Cleaning BBA off Leaves?

DGalt

DGalt

AC Members
Jun 1, 2008
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Connecticut
Ok, so the DIY CO2 is all set up and working amazingly. I'm actually really surprised at how easy it was to do.

Now, though, I've got to get this BBA off the leaves of my plants. For the bigger ones (the anubias and the crypts) it's not big deal - I can either just pull it off or I can cut off the leave. However, it's all over the dwarf clover.

Will the stuff just die off eventually or should I pull it all out and treat it with bleach or something?
 
what kind of tank/tank mates do you have?
Get a couple SAE's (siamese algae eaters), they are one of the only
fish that will eat BBA. Make sure they are true SAE's though.
Search the forums and there are a couple good threads on them.

cheers.
 
I would love to get some SAE's but the tank isn't big enough for them (only 15 gallons)
 
For the anubias take tweezers and pluck out what you can, then pour some h2o2 in a cup and dip the leaves for 1-2min. add it back to the tank and in a day or two you will see it die off and fall off.
For clover, you can take a syringe and spray the peroxide directly at it in the tank. Do that every day for a week and it should go away.
You can do this with excel as well.
 
I was doing spot treatments with Excel but wasn't getting any effect.

What concentration of H2O2 should I be using? The clover really hasn't taken hold all that well so maybe I'll just pull it up and do the same thing with it as you suggested doing with the anubias.
 
you can but constant moving of the clover might shock it more and more. And reason why it growing bba is because its a slow grower and your lighting is for probably faster growing plants. One of the main ways to control bba as i learned is to flood your tank with co2. And thats one issue one has with diy is that they cannot keep the co2 at a desired level.
 
should I just replace the clover with a different foreground "carpet" type plant? I got the clover because i figured my lighting (40watt CFL over 15 gallons) wasn't enough for much else.
 
DGalt said:
should I just replace the clover with a different foreground "carpet" type plant? I got the clover because i figured my lighting (40watt CFL over 15 gallons) wasn't enough for much else.
Click to expand...

hairgrass, glosso will work well for a foreground. But remember with that much light over 15g you really need to be on top of the co2. And if you cant, then keep lights on only 8hrs a day.
 
hmm...glosso looks like a cool plant. will it do ok in just plain gravel substrate? (plantgeek says it needs a high-nutrient substrate)
 
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