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Re: BBA



>Folks:
>   I have been battling BBA for over 1.5 yrs now.  I
>don't sse how I can win this battle.  It always
>attacks the slow growing plants.  My anubius, Crypt
>parva, java ferns, hair grass and now a fear for some
>Pellia I am pampering along.  
 
If I help can I have some Pellia?:)
This is serious business if a tank has BBA and this plant at the
same time! C parva also.

>   I tried making friends with BBA but it is a
>tyrant.  You can't contain it.  It looked beautiful on
>a large peice of wood and my botia loved cuddling into
>it.  The stuff was 3/4 of an inch long carpet.  Now I
>have no wood in the tank and treated both wood and
>rocks in a chlorine bath.  But even after months the
>BBA is still a nuisance. 

Well you will need to go after the cause after you remove what's
there to start with.
SAE's may help a fair amount till things are settled down.

But I'll tell you, DIY and CO2 are your biggest issue at the
moment. BBA is very common in tanks with DIY and low CO2.

I had BBA in the past and so have many others but we found time
and time again, it will not grow well if there's enough CO2 and
plant growth. PO4 has nothing to do with BBA growth. It simply
does not need much PO4 to grow quite well.

Using close to DI source water, zero PO4 in tap or tank, the BBA
grow well. My tanks with 1.2 ppm of PO4? Not a lick.
But I had it before..............when my CO2 levels were not
high enough. I had it reoccur perhaps a dozen times back then. 

Check the CO2 levels in the morning and the evening of the same
day and compare the values. I'm betting you run out midday and
dip below an ideal level.
 
>     I have a 40 gal. breeder with: 
>     I use DIY CO2 inserted at filter intake
>     pH of 6.5

KH? If 3-4 and the pH is this, you are okay. If the KH is less,
you are not or if the pH moves. Try and consider the pH test kit
might be off by 0.1 to 0.2 units. Look at the pH/KH/CO2 chart
and see how this effects the CO2 level. Most under shoot the CO2
levels that use DIY CO2. 40 gal is the top end of DIY use IMO.
You can do it but it needs to be maintained well.

>     dgH at about 8
>     Temp of 78
>     Use traces

Use? 
Do you add anything besides traces?

>     The tank is loaded with plants, good water flow
>to maintain uniform temp and 100 watts of light. Baby
>Rams, cardinal tetras, a few corys, and one cranky
>discus.  I have tried blacking out the tanks for 3
>days but it only gives the BBA a rest. 

Yes, you can even dry it out and put back in and it'll come back
to life. You cannot beat it by a blackout.

 I am tired of
>cutting tweezing, scraping, pruning and chlorinating
>away the Black Beast Algea!

Yes, BBA is enough to wear out anyone.
But you need to get to root of this issue, removing it is the
"work" but the CO2/nutrients will prevent it from ever coming
back again.

Poor CO2 and NO3(too much or too little) are the two biggest
causes of algae in folk's tanks. 
 
>  So can someone
>put into more plain English what Tom Barr is saying in
>his latest posts about algea and O2 and CO2.  Any
>other insights might be of help. 
>Thanks, Diana

The "how", without the "why":

Remove as much BBA as you are willing to do. Consider using some
temporary plants if the pruning goes overboard and you need to
wait awhile till the other plants grow back in.

Get the CO2 to 20-30ppm during the day light time. You can email
me, I have an old CO2 internal diffuser you can have if I can
get some of that Pellia:)You'll need to use 1 maybe 2 x 2 liter
DIY CO2 brew bottles. You can plug the CO2 reactor/diffuser into
the light timer. This way you will not build up high levels of
CO2 at night but can add plenty during the daytime when you need
it. Test the KH. You need to know this value. 3 or higher is
fine. Compare with chart to make certain the CO2 is good and
high.

KNO3: 
Add 2x a week 1/4 teaspoon of Grant's/Cooke's/Green light
brands.

K2SO4: 
Add once a week 1/2 teaspoon.

PO4:
See if there's some in the tap(give them call to see).
Or add 2x a week, Fleet enema, 2-3drops.

Traces: 
I'd add about 10mls 2x a week.

Do those weekly 50% water changes with water the same temp as
the tank. Add dechlorinator.

Repeat weekly. There's only a few things you really need to do
and it's not complicated. N, P, K, Traces, and CO2. CO2 and K
maintained weekly, N,P,TRACES 2x a week. 

Water change prevents build up, dosing prevents deficiencies.

You may consider some SAE's/Amano shrimps etc. Better them
pruning algae than you.

You do this, the BBA will not come back and the plants,
including the Pellia, will grow very fast. 

pH will be the only thing you'll need to make sure to test for
awhile till you get the routine down. It's simple and pretty
easy(2x a week, once a week water change). 

Regards 
Tom Barr










 








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