Hey everyone here are some pictures of what im dealing with. The tank is a 29 gallon (19in tall). All purpose sand(Lowes) for substrate, lights are on for 4 hours in morning 4 hours in evening. I have a stingray and a new current led from todays auction. I am dosing twice a week with ez green and liquid carbon every other day... no co2. I have Fert-tabs in the substrate for the crypts Nitrates stay around 10-20ppm kh and gh around 100... Let me know whatcha think the best way to tackle it.
They talked about using hydrogen peroxide have you tried that?
"Keep your sleeves wet"
Yes but it still persists... So something's off that's allowing it to come backOriginally Posted by Ravensrose29
Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk
That's BBA
Arrrr!
Change out your carbon. Add a daily dose of seachem flourisch excel, and turn off your lights for two days at a time every 7 days. MT, then WTh, then FrS. It should be gone by that SunMon. No h2o2 necessary for this one.
At risk of folks disagreeing strongly....
You’re going to have a lot more success and less frustration using an aquatic soil for heavy root feeders like crypts rather than sand... once your plants take off and are increasingly healthy, algae becomes less and less a problem... BBA is a pain once established, I would consider a rescape- after treating everything with a dip or just starting again... don’t mean it to sound harsh, but i get frustrated easily and sometimes starting again worked best for me...especially with a BBA outbreak...
Additionally, co2 and R\O water makes a huge difference... not a necessity, but a benefit...ez green is good, liquid carbon is ok, and root tabs are ok... but other methods, in my opinion, work best... also, heavily plant... if you’re using that much liquid fertz, have enough plants to out compete algae for nutrients in the water column...
Other opinions may differ... just my 2 cents... best of luck...
DesertFish thanked for this post
I also appreciate holistic approaches, like above mentioned from @Bongox3.
Even after you tactically nuke the algae through means of changing your water's chemistry momentarily, I would highly recommend what Bongo suggested, and make your algae becomes out competed against for longer spans of time, overtly manipulating your tank's parameters by force.
Look up high phosphorous and phosphate plants. Add some of them and consider true siamese algae eaters.
*edit* phosphates and algae go hand in hand because phosphates are necessary for cell division. Algae divides quickly and easily, where as plants tend to grow at a normal pace to their conditions unless stimulated. With a necessity to divide, their uptake of phosphates will increase.
I would consider propagating some of your plants by cutting the rooted ones into sections and encourage their cell division by doing so.
I would not do this until,at least, your bba seems to be headed downhill. Once its growth is ritarded and redirecting those phosphates into propagation, it should decline even faster.
Last edited by Nick Shades; 06-24-2018 at 10:11 AM. Reason: Because i spell terribly via my phone.
DesertFish thanked for this post
How much did you rinse your sand before introducing it? Did you let it soak/leach at all in stagnant water for about a week?
Bongox3 liked this post
Thanks for all the tips.... I will start the nuking today and also will defiantly be rescaping with better soil as well once im done. I rinsed the sand for a long time but I didn't let is soak for a week, are you thinking there might be something still in it?
If you don't mind. I would like to know what kind and how many fish are in the tank. An honest answer on when water changes are performed in this tank. What kind of filter you have when the last time the filter or media has been changed/cleaned on this filter.
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
One angel and 5 neons, water change once a week on Sunday or saturday with half tap half RO, the tank is kinda like a cube with all the filtration in the back chambers. First chamber sponge, second ceramic rings, third filter pad, the the return pump. Ill be doing a water change today.
While i have used play sand quite a bit in the past, i never tested it for phosphates. It could be, or could not. It was a curiosity more than the path to hypothesis.
I wouldn't worry too much about the rinse/soak at this point.
My advice to you, which will seem drastic to most here, would be as follows... Start over. Decontruct the tank, Clean the whole thing out with bleach, clean the back of that filter compartment and make it very easy to maintain/service. You can use mesh bags or buy baskets, get yourself a nice handle scrubby and those wire brushes. The filter will need to be cleaned more frequently with a cichlid in the tank even if it is only one angel.
Ditch the sand, buy active substrate. Ditch the hardscape covered in BBA. If you really wish to re-use I suggest scrubbing the rocks with bleach and letting sit in the sun to bake for a couple weeks before using again. Take all the affected plants and toss or set up a small QT and treat them seperately. 1-2 punch algae treatment <--- copy, click my sig and paste in search bar*
Set up the cleaned tank and I suggest not using any tap water at all. I have a feeling Tap is the source of BBA. BBA spores in Tap, or something beneficial in tap get into your tank which is a pretty ideal environment BBA to establish and multiply. I have never had BBA problems in my tanks that are straight R/O. I have also only ever had BBA in tanks that use Tap.
Continue your weekly water changes and include filter service every other week. Get a smaller bucket and put some tank water in, pull your mesh bag/basket containing bio and plop it in the bucket. Before placing back into the main tank you can do a quick swosh around in the tank water bucket to loosen debris before placing back into the filter compartment. This will ensure you do not lose your bio-filtration. Clean, rinse and scrub everything else except Bio only store/rinse bio in treated fish safe water.
Things known about BBA
Enjoys increased organics (reason for filter maintenance and weekly water changes)
Enjoys gas fluctuations (reason why people always say get your co2 in check)
Enjoys ammonia (as does all algae)
Dislikes h2o2 (as does all algae)
Strongly dislikes Excel
Can grow in almost complete darkness (blacks outs are ineffective)
Can grow on any surface even in high flow areas
Releases spores when disturbed
If you can find them Flagfish will eat BBA. I have also heard people using Black mollies. Shrimp will cause it to spread. Snails won't touch the stuff.
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
Thanks Zenzu and everyone else for all the tips... I wanted to start over with the scape anyways so this seems fine for me too do.... Going to take some time so ill keep everyone up dated.
Bongox3 liked this post
Its BBA, reduce your fish's food.
Overfeeding will cause ammonia spike and turned to be algae.
Do like everyone said, do WC as much as you can and do it 2 or 3 times weekly instead of once a week. When you do WC try to siphon the substrate as well.
Ive seen starve SAE eating BBA. Best of luck to you.
Bongox3 liked this post
Quick Fix : Strong air filter. Set it and forget it.
CO2 and O2 from Air filter will make fish, shrimp and plant happy, not the algea...
Where did you come accross this magic fix that no one else knows about?
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
Brandon, thank you for an open and honest thread... we’ve all been where you’re at now (me many times!)... if you need any further advice to get started, don’t hesitate to pm...
there’s no magic cures, it’s all about finding balance between lights, fertz, co2, organisms and soil... it takes time, but totally worth the effort... anything but finding this balance is temporary at best.... best wishes...
Thank you Bongox3. Honestly the tinkering, tweaking, cleaning, and trying to find balance is the best part! It keeps it interesting. I just never had BBA before but I do have a question. From what I read BBA is introduced into your tank then takes advantage of the unbalance of co2 or light or nutrients, etc.. but once you get it will you always be fighting it? Kinda like herpes??lol Sounds like what Zenzo says make the most sense. Or will it go away with spot treats and water changes etc..
Whatever you may have read online in an effort to better understand the situation is BS. Dialing in co2 and/or increasing it will not rid your tank of BBA, nor will decreasing light, nor will limiting nutrients. All this algae basically needs is your tank and some water. The closest I have come to correcting the root issue without algae treatment is decreasing organics. The algae itself can be treated via 1 - 2 punch once root cause has been fixed.
THE CAKE IS A LIE!
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote