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Re: Burial of BBA



>Hi all,
>
>My apologies for the cross-posting but I'm almost at wits' end.
>
>I've had a bad bout of BBA and after two months diligent water change
>and dosing PMDD, the BBA has resided somewhat but much of it is still
>clinging onto leaves.  New, but slower, BBA growth is also detected.
>
>This morning's water tests show Phosphate and Nitrate levels at 0.25mg/L
>and between 0.0-12mg/L (Sera and Tetra test kits) respectively.  I don't
>have a Fe test kit (nor GH or KH kits), so no readings (any
>recommendations?).
>
>My questions are;
>1. When BBA do die, they undergo a colour change (ranges from grey to
>brown) but do they;
>a. drop off?
>b. disintegrate?
>
>2. As the BBA are also on the glossostigmas, is it possible to 'bury'
>the BBA or will the decaying BBA jack up Phosphate again? 
>
>I've been told that algae is proportional to my high fish load (probably
>due to Phosphate from fish poo) but are products like SeaChem's PhosGard
>effective?
>
>For those who have faced and won the BBA battle, any comments or
>recommendations most appreciated.
>
>Thanks & Regards,
>Ronnie
>

Ronnie,

Well, I recently have faced and apparently won (so far...) the BBA battle.
There are still some attached to leaves, glass and rocks, but no new growth.
I noticed that it doesn't change color at all when dead. And the living thing 
is almost impossible to remove mechanically, while the dead one comes of 
very easily from any surface, including rough ones such as lava rock. I also 
noticed that loose pieces of the dead stuff apparently can stay forever in 
there, entangled on leaves, until they are removed. They don't seem 
to decay at all. I wouldn't bury it but try to remove as much as possible.
And my two SAEs doesn't seem to like it.

The BBA bloom was not caused by excess phosphate but by excess iron. 
Phosphate in my tank always read around 0.03-0.06 ppm, and the BBA took 
over only when I increased the PMDD daily dose in order to bring Fe to 
measurable levels. Cutting it back a little and increasing the K2SO4 dose
apparently fixed the problem (again, so far...).

-Ivo Busko
 Baltimore, MD