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BBA I've tried everything

A

AlanTh

Member
Joined
1 Nov 2012
Messages
30
Location
Coventry
I've been fighting a losing battle against BBA for nearly a year now. I;m not overrun with it, but just can't get rid of the stuff

The tank is 8o ltrs. 2 foot long; 1 foot wide and 15 inches high. The lighting is about four inches above the water surface.

I have pressurised CO2. The drop checker never moves from green, Co2 come on and hour before lights on I have tried the lighting at 5, 6 and 7 hourly periods over the year.

The tank has a Fluval 104 external filter with spray bar. To increase flow I have added a power head pump attached to another spray bar. Both spray bars spraying across the top of the tank, and then being forced down the front glass. I can't see flows being the problem. All plants are moving about nicely
I dose daily EI doing.

I have tried doing spot dosing also with Easycarbo.

My lighting is two 24w T5 tubes. As a last resort (tonight) I have removed one of the tubes. This doesn't seem to have made an adverse affect the appearance of the tank.

I think I must have read everything about BBA, and tried everything.

Any suggestions please. Will removing one tubes help matters?

Thanks
 
Dose 2-3ml easy carbo daily in the morning, 50% water changes weekly. Don't touch the plants for 2-3 weeks then prune the affected leaves.
Spot dosing doesn't help much, it's usually done when you can't remove the hardscape.

Mike
 
Thanks for the reply Mike.

I take it then that using CO2 gas AND Easycarbo is ok? I wasn't sure about that.
 
Ok so when I use EasyCarbo and the gas - do I put my other lighting tube back in?
 
Your better off putting other tube back in pal. Coz if you solve the BBA issue then put the tube back in, it'll come back. Better off trying to solve it when it's all in. Adjusting lighting time etc.
 
Well being the one asking the questions. and needing answers, it's certainly not for me to query replies.

My understanding was that it was important that the CO2 levels remained constant during the lighting period.

I try to do water changes in such a way that all ill done and dusted by the time the CO2 kicks in .... then come lights on - all hopefully will be fine.
 
I do water changes on 4 tanks(50% water changes) with the lights on because I can't see a thing otherwise, in the middle of the light period for the most part, and I ever had BBA in one tank. There certainlly is some CO2 in my tap water because straight out the tap the Ph is 6.6 and after a while it goes up to 7.4. It causes excessive plant pearling, but then again, if that was a trigger on its own, I'd been covered everywhere by it.
I know many say water changes with lights on cause fluctuating CO2 levels, but from experience I don't think that is the main cause for BBA, but it's worth trying I suppose.
 
Hi Alan,
out of curiosity what plants do you have and how are they doing? also do you have fish or shrimp in the tank?
AlanTh said:
I have pressurised CO2. The drop checker never moves from green,
Click to expand...
when you say your drop checker never changes from green what exactly do you mean? never during the injection period or never at all? If it never changes id suspect something is wrong with your indicator solution and the guide it is giving you regards c02 levels could be way off and may help in explaining your stubborn bba issue. Once c02 has been off for several hours , eg overnight, your drop checker indicator should have changed colour from a nice lime green during the injection period/photoperiod to blue, or at least a dark green colour which indicates reduced levels of c02 after injection ceases due to off gassing. If it is never changing then something is wrong and you cannot rely on it for a guide, you could be vastly underestimating the concentration of c02 you have in the tank.
Your drop checker solution should be a lime green colour for lights on, in some set ups this may still not indicate high enough levels of c02 needed for your lighting intensity. Lighting drives the plants growth rates and consequent hunger for c02 and fertilisers. The higher the light intensity the more c02 and fertilisers are required to feed the accelerated growth rates. However some plants can grow with less c02 which mixes things up further as you may have a tank full of less demanding species which can tolerate lower c02 to light ratios and may be thriving alongside your bba :crazy: You have been running 48w lighting over 80l, which is 0.6 wpl, to give you a comparison i run 0.43 wpl over my tank, but my lighting is 13" above the water surface compared with your 4" so my lighting is much less intense (i have no bba). I would guess that your c02 may not be at high enough levels for your lighting or your distribution is at fault. Im unsure of your filter lph rating, or your powerhead lph rating, but 10x tank volume turnover per hour is recommended to try and allieviate distribution issues. You say you are running spray bars and that there is good movement to all plants so maybe this is ok and it is simply a c02 concentration issue. This can be fixed by adding more c02 (increasing injection, and or using liquid carbon products alongside) or by lowering lighting intensity by removing a bulb (as you have now done), or raising your lighting unit higher above the water surface, maybe even using some floating plant species to shade the tank.
Either way you need less light or more c02, or both to fix the problem....less light is the easiest way :) it helps increase the margin for error for everything. Diagnosing what is going on with your drop checker would help further as you may simply not be adding enough c02 and you may be able to increase injection rates to fix the problem without adversely effecting any livestock you may have.
Cheerio,
Ady.
 
Thanks Ady

All that I can say that is my checker NEVER goes blue. It is always lime green or approaching yellow.
 
AlanTh said:
Thanks Ady

All that I can say that is my checker NEVER goes blue. It is always lime green or approaching yellow.
Click to expand...
have you ever removed it completely from the aquarium and left it for a few hours.....if it doesnt go blue then, then there is definitely a problem with it.
Do you use a pre mixed indicator solution or a 4dkh water with a few drops of bromo blue solution? How often do you change it? You dont use tank water in it do you? sorry for the obvious questions, but sounds as if there is a problem with it.
 
I do have livestock in the tank

6 danios, 6 rumynose, 6 tetras

i will change the solution tomorrow with the brom blue stuff that i bought from our sponsor. I have done that before but it makes no difference.
 
t took a couple of mounths to find a diffusor that actually worked, This one really does give out a cloud of mist - not a pile of bubbles.
 
Hello,
48 watts of T5 is too much light for an 80L tank. You will likely need toxic levels of CO2 to keep it at bay. The rule about a green DC assumes that the lighting is not over the top. People always make the fatal mistake of assuming a green DC means that everything is OK no matter what. Light causes algae, and adding more light causes more algae.

Remove the BBA by hand, increase the frequency of as large and as frequent water changes as you can and if you do not have sensitive fish or plants, try a double or even treble daily overdose of Excel. When the BBA turns pink you will have eradicated it. Do NOT add the second bulb.

Cheers,
 
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