[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
Getting rid of BBA
Sylvia wrote:
>So, in desperation, I ask, has anyone fought this battle and won? I was
>advised to toss the plants, bleach, bleach and more bleach in the tank
(obviously with the fish removed). And when the tank is sterile of algae
>(and all else), resume operations. This seems a rather drastic step, >which I'd
>rather not resort to unless absolutely necessary.
Hi Sylvia-
Yeah, I've fought that battle and won. I don't know WHY I won, though!
When I first added plants to my tank, I didn't have enough light, and I
wasn't adding fertalizer or CO2. When I upped the lighting, and started
adding iron, I got the most horrific explosion of BBA. Black mollies
alone made no dent whatsoever. So I searched the archives, and tried all
the stuff I found there. I tried taking everything out one piece at a
time and giving it all a hydrogen peroxide bath, and trimmed off all the
BBA I could. It came off the driftwood pretty easily after the peroxide
soak. But a week later, it was evident that the stuff wasn't convinced
to go away. So I stood in front of the tank, and took out one thing at
a time again, and soaked it all in a weak bleach bath, and picked off
what I could, and put it all back in again. I uprooted plants, and
soaked them too. That same day, I doubled the amount of light on the
tank, and added DIY CO2 and 4 SAE and MANY more plants. The java moss
and java ferns all survived, but until there was new growth, they were
not too attractive. I stopped with the iron fertalizer, and got a more
complete one. And the BBA just disappeared. All visable algae has been
gone for months.
Every tank I have set up has gone through BBA, and I haven't since that
first tank done a thing about it. It seems to right itsself after a
brief but tremendously ugly time. And I think the SAE's have a major
impact. I can't tell you about any other types of fish because I
haven't tried any.
Don't give up!
Marci