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What exactly causes BBA?

John q said:
I've pretty much resolved a bba outbreak by lowering light intensity and adding stability to the tank, can't categorically say the opposite of this "causes" bba but quite happy to say lowering light intensity and stability will "Cure" it.
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Hi John, I'd say your analysis of the situation is likely spot on! Lots of BBA issues, and a lot of other problems we are struggling with, boils down to lack of stability and not so much about absolutes in terms of specific (meaningful) water parameters. We have to look for conditions that induces instability (excess light intensity, waste buildup etc. induces instability as much as fluctuating nutrients levels).

Cheers,
Michael
 
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Hi Folks,

There are other avenues possibly worth pursuing, one of them being "Diurnal changes in photosynthesis", which gets a mention in the scientific paper to which I've been referring. I am aware that plants and even Cyanobacteria exhibit circadian rhythms, which is mind-boggling. For anyone interested and you will not be disappointed, search for articles that explain how circadian rhythms were first discovered in the plant, Mimosa Pudica.

JPC
 
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Hi Everyone,

Somewhere in one of my recent posts, I referred to the fact that freshwater red algae (e.g. BBA) contain a light-absorbing accessory pigment known as phycoerythrin. So, this means that red algae are particularly sensitive to light in the green part of the spectrum. In the European Journal of Phycology* almost thirty years ago, they reported that "The minimum light requirements were lowest in green light for all red algae investigated...". I plan to delve deeper into this.

I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further.

* (PDF) Minimum spectral light requirements and maximum light levels for long-term germling growth of several red algae from different water depths and a green alga

JPC
 
jaypeecee said:
Hi @Wolf6



Are you able to measure water pH? This may be the critical parameter, which may have lowered as a result of the deluge of rain water. In order for what I'm saying to make any sense, please take a look at this important scientific paper:

www.researchgate.net

(PDF) Photosynthetic performance of freshwater Rhodophyta in response to temperature, irradiance, pH and diurnal rhythm

PDF | Responses of net photosynthetic rates to temperature, irradiance, pH/inorganic carbon and diurnal rhythm were analyzed in 15 populations of eight... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
www.researchgate.net www.researchgate.net

I suggest you refer to the second paragraph on page 306 where it says "The interaction between pH and the form of inorganic carbon can greatly influence productivity and distribution of freshwater macroalgae (Sheath 1984)".

From the title of the above document, you will note that it covers a range of variables/parameters.

Hope you find it interesting.

JPC
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I have drop tests, and tested most of the tanks and tap water today during water changes. Tap PH is currently about 8, maximum is 9 and lowest 7.5 according to the water reports. In my tanks after water changes the PH is 7.5 (hillstream and shrimp) and 6.5 (main tank). Didnt get round to measuring the fourth affected tank. Its quite possible that normally tap PH is a bit higher. I'll measure the tap water more often coming weeks. I'll test the tanks again on friday to see what ph in the tanks is on average to see if the water changes cause great PH shifts or not.
I've also measured KH (around 4 in all tanks) and GH (7 in main planted tank with soil, 10 in the other tanks). Didnt measure it in the tap water. Not quite sure if it is relevant to the BBA. I've never really concerned myself with it, as I've never had an issue this sudden appear in multiple tanks.
 
Here is my bba story. I have two tanks. One is High tech with co2 injection & I monitor it’s ph tds etc with digital probes.
Lately this tank has become very bad with bba. So much so that some plants like rotala rotundifola have died despite micro nutrients & nitrate being high enough.
My other tank is a basic tank & it never gets any algae.
My ph in the main tank goes from 6.8 in the day to 7.7 at night. Though the water is about ph 8.1 when fully degassed because it has a high gh about 20.
My main tank is very overstocked with baby platys so I assumed all the extra food was raising the phosphate levels too much. Nitrate stays around 15-30 with 50% water changes.
But I just measured phosphate there today & it was basically 0.
I dose tropica specialised nutrition after water changes & then phosphate was still only 0.3
Could the lack of phosphate be encouraging bba?
 
Snowstreams said:
Here is my bba story. I have two tanks. One is High tech with co2 injection & I monitor it’s ph tds etc with digital probes.
Lately this tank has become very bad with bba. So much so that some plants like rotala rotundifola have died despite micro nutrients & nitrate being high enough.
My other tank is a basic tank & it never gets any algae.
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my experience with low tech is similar
I have a 57 liter that developed issues with BBA after a time. It was very stable, lovely growth then BBA started to suddenly take hold. My Co2 ran out and after a while the BBA disappeared.
 
Hi all,
Ghettofarmulous said:
I have a 57 liter that developed issues with BBA after a time. It was very stable, lovely growth then BBA started to suddenly take hold. My Co2 ran out and after a while the BBA disappeared.
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I don't know if the CO2 running out was related (I'm not a CO2 user), but I've found that you tend to <"get cycles of growth"> with Black Brush Algae (BBA) (Audouinella), possibly related to the <"alternation of generations"> in the Rhodophyta.

What normally happens is that it grows for a bit and then mysteriously all detaches for no apparent reason.
<BBA carpet> .

cheers Darrel
 
I don't suppose anyone has run a UV filter in a tank with BGA? did it make a noticeable difference?
 
I don't suppose anyone has run a UV filter in a tank with BGA? did it make a noticeable difference?
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Not really, because UV light only kills (burns) whatever free-floating organisms that pass and stay in contact with the light long enough. Thus, all that stays put and resides, germinates or multiplies vegetatively on surfaces such as hardscapes, plants, substrates etc. will never pass through the filter system and thus don't come into contact with the UV light and so will happily stay and grow on. 🙂

It could be if infested with any kind of (filamentous) algae that attaches there might be a tad less and takes a tad longer to get fully infested. Because what breaks off floats around in the water column and passes through the filter gets killed, but that will be a minority that is hard to determine.

An aquarium is one sticky business covered with an (as long as it ain't green or brown) invisible slimy microbic biofilm that also catches dirt, debris, and algae cells/spores and it functions as a perfect nutritious sticky growing medium. That's this slimy stuff you feel when you run a finger over the glass below the water level that's the stuff that helps algae to attach to the glass. Everything that gets wet eventually gets this sticky slimy biofilm. This is a good thing but also makes (The Borg) resistance futile... That's why we all need to clean the glass now and then.

In a well-kept and healthy aquarium, a UV filter is a waste of energy...
 
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jaypeecee said:
I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further.
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Most interesting posts, thank you.
I am beginning to think that some of the either 'catch all' conditions that favor BBA or apparently contradictory observations may be due to different species of BBA that members are experiencing. This may be especially so in differences between high tech and low tech setups.
Perhaps those types of BBA that can utilize both 'free' CO2 and that can also extracted CO2 from the bicarbonate ion are becoming more frequently encountered and thus are being found in both high and low tech systems.
Interesting that BBA from temperate climates require so low light levels, would those from tropical regions be more light tolerant? If so and if they could utilize both free CO2 and bicarbonate CO2 then there will be problems ahead.
As a boy, eons ago, I do not remember BBA, perhaps with hard alkaline water and lots of snails it was eaten before it was noticeable, even though in those times 'old water' was good water.
 
It's been a few years since I posted in this thread and I can't even remember what I wrote 🙂 I am still convinced BBA in a fish tank is due to overstocking(or excessive organic matter) and general bad management especially insufficient planting/filtration and die off. It disappears once that's sorted. It has nothing to do with light, I don't think so as keeping the same lights but changing other factors drives BBA into hibernation. I've never used CO2 so I can't comment on these types of tanks.
 
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Organic matter in the form of mulm, rotted oak and beech leaves, a dose of complacency and lots of decomposing wood coincided with my BBA outbreak. Removed those things to varying degrees and it has not recurred.
 
I have recently had a large outbreak / amount of BBA both on plants and rocks. I have had issues with Co2 (fluctuations & flow)in the past in this tank, but this had been sorted and my BBA did not improve. I have had severe nutrient issues in this tank, that took me a long time to work out what deficiency it was, and again this was fixed. I did try spot treating with excel, but the BBA would just come back. So, that is some background, a perfect mix overall for an algae outbreak. I read this thread and the advice on the 2hr aquarist site, and took on board the organic waste element to try. The following worked for me over a 1 month period:
  • bi-weekly water change sessions: each session consisted of aggressively using a turkey baster to stir up organic waste in the carpet, then syphoning this out. Each session consisted of 4 x water changes at a time of 60%-70% (one after another).
  • Weekly main filter canister clean (biomaster): thorough clean of all media, for example sponges are cleaned until the water runs totally clear after squeezing them. Prior to this when I cleaned the filter, I was more gentle, as I worried about killing the bacteria. Now I do not worry about that.
  • removed all hardscape and removed bba / treated with excel.
  • cut of all bba leaves / or removed complete plants if necessary and discarded.
  • All Stems plants were cut, removed and only healthly tips replanted.
  • Replaced the top layer of the now exposed aquasoil (under hardscape that was removed, plants removed).
  • Now feed the fish with the filter off, so they have best chance of eating it all.
This was a lot of work, but it worked 🙂 and within the month the BBA had gone. I now have very minimal amounts of any algae. I now clean the main filter once a month (until water runs clear from sponges), and do 1 x 70% water change per week using turkey baster to clean. I full EI dose. So for me, organic waste was a problem (and I thought I kept a very clean tank), but I think the original BBA trigger was a mix of the original bad co2 and organic waste expelled from unhealthy plants (due to deficiency), and this was accelerated / made worse with organic waste in the carpet & organic waste in the filter (now I see the canister filter as part of the tank, would you have dirty sponges in the corner of your tank?? nope).

Obviously this was just my experience, in my tank, but thought I would add it to the thread.
 
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