Hank, you're again misquoting me. Those weren't my comments my friend.
I know my tank is out of balance as I'm running my airstone 24x7 which is gassing off the CO2. I'm doing this to keep a higher O2 concentration for my fry.
Prime for BBA control?
- Thread starter James0816
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Hank, you're again misquoting me. Those weren't my comments my friend.
I know my tank is out of balance as I'm running my airstone 24x7 which is gassing off the CO2. I'm doing this to keep a higher O2 concentration for my fry.
I've tried a dozen or so things over the years. I often do good sized water changes when there is an issue. Basic stuff, par for the course if there's issues (Even if there ain't any for that matter).
During the part of the water change when the plants, wood, rock, glass is exposed, you can add just about anything you might add to the water, directly on the algae. Like cleaning car wheels with a brush.
Peroxide is cheaper than most things, but if you add KNO3, or Excel anyway.........then you can dab this directly on NON live items in the tank, leave it for 5 minutes, then refill the tank.
Done once twice a month, nothing is going to grow on those surfaces.
But........it does not address the root problem. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure so the saying goes. The good thing about the root issues, they almost always involve, 99% of the time, focusing on plant growth and you have imnproved plant growth as a result.
This in turn leads to better fish health/environment.
Growing plants is the goal after all.:thm:
So focus there, not on algae killing.
Knocking the algae back can be done many ways, chemically, such as so widely popular on line, snake oils etc, or simpler basic salt solutions, Excel, peroxide etc, even dechlorinator etc(Sodium thiosulfate). So that's not reall the issue, but giving it a good stomp on its way out ain;t a bad idea either.
For plants, I simply trim off the infested leaves only after the algae's new growth halts. This way I have some nice healthy new growth before trimming the plants up.
Many folks try and save those old infested leaves........they turn ratty and look bad, not nearly as nice as healthy new growth that's never been covered with algae. Do not bother, wait, trim it off later. For rocks/wood/equipment, dunking it in something is easy to do, you can do say 80% water changes without issue to expose the areas needing treatment.
But unless you plan on dealing with the root issue, you waste all this labor.
BBA is a mistake in care of the plants. So killing the BBA just gives you some more time to fix that root issue. It's not meant, nor desirable for long term management.
To do that, rather than endless cycles of algae, you should focus on the plant needs, not worry about algae killing.
Healthy plant leads to very little/few algae issues.
Many are reluctant to trim Anubias leaves, but do not be.
Dips can work, but here again, unless you address the long term issue at the root, then plan on doing this A LOT. I do not bother, I leave it till I fix the root issue.Only then do I work on removing any old algae growth. So stopping the new growth of algae is the key to management, this is done by growing the plants better. Then you are back where want to be, growing a nice planted tank rather than chasing algae by the tail.
Regards,
Tom Barr
See my response, it's right along this line.
I think most of us when we start getting algae in the start, look for reasons as to why it's there, rather than looking at the plant's health.
So there's a stronger focus on algae, not the plants.
But the plants and their health is really the key here.
Strong plant growth defines the system when their needs are met, not nutrients or algae. BBA in general is rooted with CO2(generally too little and not stable CO2) and good plant growth. If those two things are met, then BBA is hardly even an issue. Reduced light will also resolve a lot of demand for CO2, making management easier and less chance of BBA/better plant growth.
Algae make fairly good indicators of the aquarium's issues.
Regards,
Tom Barr
Got that part and understand completely why it has grown in the tank of question and know how to resolve it when the time comes.
When the fry develop more fully, I can then cut back on the air stone and the CO2 will be flowing back to normal. Also, the other requirement was to not add anything to the tank. Regardless of how safe it could be. Unless it is absolutely positively 100% proof positive to not alter anything, then it is out of the equation.
That's why I inquired about using methods just as a dip to dunk the plants in and then be able to add back to the tank at some point.
When the fry develop more fully, I can then cut back on the air stone and the CO2 will be flowing back to normal. Also, the other requirement was to not add anything to the tank. Regardless of how safe it could be. Unless it is absolutely positively 100% proof positive to not alter anything, then it is out of the equation.
That's why I inquired about using methods just as a dip to dunk the plants in and then be able to add back to the tank at some point.
Well, with fry involved, this is a different goal, they take primary importance. You can worry about algae and issues later.
Excel is a general biocide BTW, I think fry will be more susceptible, do not overdose that, Prime can be as well.
Dips are better outside the tank.
You can also take the plants out, leave them in a bag in the dark for 2-3 days, works better on algae other than BBA which does not respond much to Darkness.
Regards,
Tom Barr
