Prime for BBA control?

James0816

James0816

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Feb 14, 2007
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I remember hearing this a while back and keep forgetting to ask if anyone has actually done this. Similar to Excel, it was mentioned that you can dip a plant in Prime and it will rid the BBA.

Also curious that if the Prime would still be good to use to treat water after the treatment?

Thoughts/Comments?
 
I used to keep a small container of Prime sitting around just for this purpose. It works really great, for the nuisance of having to remove the item from the tank (be it rock, plant, wood, etc), but it really just is as simple as dipping the BBA-covered item in the Prime, hold for 10 seconds, rinse, replace, and within a couple of days, the BBA discolors (usually pink/purple) and dies.

I thought about the utility of Prime in the tank, after using it on BBA, but but never did, it, since I had a dedicated amount of Prime that I re-used for BBA. It's cheap enough in volume that I wouldn't worry about it. ;)
 
A friend of mine has been using the dosage of excel recommended for the Gallons of the tank, placed in spray bottle( diluted slightly), during water changes sprays down sides of tank and tops of plants, has found that gets rid of and keeps away BBA, never heard of Prime being used.
 
I may just look at the dedicated Prime container. I do have some BBA currently, not bad but best to take care of now. The tricky part is not adding anything to the tank as it is very sensitive. So removing plants to dip and relocate is not an issue for me. I can move back when the BBA is gone.

Sounds like a stop to the LFS after work to me. ;o)
 
Prime and all dechlorinators are salt solutions, you dump any salt on BBA and it will kill it.

Prime is expensive, H2O2 is not, Excel can be used like this as well, or mix the KNO3 in a paste/concentrate, toothbrush that on there etc, all will kill algae or most small critters if you add enough salt to them directly.

In other words, the mode of action of killing BBA is rather simple.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 
J double R said:
IMO, Prime works better, and doesn't "melt" plants like vals and such :)
Click to expand...

Well, if you dab it on, specifically to the infested areas during a water change etc, not to the entire tank water, then the same is true for Excel or H202 etc.

You do not need to dose much then and it's as selective as your dabbing it is.

A small amount of Excel is not going to harm vals or any plant.
A higher amount will melt them, but they gain some physiological resistance and regrowth does occur with both Val and Egeria at typical dosing recommendations.


Regards,
Tom Barr
 
Wow, I'd never heard of Prime for BBA. I wonder if pipetteing the Prime onto the BBA would work?
 
Tom, good info as always. To stay with the topic ... what are your suggestions for effective removal of current BBA via a dip/bath of some sorts? The catch here is that the treatment cannot be done in the main tank.

Judging by what JR commented eariler. Would an H2O2 solution be just as, if not more, effective? If so, at what recipe should the dip be made up by?

I have no problems removing the plants and dipping them in a bowl for a spell.
 
James0816 said:
Tom, good info as always. To stay with the topic ... what are your suggestions for effective removal of current BBA via a dip/bath of some sorts? The catch here is that the treatment cannot be done in the main tank.

Judging by what JR commented eariler. Would an H2O2 solution be just as, if not more, effective? If so, at what recipe should the dip be made up by?

I have no problems removing the plants and dipping them in a bowl for a spell.
Click to expand...
Just curious, after you rid your plants of BBA are you replanting them back in to the original tank? BBA is the real test indicating that your tank is unbalanced. Now comes the big job, why is the tank unbalanced. Do you remember this saying, you must get a handle on this.
 
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