# Plants are "healthy" - algae on hardscape



## JoshP12 (11 Jun 2020)

Hi all,

So, through this journey of growing healthy plants, I have the majority in my tank healthy -- the only ones that have algaes (bba + stag) on them are ones that are older/I know why they have it and I am in the process of slowly removing and treating them all (as I did with my others).

All are growing.

Since I have "fixed" my plant growth issues, pockets of BBA have started growing on my hardscape + the back of my heater .

Have they picked the "next-best" thing?

I would not be surprised if my driftwood (OLD OLD OLD dried cedar) was ridden with spores during my dirty times in the tank and is decaying as the days pass by - is this possible?

If that is the case, how could I prevent that in the future (I did boil etc, and aside from just NOT using it) ... I suspect harder woods are better for the decaying reason alone.

But the back of my heater - come on - ..

The presence of this algae tells me something is wrong -- i.e. I have some DOC that caused some imbalance ( this could have been shrimp deaths that I had (related to CO2) or the sudden die off that I discuss here: https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/sudden-die-off-trigger.61316/ ) 

I can say with confidence (due to fish behavior) that I have higher levels of CO2 in the tank; I must be above 25 ppm -- I have tracked my profile, so there is no fluctuations ... it leaves me with dirty tank or sudden increase in ammonia ... but could those aforementioned factors REALLY cause this?

Josh


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## JoshP12 (11 Jun 2020)

I just had to add - I found a tuft on my glass ... to be honest I am awestruck ... the spores must still be in my tank and germinating (which I have no clue how to STOP entirely) ... but they can't find a suitable host except the glass  .


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## Geoffrey Rea (11 Jun 2020)

Hey @JoshP12

Any system info along with some pictures will help people to develop an opinion so they can advise.

Well done on your persistence.


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## JoshP12 (11 Jun 2020)

Geoffrey Rea said:


> Hey @JoshP12
> 
> Any system info along with some pictures will help people to develop an opinion so they can advise.
> 
> Well done on your persistence.



Thank you! Been an uphill battle - I am thinking well worth it however.

Here is the info:
Size: 65 gallon
Lights: 2x AI prime <-- I could turn these down a bit and see.
Flow: Spray bar
Filter: 365 GPH <-- bit slow about 5-6x my volume (purigen + foam + scrubby pads + fluval biomax)
Tropica + sand substrate
EI micro and macro daily
WC 60%'ers at least once a week at most twice.
DC = lime green
pH drop about 1.2 ish +/-









There are some shots of the wood (the bba that you can't quite see on the main driftwood there has gotten slightly worse - little micro tufts.

I can't more shots of the heater + glass tomorrow!!

I think the root question I have here is though if my plants are growing healthy (all new growth) - aside from the few that I am watching to see how the BBA reacts on them - then what issue would trigger BBA on hardscape.

I did have some thoughts: my filter tubing is getting brownish again and my purigen may be darker? <-- higher DOC in water?? But again, could this trigger it?

Josh


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## JoshP12 (14 Jun 2020)

Just to wrap the thread up, I noticed the BBA get worse on my plants that I was monitoring - SNIP - the healthy have stayed free of algae.

I changed out my co2 tank (for the first time), messed up my BPS (luckily I had taken a video of it before and was able to match it pretty close) ... I then realized that the black knob has WAY more sensitivity than my needle valve - this is great news, I can actually perform a minute increase and watch. So I am dialing back in.

What is interesting is that while my CO2 was clearly below the original threshold, the BBA grew harder.

I scrubbed down, spot treated some on the hardscape, etc -- but I think in a matter of time and minor increases on CO2, this tank will be clean. I also hooked up excel to my doser, so I have daily doses happening - to see what will happen (I had attributed my Goby deaths to the excel dosage, but I am more convinced that it was a combination of poor O2 levels from a variety of things: dirty tank + gaseous exchange + organic film + skimmer + Excel + high CO2). So, I have embraced a holistic approach to troubleshooting instead of a 1 thing at a time. 

I am convinced that the BBA spores were being kept at bay by the shrimp (who I gassed due to organic build up on the surface, minimizing gaseous exchange - this means, I should be able to push CO2 further now that my surface is clear) -- they bloomed, albeit very slowly, on hardscape only (and observed dying plants, which I left to see what happens).

For what it is worth, since the dirty days, I NEVER cleaned my heater, nor the wall behind it - this was where I saw the BBA spawn on equipment ... my other equipment had been cleaned.

... who needs hardscape and equipment anyways? Go dutch and make everything inline .

Josh


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