Wookii
Member
So, I appear to have developed a mini outbreak of BBA in our now month old tank.
I suspect the cause might be a combination of increasing organics now we have stocked with fish (TDS rose up to 320pm from a 260ppm tap water base level - we might have been guilty of a little overfeeding too), and a possible under-dosing of EI ferts for a short period due to air bubbles getting into the auto-doser tubes. CO2 is pretty consistent and stable (0.8ph drop, and two drop checkers both just past lime green/heading towards yellowy green for the whole photo period (6 hours) - indeed the BBA appears to be most prevalent in the path of the filter outlet where CO2 is likely highest.
I have implemented increased water changes (25% daily from 25% 3 x per week) on our auto-water changing set-up, and TDS is already down to 280ppm after a few days. The tank will also have a good vac and filter clean on Friday when I have time (both have been done once this month already).
I have also replaced the crappy connectors that came with the doser for more robust barbed connectors, and have eliminated the bubble issue. I have not ruled out other issues with my ferts, including iron chelator issues in my hard tap water - but that's a topic for another post.
The BBA is of course still present, and so I'd like to remove it. I have some small bits on some mosses which I can easily remove by trimming, and some on some lengths of Eleocharis montevidensis which I can also just pull from the tank. However I also have some on some of my anubias, and hardscape.
Almost all of it is in the upper half of the tank, so I can easily drain to that point when I do a tank clean, allowing me to spot dose in the absence of tank water, with some of the Seachem Excel that I have bought.
I can do this with a small paintbrush, but I have read that pure concentrated Excel might damage the plants.
So my plan was to measure out the standard full tank dose of Excel (1.5ml for my 60L tank) into a pot (to avoid the possibility of a tank level overdose), treating the bits of hardscape (two small patches at most) neat, but then diluting the remainder with some water before painting on the affected plants, just before starting the tank refill.
The question is, to what extent should I dilute it for this application? I was thinking maybe one part Excel to 9 parts water? - I can always repeat if its not fully effective on the first outing. Any guidance would be appreciated.
I suspect the cause might be a combination of increasing organics now we have stocked with fish (TDS rose up to 320pm from a 260ppm tap water base level - we might have been guilty of a little overfeeding too), and a possible under-dosing of EI ferts for a short period due to air bubbles getting into the auto-doser tubes. CO2 is pretty consistent and stable (0.8ph drop, and two drop checkers both just past lime green/heading towards yellowy green for the whole photo period (6 hours) - indeed the BBA appears to be most prevalent in the path of the filter outlet where CO2 is likely highest.
I have implemented increased water changes (25% daily from 25% 3 x per week) on our auto-water changing set-up, and TDS is already down to 280ppm after a few days. The tank will also have a good vac and filter clean on Friday when I have time (both have been done once this month already).
I have also replaced the crappy connectors that came with the doser for more robust barbed connectors, and have eliminated the bubble issue. I have not ruled out other issues with my ferts, including iron chelator issues in my hard tap water - but that's a topic for another post.
The BBA is of course still present, and so I'd like to remove it. I have some small bits on some mosses which I can easily remove by trimming, and some on some lengths of Eleocharis montevidensis which I can also just pull from the tank. However I also have some on some of my anubias, and hardscape.
Almost all of it is in the upper half of the tank, so I can easily drain to that point when I do a tank clean, allowing me to spot dose in the absence of tank water, with some of the Seachem Excel that I have bought.
I can do this with a small paintbrush, but I have read that pure concentrated Excel might damage the plants.
So my plan was to measure out the standard full tank dose of Excel (1.5ml for my 60L tank) into a pot (to avoid the possibility of a tank level overdose), treating the bits of hardscape (two small patches at most) neat, but then diluting the remainder with some water before painting on the affected plants, just before starting the tank refill.
The question is, to what extent should I dilute it for this application? I was thinking maybe one part Excel to 9 parts water? - I can always repeat if its not fully effective on the first outing. Any guidance would be appreciated.