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[APD] Re: Aquatic-Plants Digest, Vol 3, Issue 40



Carlos wrote:

"Tom,
I am not so sure the CO2-BBA correlation is entirely true. I have had my first BBA outbreaks in two
tanks in the past six months. One tank, my 55g, has been set up for years without problems until
this summer when it suddenly had a bloom of BBA. It was also the first time I started using
pressurized CO2 in that tank (and reraised the lighting intensity to 3.75 w/g). "

Look, Germans reported this years ago, BBA is seldom ever an issue for folks using gas 
CO2 properly.

So you increased the CO2 some and added loads of light and you had little experrience with CO2 but it was not your fault for getting BBA?
 
You and many newer folks in this hobby do not know what all we did to BBA, it was one of the worst to understand.
Perhaps it still is today. We tried no PO4, then high PO4, low NO3 high NO3 etc, everything. Drying it out, then placing it back, rocks/wood surfaces also. 

Many folks that were pretty sharp ( a few still are I suppose:-) tried the figure this out so I accepted a Dutch friend's advice on it and he was right. 

I have no need for SAE's, copper, whatever. BBA is not a difficult algae to deal with for me and it has not been for close to a decade. Oh never fear, I had it as bad as anyone. This is not the voice of inexperience, there are few things in the planted hobby I have not tried out, I still have a big list of fun projects. 
Several German books also contend this independent of what I did and many others that I helped over the years.
I am not alone in my conclusions both here in the USA or abroad.

So either I am just very very lucky for 10 years, have a magic wand or something or perhaps I am correct......
I do not buy the magic wand or alien abduction theories. 

"The plants did very
well, but so did the algae. And this tank was full of great indicator species of poor conditions -- Tonina fluviatilis, Eriocaulon setaceum, Eusteralis stellata, Ammania gracilis, Micranthemum umbrosum, etc.
Manual removal did not help. I kept adjusting the CO2 level upward (after I decided the pH test kit
must be wrong, since the pH was perfect... 6.6-6.8 for a KH of 4). I ended up killing several of my
fat old cardinal tetras."

Well at those KH/pH values it was NOT due to CO2, that I can tell you.
I have had cards/Rummies/Discus before for several years.  

"In my 20g long in Chicago, which is only a couple months old, the BBA was even worse. The tips of my branchy driftwood had such long filaments that it looked like a flowing mane in the current.
I took out all the wood, scrubbed it down, put it in boiling hot water in a bucket, and let it sit
in total darkness for a week. I then took the tank, removed 80% of the plants... basically anything
that even showed signs of being infected. Then I did a seven day blackout. I ordered many
new, fast growing plants (Limnophila sessiliflora, Ludwigia repens, Rotala indica, etc) to restart
the tank. I religiously tested pH (6.8), KH (10), GH (13), PO4 (0.2-0.4 ppm), and NO3 (5-10 ppm) up
to twice a week... at least once. Still, I am seeing the BBA start to creep in again. This
BBA came from a trade from someone who was having an outbreak of it at the
time. This tank has a sizable algae control population, unlike the 55g (4 cherry red shrimp, 12 amano
shrimp, 3 olve nerite snails, and 4 ottos).

Just my experiences... don't even get me started on my dealings with cladophora :),"

You just need to learn by experience yourself if you don't believe me. 
Hell, I've been down these roads plenty of times before.
You are doing something, I am constantly exposed to BBA and other forms of algae which are common here in FL when I collect plants.

I have not had anymore than a little tuft once every few years pop up and a little bleach on the piping and that was that.

Everyone comes forward about how they did everything right with the algae and they had no other choice etc but to use algicides yada yada..........

I've heard this more times than I could ever count. Invariably, when I go over to look at someone's tank that is doing "everything right", I find something, very often CO2 or lack of a nutrient/s issues that relate to the algae that they overlooked.

Even folks like myself, several winners of the AGA contest, Amano, whomever, some of the nicest tanks I've seen have let things go and need to recheck the CO2 again. 

You need to rule out other things before coming here and saying BBA just shows up in your tank for no reason but Tom's tanks don't. I'm good at ruling out other causes for algae, I have been at it for a very long time. 

But you all don't have to believe me, stock up on Algae fix, use bleach, use crystal far red inflared doohickies.

Meanwhile you have algae and I don't.
The proof is in the pudding. If someone else is doing it and has plants/CO2 etc like you, you know it can and is being done. You need to figure out why it's not working for you.

Remember I am not the one with the algae problem/s.
You need to get to that point before you can go back and analyze why and what causes algae. 

Variations (daily) in CO2 do play a significant role in BBA and other algae. So does plant biomass, fish load/feeding routines, O2 levels uprooting of plants etc.  

Very few new folks would consider the algae experiments I do/have done in the past to my tanks.
Some old APD'ers did in the past, but few even consider it today. Generally over the last few years the tone here has moved away from  science/testing. I miss some of those discussions. 
 
Regards, 
Tom Barr 

  
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