# bba driving me nuts



## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

if you scroll down to the second picture (middle) on this web page, this is the kind of algae that i have http://www.freewebs.com/zapins/
near the shrimp's tail. which i believe is a form of red algae since nothing eats it

this stuff has gotten worse over the past few months and its starting to drive me crazy. i have pressure co2, ph 6.0 w/ ph controller, kh should be 4.5 also gh ca:mg ratio 4:1. then nitrate is at 15ppm, phosphates are 1ppm i dose csm+b and K2so4 a few times a week lighting is 330watts for 55gal tank so 6wpg.

despite cutting off leaves, cleaning the fluorite and washing the drift wood several times this algae continues to spread and attack both the java/anubias and other inanimate objects in the tank.

i think the algae might be helped by the fact that i have 4 clown plecos in my tank who like to eat the wood. these plecos create a large amount of waste that i believe is contributing to feeding the algae. so i was thinking of removing them. or perhaps trying the chemiclean product i have been reading about in some other posts.

what do you guys think?


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## georgiadawgger (Jun 14, 2004)

I would say 6 wpg is a bit overkill...its pretty hard to stay on top of fertilizing with a light demand like that! First recommendation is to back off on the lighting to about 3 wpg (you can still grow anything...trust me). Second, prune every bit of algae you see in the tank...get rid of all visible signs (it wont magically disappear)...bump up your co2 to at least 30 ppm.


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

Agreed. Don't rely on the controller, rely on your fish and plants.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

BBA always takes a while to get rid of. Be consistent with ferts, C02, water changes etc and have a lot of patience.

As already mentioned reduce your lighting intensity and make sure that it is only on for 10 hours daily. You may also want to get your N03 down to 10ppm or increase your P04 a bit.


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