Help with stag horn

[Kezzab]

When we talk about "fluctuating CO2", what precisely are we meaning by this? Obviously CO2 levels in the tank fluctuate wildly through the course of 24hrs. I'd assume the co2 issue, whatever that was, would impact plant health/growth and that leads to algae taking hold.

But where it's BBA on hardscape, what role does CO2 play here?

Just asking because the "CO2 fluctuation" term gets used a lot and i'm never exactly sure about it.

K

 

[Siege]

When we talk about "fluctuating CO2", what precisely are we meaning by this? Obviously CO2 levels in the tank fluctuate wildly through the course of 24hrs. I'd assume the co2 issue, whatever that was, would impact plant health/growth and that leads to algae taking hold.

But where it's BBA on hardscape, what role does CO2 play here?

Just asking because the "CO2 fluctuation" term gets used a lot and i'm never exactly sure about it.

K

Dennis wong describes fluctuating co2 well on his gaseous exchange video.

BBA is probably the hardest algae to combat as it likes lots of things but mainly areas in the tanks where co2 fluctuates (don’t ask me why though!) combined with excess waste or rich wood. It also loves high flow areas (Maybe fluctuating co2 again?).




Ive also pasted a link to 1st video on co2 just for reference. They are really good videos!

 

[dw1305]

Hi all,

It also loves high flow areas (Maybe fluctuating co2 again?).

The same thing occurs in my low tech tanks, particularly on the lip of the maxijet powerhead venturi.



You can see the filter arrangement <"in this post"> (without the venturi fitting, it just slides over the outflow pipe), (the tank is the one in <"full disclosure">, and I still haven't done anything with it.)

I've put it down to the speed of the water flow deters snail grazing, as I've assumed that the CO2 levels should be pretty constant.

cheers Darrel

 

[Raws69]

Just the normal tube thing. I hold it on the carpet for a bit and it sucks up a fair amount of light brown stuff. Then move onto the next patch.

 

[tiger15]

Just asking because the "CO2 fluctuation" term gets used a lot and i'm never exactly sure about it.

K

CO2 fluctuates wildly in natural lakes and low tech tanks too due to photosynthetic uptake as described in Walstad book. I placed zero tech planted bowls by my west facing windows that receive afternoon sunlight. I recorded rise of pH from 7.5 to 8.8, and decline of CO2 from 3 to 0.1 ppm during sunlight period. Growth is extremely slow, even with stem plants due to CO2 limitation. Yet I have never encountered red algae (BBA), but have to deal with green thread algae (spiryogyra, Cladophorus) from time to time.

 

[Raws69]

Right here's my ph profile. I did notice the drop checker was blue at lights on so made minor change to the rate. what does the data tell me?
,

8.00	7.7
8.30	7.7	Co2 on
9.00	7.1
9.30	7.1
10.00	6.9
10.30	7.0
11.00	7.1
11.30	7.0	Lights on ramping up
12.00	7.0	Lights at 70%	Checker at blue, made slight adjustment
12.30	6.9
1.00	6.9
1.30	6.8
2.00	6.8
2.30	6.7
3.00	6.7
3.30	6.7
4.00	6.7
4.30	6.7
5.00	6.7
5.30	6.7
6.00	6.7
6.30	6.7	Co2 off
7.00	6.9	Lights ramping down
7.30	7.0	Lights off

.

 

[Kezzab]

Hi, read this https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/choosing-co2-why/the-wrong-way-to-read-the-ph-kh-chart and this https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/choosing-co2-why/how-to-push-the-limits-of-co2-safely
Basically you arent quite achieving a 1PH drop befor3 your lights come on, so your tank co2 level may be sub-optimal (or to put it another way, not at the maximum level you can get away with before it harms your fish).

 

[Kezzab]

If your plant growth is healthy and vigorous then it's probably not the thing that is causing your algae problems.
Although there may be other views on that (and noting the earlier point about BBA).

 

[Mr.Shenanagins]

I’m going to attest to this. When my tank started, the ONLY source of BBA infestation was my spiderwood. Plants, rocks, substrate, all fine and no effect. This leads me to believe that the dissolving organics from the wood was the perfect food source for my BBA to thrive, which it initially did. For me, blasting with Excel did absolutely nothing. Again, I think the reason for this was the constant food source from the wood. It was not until I got an army of nerite snails, who almost immediately ravaged the spiderwood, that I noticed a decline in BBA. If I look hard enough, there are minuscule spots here and there that are struggling to survive, but they are not reproducing causing any problems so I don’t care and are out of sight. You really can’t underestimate a cleanup crew.

 

[Raws69]

My bba is just on the stone edges. I’ve pulled these out to treat with excel just waiting to see if this solves the issue.

 

[Raws69]

Right well, the stones have had two doses of excel whilst out of the tank, to no affect. Have now tried to scrub the algae off with a very diluted bleach/water mixture. Fingers crossed.

 

[Tankless]

Boiling the rocks in a bucket will kill the BBA. It will turn white and then disappear after a week or so back in the tank.

I think I had the same issue as Mr Shenanigans. My tank didn't have bba in its early days however over time I decided to increase the quantity over manzanita a lot. Since then I've had issues with BBA. It seems to love to grow on the wood. After 7 months of neglect there wasn't much further bba growth. In this period I neglected the water changes. Maybe the wood stopped decaying as I noticed that there was less peeling off.