please help me get rid of BBA

fishcatch22

fishcatch22

The Picotoper
Jun 13, 2006
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Morris, Illinois
hey... I have some nasty BBA on my java moss in the back. I looked it up on google and the page I read said that it is caused by an excess of phosphates and lack of nitrogen, and to cure this I must add nitrogen supplementation, as most very heavily planted aquariums (like mine, seriously I can't seem my gravel at the bottom.) don't get enough nitrogen, and that they must be supplemented with nitrogen so that the plants will grow fast enough to eat the phosphates before it gets down to the algae, hence eradicating it, and that I must maintain notrogen levels of 5-10 PMM to ensure I have enough nitrogen. now I just went down to my LFS and bought some kent pro-plant (which I assume is a nitrogen supplement) to help coimbat this. is this the right thing to do? I always though it meant you need to do more water changes (I already do plenty, at least once a week, and my stock is not that great.) or have too much light (I have 3 WPG and keep the light on 12 hours a day since I have light hungry plants).
 
Is this BBA (black brush algae) or BGA (blue-green algae)? What you describe sounds like BGA, not BBA as you have written.
 
webcricket said:
Is this BBA (black brush algae) or BGA (blue-green algae)? What you describe sounds like BGA, not BBA as you have written.
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nope, it's definetly not BGA. perhaps the website I consulted has the two confused.
 
More than anything else, BBA tends to be encouraged by fluctuating CO2 levels once it has been introduced in your tank. It is sensitive to Flourish Excel overdose.
 
webcricket said:
More than anything else, BBA tends to be encouraged by fluctuating CO2 levels once it has been introduced in your tank. It is sensitive to Flourish Excel overdose.
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considering I dose 5 M of excel a day, I don't think it's due to a lack of CO2. it grows in brownish clumps on the strands of my java moss. that's BBA, right?
 
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What's your light level? BBA forms thick tufts of very short short hairlike strands, usually almost black or very dark red or purplish in color. My experience with them is due to low CO2 levels, usually encounters them when I forget to change out the CO2 tank after it runs out.
 
phanmc said:
What's your light level? BBA forms thick tufts of very short short hairlike strands, usually almost black or very dark red or purplish in color. My experience with them is due to low CO2 levels, usually encounters them when I forget to change out the CO2 tank after it runs out.
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as I said i have 3 WPG and I leave them on 12 hours a day. the stuff seems to be growing the back where not much light penetrates. it is brown and clumpy.
 
I've had BBA in my tank since I put the first plant in. I've never been able to get rid of it completely, but I keep it under control by cutting out any plant parts that get it, scrubbing it off the glass, then doing a water change and throughly cleaning decorations with a 10% bleach solution, then rinsing with HOT and COLD water and a dechlorinated water solution. I tried ODing with Excel, but it didn't seem to help. I've heard that you can spot treat with Flourish Excel by using a syringe and applying it directly. Good Luck BBA is a MF.
 
If you're bottoming out of nitrates then definately add more to keep the nitrate level around 10ppm. Chuck Gadd mentions that BBA can be induced with excess phosphates, and you really want to keep your levels balanced anyway.

While 3wpg over a 10g tank isn't too much light (unless it's PC lights), I prefer a more stable source of CO2 like from a DIY setup.
 
phanmc said:
If you're bottoming out of nitrates then definately add more to keep the nitrate level around 10ppm. Chuck Gadd mentions that BBA can be induced with excess phosphates, and you really want to keep your levels balanced anyway.

While 3wpg over a 10g tank isn't too much light (unless it's PC lights), I prefer a more stable source of CO2 like from a DIY setup.
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pro-plant will keep my nitrate level up, right?

I was thinking about doing a DIY setup, but the excel seem sto be doing what CO2 does so far.
 
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