...


Hi CeeJay,

I will cut everything down tonight, reduce CO2 and Lighting period. I currently have the lights on for 5 hours a day what should i reducde this too? I am not sure how the CO2 became fluctuated as i am on a solenioid and has been running the same since i set it up 3-4 months ago.

Thanks for your help.


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## danmil3s

i dont seem to be having much luck with the easy carb spot dosing. some BBA seems to be going bright red but not where i spot dosed  . i've ordered another ltr of E\C. didn't know a black out would have worked or  tried that first. a lot cheaper. £20 of E\C only lasts 25 days at these levels


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## CeeJay

Hi Westyggx


			
				Westyggx said:
			
		

> Hi CeeJay,
> 
> I will cut everything down tonight, reduce CO2 and Lighting period. I currently have the lights on for 5 hours a day what should i reducde this too?


5 hours a day should be OK for your lighting


			
				Westyggx said:
			
		

> I am not sure how the CO2 became fluctuated as i am on a solenioid and has been running the same since i set it up 3-4 months ago.


This may well be your problem  :idea: 
In 3-4 months have your plants not got any bigger? This will increase their uptake of CO2. This coupled with the fact that the plants are bigger, now reduces your flow everywhere. Hence the levels in the tank today are nowhere near what they were 3-4 months ago.
I find as a tank starts to 'grow in' you have to increase the levels of CO2 delivered to the tank and keep on top of the flow too. Trimming where necessary.
This became blatantly obvious to me on one occassion when I had been tweaking the CO2 upwards on one of my set ups and the plants were booming. So I thought, time for a trim. At the time I had this huge Nesaea Pedicellata and gave it a severe trim. Within hours, my drop checker had turned bright yellow and my fish were gasping at the surface. All because I'd trimmed my plants   How mad is that?


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## Westyggx

Ah makes sense when someone else points it out! Thanks I will give it a try, although I am not home for a month now my mother is looking after my tank. 

God help me. Haha. I think I will come back to a BBA Nightmare, anyway I have turned the lights to 5 hours, co2 down, dosing cut in half. 

It will have to do until I'm back but thanks for the assistance much appreciated .


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## Westyggx

Westyggx said:
			
		

> Ah makes sense when someone else points it out! Thanks I will give it a try, although I am not home for a month now my mother is looking after my tank.
> 
> God help me. Haha. *I think I will come back to a BBA Nightmare*, anyway I have turned the lights to 5 hours, co2 down, dosing cut in half.
> 
> It will have to do until I'm back but thanks for the assistance much appreciated .



I was right lol, came back to a disaster BBA everywhere. Gave it a good clean and a trim and changed the Co2 levels a bit so lets see how this goes!


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## Westyggx

I'm having an absolute nightmare with BBA some extra advice would be appreciated its taking over all my plants and substrate its so annoying. Im now dosing 5ml of easy carbo daily and no change. Drop checker is a lime green colour.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

M8 I am having the same problem as you its a PITA. I am starting to get a little of the upper hand but never quite totally rid. A few things that I have noticed about your post are turning the co2 up and dosing EC then not. The BBA loves fluctuating co2, keeping things as steady as possible and you need to do this long term. Another problem is improving growth for plants always improves growth of algae which in turn kids us that were doing something wrong when in actual fact we have improved plant growing conditions. 

Rather than massive doses to kill everything off which may in turn make co2 levels fluctuate I have tried a different approach of dosing the recommended amount with my co2 to buffer the co2 a bit. I do dose directly on affected areas at the base of plants. The gravel is a big problem I found because it grows onto the base and then carries on up the leave so even new growth is affected right away. What I did to try and combat it was thin out your plants a bit enough to get a narrow gravel cleaner in and around them and pull up the gravel from underneath and layer it over the top. Then pick out any remaining stones just with the plastic grabber things you get from algarde.

This has two advantages, firstly the gravel at the top which is clean covers the stuff with bba on blocking it from the light so eventually the gravel underneath rids itself of the hairy monster. I might also add here that it's best to do this with a syphon type cleaner rather than the battery hoover. When you pull up the gravel it also sucks up nasties from under the substrate which is better of syphoned out and new water added rather than pulled into the tank and left there.

The other advantage is that if you keep just a few each of the same specimen plant to edge your bets of keeping one alive you can concentrate your spot dosing of EC onto each and try and grow the plants as individual items trimming them and dosing them in affected areas. IMO its easier to fight BBA when it's in certain areas rather than every things got a bit on.

Try and pick well rooted specimens that stand the best chance of survival and if you have multiple tubes maybe a good idea to turn one off for now and slow the whole system down making co2 and dosing errors have less of an impact on the tank.

Thirdly you need massive patience, I have had problems for a long time after same situation as you I was working away and came back to a nightmare. Clip plants out little and often, what I tend to do is Saturday change my water and get the fresh gravel to the top. Then as the week goes just pick out any stones with the tweasers and clip the odd couple of leaves off each plant as and when I see new growth on them to replace the affected leaf I'm about to chop off rather than a whole out blitz on all plants which affects co2 levels dramatically as mentioned. Just clip off a few affected leaves every couple of days.

Adding EC at the right dose seems to prevent new growth in my tank so gradually trimming old leaves and spot dosing others eventually has the plants with new growth which the EC holds back the BBA.

And let me know if you come up with any good solutions that might help my particular battle. We're in this war together


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## Westyggx

AverageWhiteBloke said:
			
		

> M8 I am having the same problem as you its a PITA. I am starting to get a little of the upper hand but never quite totally rid. A few things that I have noticed about your post are turning the co2 up and dosing EC then not. The BBA loves fluctuating co2, keeping things as steady as possible and you need to do this long term. Another problem is improving growth for plants always improves growth of algae which in turn kids us that were doing something wrong when in actual fact we have improved plant growing conditions.
> 
> Rather than massive doses to kill everything off which may in turn make co2 levels fluctuate I have tried a different approach of dosing the recommended amount with my co2 to buffer the co2 a bit. I do dose directly on affected areas at the base of plants. The gravel is a big problem I found because it grows onto the base and then carries on up the leave so even new growth is affected right away. What I did to try and combat it was thin out your plants a bit enough to get a narrow gravel cleaner in and around them and pull up the gravel from underneath and layer it over the top. Then pick out any remaining stones just with the plastic grabber things you get from algarde.
> 
> This has two advantages, firstly the gravel at the top which is clean covers the stuff with bba on blocking it from the light so eventually the gravel underneath rids itself of the hairy monster. I might also add here that it's best to do this with a syphon type cleaner rather than the battery hoover. When you pull up the gravel it also sucks up nasties from under the substrate which is better of syphoned out and new water added rather than pulled into the tank and left there.
> 
> The other advantage is that if you keep just a few each of the same specimen plant to edge your bets of keeping one alive you can concentrate your spot dosing of EC onto each and try and grow the plants as individual items trimming them and dosing them in affected areas. IMO its easier to fight BBA when it's in certain areas rather than every things got a bit on.
> 
> Try and pick well rooted specimens that stand the best chance of survival and if you have multiple tubes maybe a good idea to turn one off for now and slow the whole system down making co2 and dosing errors have less of an impact on the tank.
> 
> Thirdly you need massive patience, I have had problems for a long time after same situation as you I was working away and came back to a nightmare. Clip plants out little and often, what I tend to do is Saturday change my water and get the fresh gravel to the top. Then as the week goes just pick out any stones with the tweasers and clip the odd couple of leaves off each plant as and when I see new growth on them to replace the affected leaf I'm about to chop off rather than a whole out blitz on all plants which affects co2 levels dramatically as mentioned. Just clip off a few affected leaves every couple of days.
> 
> Adding EC at the right dose seems to prevent new growth in my tank so gradually trimming old leaves and spot dosing others eventually has the plants with new growth which the EC holds back the BBA.
> 
> And let me know if you come up with any good solutions that might help my particular battle. We're in this war together



Thank you for the decent post mate, i have just done a 60% water change this afty, and removed all BBA infected areas. I have re added my bubble counter (i removed it for some time and just judged the colour of my drop checker) and have set it to around 3BPS. However not sure if its working right now as cannot see any Co2 in the tank, think my stop valve is creating a barrier?

Anyway, going to keep an eye on it and hopefully keep my CO2 at a steady rate and up it as plants increase in size. Will keep you informed.

Cheers


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## ghostsword

I had bba all over the show! On rocks, wood, filter intakes, etc.

What fixed it? Lots of co2 helps, but most importantly is stable co2. This means the same level of co2 for a month at least. Also shorter light duration and flow, lots of flow around the tank.

Keep the co2 stable, cut any leaves that have algae, dose enough ferts and it will go away. 

Until you get the co2 stable you will not beat it.

Patience is the key, it can take up to two weeks for the things to get better, plants (at least mine) take a while to adapt to changing conditions.

Also get plants well established for a new tank.

Just before you forget, stable co2!  


.


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## Westyggx

Luis, does this include measurements of Easy Carbo? Many have said overdose on Easy Carbo, but doesnt this go against the stable CO2 issue?


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## ghostsword

Would dose easycarbo at water changes diluted with a spraybottle, this works on wood and on rocks, but on plants I was just cutting them.

Stable co2 is the key. The issue I had was that plants take long to react to a change, making it easier for one to become impatient and try something else. That was my biggest fault.


.


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## Westyggx

Ok I'll give it a go, worth a try eh! Thanks alot.


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## danmil3s

so all was going well i lowed the light spot dosed  and removed the the worst affected leaves. my tank was looking better than ever. there was still a small amount of BBA  and on my micro sword that's putting out a runner, but the the BBA spreads along the runners after the new growth killing  before it gets any hight. then disaster two days running i had issues with co2 levels caused by various bits coming lose. so now the BBA has come back with a vengeance. this time i want to get rid of it all im going to do a 5 day black out.I'm doing a %50 water change as i type then ill screw the panels i used for the BGA back on. im on the verge of giving up selling my t5s and just getting some t8s and going low tec. i just hate to admit defeat.


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## CeeJay

Hi danmil3s


			
				danmil3s said:
			
		

> im on the verge of giving up selling my t5s and just getting some t8s and going low tec. i just hate to admit defeat.


Lots of people still run hi tech with T8's. In fact that's what I plan to do when my T5 ballast blows up. Gives you loads more wiggle room, as they say. Less CO2 required as well   
I'm sure T5's were invented by the devil himself  . Everything has to be spot on all the time with very little margin for error.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

> issues with co2 levels caused by various bits coming lose. so now the BBA has come back with a vengeance


Remember on though what was said earlier, improving plant growth also improves algae growth so be careful not to have a knee jerk reaction and immediately blame the co2. It may be that you have just improved conditions for growth all round.

I run my tank on 3xT8's 70watt in total and grossly underestimated their power. At first I allowed for it in my dosing and erring on the side of caution with ferts. This turned out in plant deficiencies and I find now that just short of full EI dosing is what's needed to keep my plants happy.

What is the problem with your co2 I don't think we got round to that? What set up have you got for administering the co2? Maybe if we get to the bottom of why the co2 is fluctuating we could help prevent that.

In my particular case, I have a very effective de-gassing trickle filter that I can't seal. The upshot of that is in the morning my DC would be bright blue when after the dark period it should if anything be quite yellow I guess so the tank is doing the opposite of what would be normal. I have DIY running 24/7 which keeps the DC green in the morning and 3hrs before my FE kicks in to smooth over the lighting period where the DIY wouldn't be able to keep up.

My biggest fluctuations occur when one of the 2 DIY bottles needs changed in which case I just leave the FE 24/7 for a couple of days until the new bottle kicks in full strength. Also having a decent clip out helps on days when co2 levels are low. I also find stepping up dosing creates a higher demand. I had my co2 sorted until I stepped up the ferts then I realised I had to step up the co2. All of which caused fluctuations and BBA.

Sorry for hijacking your post a bit but it's still in the same vein   One thing I do wonder though is how much affect natural light plays a part in co2 levels. My tank is near a patio door and with the recent hot weather morning daylight was hitting the tank even through the blinds I was getting up to my plants bobbling like crazy so maybe I should really have my FE on from daylight hours if anyone thinks it;s a good idea?

Just remember though mate I got obsessed with lighting and it took a lot to switch tubes off and reduce the lighting but there's nothing wrong with that. Better having a low light work of art than a highlight mess. Going back to one of your earlier posts you were going to turn things down a give yourself a more room for error until you got things sorted. Still sounds like a good idea to me, that's how I managed to start getting on top of it anyway.
I took inspiration from one of James (planted tank) pictures when I realised that it was created and maintained with less watt per gallon lighting than mine.


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## Stephan

Hi Guys,

I've only recently joined this forum and I've been reading up on different topics so excuse me for chipping in here...
To my experience there's one very effective remedy for bba. You want to get hold of some _Crossocheilus reticulatus_. They look similar to the Siamese Algae Eater (_Crossocheilus siamensis_) but with a black dot on the base of the tail fin. Get some very small ones. They'll get rid of your bba in no time. These fish work like a charm. The only drawback with them is when they get bigger and with all the algae gone, they will start to nibble on the plants. Mind you, that's only after a couple of years or so. I have posted a photo of them in a recent post in my blog. I also got some of these algae recently and I thought I'd try _Crossocheilus siamensis_ but so far, no joy. I'll give them a couple of weeks to work on the bba but I think I'll introduce some small _reticulatus_ after that to document the difference. I'll keep you posted!

Cheers,

--Stephan


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## CeeJay

Hi Stephan
Welcome to the forum   



			
				Stephan said:
			
		

> To my experience there's one very effective remedy for bba. You want to get hold of some Crossocheilus reticulatus.


This may solve the problem of getting rid of BBA once you've got it, but our goal is not to get it in the first place.
I read your blog with interest, and I don't mean to rain on your parade, but there are some howlers in there that need addressing.
Some of the most obvious being:-

Quote

"First of all, it is wise to keep your water looked-after with controlled levels of macro-nutrients, including phosphorous and nitrogen. It is even a prerequisite to an algae-free aquarium". 
Unquote

I couldn't agree more   

Quote
"It is important to consider that your plants need these nutrients to grow and compete with the algae".
Unquote

I couldn't disagree more   

Quote
Kaufmann gives a short instruction on how to cure an infestation with blue-green algae (Cyanobacteria). I am sure this can be adapted to fight other types of algae as well, should you need a fast remedy:
Change 70% of the water
Install an aerating pump with a diffusor
Turn off all CO2
Darken your tank by covering it with a blanket, cardboard etc.
Only if small fry is present, feed every two days under dim light
If infestation is severe, change 50% of the water again after three days
after 6 to 7 days, return to normal lighting
On the following two days, change 90% of the water on each day.
(Kaufmann states that if you forget or omit step 8, the whole exercise will be futile.)"
Unquote.

This may be one way to get rid of BGA, but that's a lot of work   
All I did when I had a BGA outbreak in a newly set up tank was up my Nitrates. It was gone in 4 days. Followed by a huge water change   .

Quote
"Healthy and vigorous plants will outcompete alge because they bind free nutrients and create an environment which is favourable to their growth".
Unquote

I disagree with this too   
Plants will never outcompete algae for nutrients. Period.
Algae's nutrient requirements are far less, by some order of magnitude, than that of the plants so if you think you can starve the algae, your plants will be a long time dead before that happens.

I have experimented myself over an extended period of time with excess nutrients (40ppm N, 60ppm K & 10ppm PO4 per week), and all I got was mental plant growth and definitely no algae   

We have a resident 'planted tank lunatic' round here (in the nicest possible sense), who has carried out experiments with levels of nutrients that would make your eyes water and the condition of his tanks have to be seen to be believed.
He may be along soon to chip in, and he has far more experience than me


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## Stephan

CeeJay said:
			
		

> Stephan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To my experience there's one very effective remedy for bba. You want to get hold of some Crossocheilus reticulatus.
> 
> 
> 
> This may solve the problem of getting rid of BBA once you've got it, but our goal is not to get it in the first place.
Click to expand...


You won't get bba if you have these fish in your tank. That's kind of the point of keeping them. Obviously, if you introduce them to a tank where bba are present, they'll polish those off first thing.



			
				CeeJay said:
			
		

> This may be one way to get rid of BGA, but that's a lot of work
> All I did when I had a BGA outbreak in a newly set up tank was up my Nitrates. It was gone in 4 days. Followed by a huge water change   .



Yes, it helps in some cases and with some forms of BGA but it is not a guaranteed way to get rid of them. Great if it worked for you though!



			
				CeeJay said:
			
		

> Quote
> "Healthy and vigorous plants will outcompete alge because they bind free nutrients and create an environment which is favourable to their growth".
> Unquote
> 
> I disagree with this too
> Plants will never outcompete algae for nutrients. Period.
> Algae's nutrient requirements are far less, by some order of magnitude, than that of the plants so if you think you can starve the algae, your plants will be a long time dead before that happens.
> 
> I have experimented myself over an extended period of time with excess nutrients (40ppm N, 60ppm K & 10ppm PO4 per week), and all I got was mental plant growth and definitely no algae
> 
> We have a resident 'planted tank lunatic' round here (in the nicest possible sense), who has carried out experiments with levels of nutrients that would make your eyes water and the condition of his tanks have to be seen to be believed.
> He may be along soon to chip in, and he has far more experience than me



Actually, Chris what I am trying to say in my blog is that _healthy_ plants will outcompete the algae. How do they compete with the algae? It may not be for nutrients in the first place but I believe that plants, as well as algae, create their own favourable environment and in a tank with healthy plants you are far less likely to get algae. I have had accidents with fertilizer dosage, and despite amazing levels of macro-nutrients (over 80mg/l of NO3), I did not get any algae but, after a while, problems started to appear with higher plants. IMHO it works much better to keep everything at a low level but hey - you live and learn. Maybe I got it all wrong. I'm curious as to the results of your 'planted tank lunatic'. I attach a quick and dirty photo of an unfinished tank. This composition of a Dutch Tank is by no means complete-I am still waiting for some plants (I promise more pics in a few weeks). 

Slightly off-topic: Is there anyone in this forum who is into Dutch style tanks or are you all NA folks?

Best,

--Stephan


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## CeeJay

Hi Stephan

That's a lovely looking tank you have there.



			
				Stephan said:
			
		

> I'm curious as to the results of your 'planted tank lunatic'.


Some shots of one of his tanks are  here. I think it nearly qualifies as a dutch style tank too.
Whilst I have never achieved these sort of stunning results, at least it's taught me how to succesfully grow plants without growing algae


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## Stephan

Hats off to that! Beautiful. And I notice some degree of leaf shine as well. I have been trying to understand how this comes about. I get this in the Dutch tank but not in my discus tank despite lush growth in both of them! But I guess that's a whole different topic again. 

--Stephan


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## George Farmer

Stephan said:
			
		

> Slightly off-topic: Is there anyone in this forum who is into Dutch style tanks or are you all NA folks?


Hi Stephan and welcome to UKAPS - great to have an experienced guy like you on board.  I really enjoy your blog!

No, not all of us are NA-only folks!  Personally I like all styles as long they're executed well.


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## Stephan

George, 

Thanks for the warm welcome. I look forward to participating in this forum!

--Stephan


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## Fred Dulley

Stephan said:
			
		

> CeeJay said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Stephan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> To my experience there's one very effective remedy for bba. You want to get hold of some Crossocheilus reticulatus.
> 
> 
> 
> This may solve the problem of getting rid of BBA once you've got it, but our goal is not to get it in the first place.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You won't get bba if you have these fish in your tank. That's kind of the point of keeping them.
Click to expand...


Still havn't addressed the underlying issue. BBA tells us that we need to pay more attention to our CO2 levels/distribution. You may put SAEs in to mop up the BBA but the plants are still potentially suffering from carbon deficiency.
Beautiful tank btw. Reminds me of a terrestrial garden.


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## danmil3s

i think ive cracked my co2 issues just had a flare up due to the hose coming off the pump that runs the atomizer, then the next day the fx5 hose coming of the spray bar. hopeful the black out will kill it and ive learned another thing double check the hoses. if by Christmas i Havant got it sorted ill definitely be going low tec seems a lot less stressful.


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## Stephan

Fred Dulley said:
			
		

> Stephan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You won't get bba if you have these fish in your tank. That's kind of the point of keeping them.
> 
> 
> 
> Still havn't addressed the underlying issue. BBA tells us that we need to pay more attention to our CO2 levels/distribution. You may put SAEs in to mop up the BBA but the plants are still potentially suffering from carbon deficiency.
> Beautiful tank btw. Reminds me of a terrestrial garden.
Click to expand...

Thanks. That's what the Japanese say about Dutch style tanks. Never mind. 

As for the BBA: I have 30mg/l CO2 and I am prepared to repeat this until I turn all blue in the face: You cannot combat BBA by way of further increasing CO2. BBA will appear willy-nilly whenever they feel like it so the discussion if SAEs are OK or not is purely academic. Let them eat the buggers and enjoy your tank. 

--Stephan


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## CeeJay

Hi Stephan


			
				Stephan said:
			
		

> You cannot combat BBA by way of further increasing CO2.


I think we agree on that   



			
				Stephan said:
			
		

> BBA will appear willy-nilly whenever they feel like it


I think we've established that BBA will appear when CO2 is unstable.



			
				Stephan said:
			
		

> Let them eat the buggers and enjoy your tank.


I love this philosophy, although, after a lot of learning on my part, I haven't got any BBA so I don't need any right now  
The whole point of our hobby is to enjoy our tanks


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## Westyggx

Hi, i have seen no change in 2 weeks of BBA it keeps coming back and coming back i am starting to get frustrated


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## madlan

I've managed to make a dent in the BBA on my slower growing plants by not adjusting the Co2 for a few weeks (so it's stable), Doing water changes well before the lights come on (stable Co2), double dosing easycarbo and removing infested leaves.


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## Westyggx

Been doing that for about 2 weeks now mate and not seeing any change at all :/


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## madlan

I found that I couldn’t reverse it, only stop\slow its growth. It's almost gone via spot killing using easycarbo and trimming leaves. Of all the algae issues I have had over the years BBA is by far the slowest to respond to changes.

I would keep doing what you’re doing mate; leave the Co2 alone, water change nice and early and double (2ml per 50l) dose easycarbo\excel. Give it a month and you never know   

Have you got any photos of it?


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## Westyggx

I have trimmed leaves as well mate but keeps coming back.

Couple of pics are here, doesn't look too bad from the pics but it is bad to the eye.


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## AverageWhiteBloke

I notice your near a window there. I often wonder if fluctuations in the co2 may be caused by the photo period :?  For example my tank is next to a patio door which gets light early morning. On the sunniest days this light is quite intense but my lights on period is from 5 until 11 pm for optimum viewing time for me. I'm wondering if maybe light intensity and duration going up and down depending on the weather may be using loads co2 some days and some days not making the co2 requirement fluctuate.

The problem with the algae eating fish is getting hold of the right ones. Most LFS label them wrongly and not a lot I have found are the genuine species. Having said that keeping co2 stable, dosing EC everyday on to affected areas and trimming plants seems to be getting there. It has took months rather than weeks and I find thinking you can blitz it in a week with big doses of this and that and loads co2, lights out etc actually makes the situation worse.

You need to play the long(steady) game IMO.


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## Westyggx

AverageWhiteBloke said:
			
		

> I notice your near a window there. I often wonder if fluctuations in the co2 may be caused by the photo period :?  For example my tank is next to a patio door which gets light early morning. On the sunniest days this light is quite intense but my lights on period is from 5 until 11 pm for optimum viewing time for me. I'm wondering if maybe light intensity and duration going up and down depending on the weather may be using loads co2 some days and some days not making the co2 requirement fluctuate.
> 
> The problem with the algae eating fish is getting hold of the right ones. Most LFS label them wrongly and not a lot I have found are the genuine species. Having said that keeping co2 stable, dosing EC everyday on to affected areas and trimming plants seems to be getting there. It has took months rather than weeks and I find thinking you can blitz it in a week with big doses of this and that and loads co2, lights out etc actually makes the situation worse.
> 
> You need to play the long(steady) game IMO.



Hi there, yes it is close to a window but the blinds are kept closed all day just opened them for the shot there. But thank you anyway.

I suppose i will just have to keep at it, so just to confirm.

Easy Carbo overdose daily, i currently do 2ml shall i up this to 5ml (125l tank)
TPN+ again 2ml daily
Profito 2ml Daily

Do ferts need to be upped at all?

Cheers


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## AverageWhiteBloke

Sorry m8 I'm not familiar with those ferts, I dose dry powder. Yes you could up the dose of the EC.


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