Complete tear down, afraid to restart

[kjr928]

After a long, hard battle with bba, I finally tore down the whole thing (90g).

Moved the fish to a spare tank, scrubbed/power washed all decor, then doused it all in peroxide and dried it out. Got rid of all substrate.

Drained & scrubbed tank, refilled and added 3 cups of peroxide overnight (cannister turned off with air bubbler). Another 100% wc and large dose of excel.

I think it's time to start setting up again, but I'm really traumatized by how bad the bba was, lol. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance here, that I should go ahead with it.

 

[Tifftastic]

I did something similar with one of my tanks. I was fighting blue green algae at the same time too. I had to scrub everything weekly and it was awful. Due to other circumstances I rehomed my fish and dismantled the tank. I bleached everything: tank, filter, heaters and non-live decor. Scrubbed the bejeezes out of the driftwood and reset the tank up for my parents. Same water supply, same lighting, same everything except water changes (my parents refused to do them) and I could only get over to do them once a month. They never had a problem with bba or bga again. If that tank was fine, Im sure yours will be.
Good luck!!!

 

[sumthin fishy]

I wouldn't give up. Things happen. Take the silver lining, now you can plan it out, and change anything you wished you had done better before.

 

[kjr928]

Thanks for your responses. I have not done anything to my filter - could there be bba living inside it that will spur a new outbreak? Is there something I should do to the filter (hoping to not kill all my bio).

Also, I removed all my live plants and they are in a separate container. Some of them have bba on them. How do I know if any of it can be salvaged (or do I not take any risks and get rid of it all)?

 

[FreshyFresh]

What type of lighting do you have and how long is it on?

Maybe it's just luck, but I've always been able to control algae (black-beard or otherwise), by adjusting the tank's lighting.

 

[kjr928]

I have a 4x 54w light. I only intend on doing half the light to start with and 2-3 CO2 bubbles/second.

I've been having trouble with my regulator. I adjust the flow and then it immediately starts slowing down and quickly stops. Any ideas why his might be the case?

 

[wesleydnunder]

I have a 4x 54w light. I only intend on doing half the light to start with and 2-3 CO2 bubbles/second.

I've been having trouble with my regulator. I adjust the flow and then it immediately starts slowing down and quickly stops. Any ideas why his might be the case?

Could be faulty regulator or needle valve. Might have to replace one or both if that's the case.

Mark