# BBA, Green Fuzz, Plant Growth Stunted, Bleach Dip, etc



## BlackwaterHardware (Aug 1, 2007)

I have a few questions and a comment about my beard and fuzz algae issue. 

Does BBA (Black brush algae) stunt plant growth? My Alternanthera reineckii hasn't grown at all from the tips since the tops became infected with it. The leaves are curling. I am getting new shoots from the base, but nothing at the top. Growth on my micro swords has been stagnant too. The algae doesn't grow on my pennywort and its growing rapidly. In fact all of the plants that don't get BBA exhibit normal to high growth.

I have driftwood that's covered in BBA and green fuzz. I was thinking of taking it out of the tank and scrubbing with a stiff nylon brush and hydrogen peroxide or bleach. Would the driftwood absorb either chemical?

Other post mention that Mayaca fluvalis tolerates the bleach dip, but mine was bleached white in less than 30 seconds. Will the color return, or did I damage it?

Right now I'm dosing EI, but I'm going to be switching to PPS Pro when my macros run out. I had been dosing Fleet Enema NaH2PO4 for Phosphate, but I think I was over doing it. I'm backing down to .25mL * 3 times a week and investing in a Phosphate test. .25 mL of Fleet for a 55G tank, doing a 50% water change once a week, should insure that I have no more that 1 ppm added. Local water quality here is great, so the amount already in the water is of no consequence.

The bleach dip made quick work of both the BBA and fuzz algae on all the plants. Although there is some fuzz algae on the Amazon swords, it is completely white, and hopefully very dead.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Stunted plants due to poor fertilizing, or other deficiencies will help algae get started. And, algae harms plants once it is attached to them. But, it is almost a chicken and egg situation. In general, we should try for healthy growing plants, rather than try to attack algae. Algae don't start growing if the plants are doing well. You didn't mention CO2 or lighting, so one of those could be deficient. Plants won't grow if they have inadequate carbon available. And too much light for the amount of nutrients available to the plants will give algae a good start too.


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## BlackwaterHardware (Aug 1, 2007)

The algae, BBA especially, took hold about a month ago right after I increased my phosphate dose, due to some misinformation in another post.

When dosing Fleet Enema (monosodium phosphate) for phosphate:

Given: 

EI Method 
3 doses per week
A weekly 50% water change
Water Volume = actual volume of water, not the tank size, and not including substrate and other solid matter in tank.
Fleet Enema is 131 mg / mL phosphate
Max PPM = Maximum threshold PPM phosphate not including other sources of Phosphate PO4 or plant uptake.
(Dosage can vary if you own a calibrated and accurate phosphate test kit, and or know the phosphate content of your tap water.)

(Water Volume in Liters) * ( Max PPM / ( Max PPM * 1.5 ) / ( Doses per Week ) / 131 mg /L


> Simplified Formula for Fleet Enema Dosing of Phosphate
> 
> Disclaimer: Don't use this formula until it has been Peer reviewed by the experts on this forum!
> *1 Dose = Water Volume (L) * Max PPM * 0.00169635284*


My calculation for a 55 Gal aquarium - volume of substrate and driftwood = 189 L, an absolute maximum of 2 PPM phosphate:
189 L * 2 PPM * 0.00169635284 = .65 mL dose

I was dosing 2 mL x 3 doses / week which would have rendered 6 PPM without any plant uptake. I think this overdose of phosphate was causing the BBA attack.

I'm also in the process of gradually raising GH and KH to buffer for an increased CO2 concentration.

Everyone's feedback is much appreciated. I will correct this post with any calculation errors I may have made after my 1 margarita and 3 beers tonight.

Search Keywords: Fleet's Fleets Fleet


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

A mistake we all make is to assume that if we do "X" and shortly afterwards "Y" happens, that "X" caused "Y" to happen. While that could be true, it is just as likely not to be true. There are too many things that can change in an aquarium while we are changing something else, so it isn't a valid test to just increase phosphate, for example, and see an increase in a form of algae, thus conclude that increasing the phosphate caused the increase in algae.

What I have seen repeatedly is that if something causes my CO2 level to drop, whether by a loss of water circulation or something else, I get BBA. And, if I clean out the BBA or kill it with a bleach dip or Excel dosage, the BBA only comes back if my CO2 level is low. So, while that doesn't prove that BBA is caused by low CO2, it does suggest that CO2 levels do affect BBA. On the other hand, I use about twice the EI dosage of phosphate, and have done so for several months, and I haven't seen any outbreak of BBA following that, but I do get much less GSA when I do that. So, while that doesn't prove anything, it does suggest that high phosphate doesn't cause BBA.

I hope the beer helped!


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## BlackwaterHardware (Aug 1, 2007)

Beer always helps! I did realize however that my tank water volume was much less than I originally estimated. I have a 4-5" substrate depth and two large pieces of driftwood. Getting out my trusty tape measure I calculated the volume again and not counting the water the driftwood and substrate have absorbed, the water volume in my tank is much closer to 35 gallons or 140 L. That was really surprising.

A professor of mine told me a story illustrating the fallacy of mistaking correlation with causality. When he was in his late 30's he noticed that every time he took a shower, there was more and more hair in the drain each time he got done. He thought to himself, "Damn, If I don't stop taking showers, it's going to make me bald. 

I don't think it was the Phosphate that caused the algae. However, I do believe the imbalance of nutrients in my tank, combined with the high phosphate level, made conditions ripe for an algae outbreak. Just like human diets, a balanced one is much more healthy than a low(carb, fat, starch) or high(carb, fat, protein) one. Plants prefer a balance of NPK + Micros + Carbon, rather than a drastic spike or deficiency in one or more. Algae, however is a opportunist, and will take whatever it can get. 

The tank is looking much better now, but the Mayaca didn't make it. What was left of it deteriorated over night and now it lays crumbled on the substrate. I'm going to leave it there for a few days. Hopefully it will sprout new growth from the remains. This is the second time it has died on me. The first was some extreme die-back when I introduced it to the tank.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

See, I take a shower every day, and it still hasn't caused me to go bald!

I do agree that keeping a steady supply of all of the nutrients available, in about the same ratios, day after day, is a good way to discourage algae outbreaks too. I think letting one of them drop too low for some reason is more likely to make algae bloom than letting one build up too high. But, I have no evidence that I am right about that.

I couldn't keep Mayaca alive either. Mine just seemed to be intimidated by the rotala it found itself surrounded by, so it just faded away. There are several plants I have learned I can't grow.


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## BlackwaterHardware (Aug 1, 2007)

Ok, a few days later and now I'm having sever regrets about the bleach dip. Apparently I've done some major cellular damage to my some of my plants. The pennywort, which I dipped unnecessarily is now a dark green like wilted lettuce and may of the leaves on the swords have turned yellow. The BBA is not on the plants, however on the driftwood it looks as profuse as ever... to be continued...


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Try Excel. You can dose the tank water with 2X the recommended dose, first the water change dose, then the daily doses, and the BBA should turn pink, followed by turning white as it dies. Then the fish eat it. That doesn't correct what started the BBA, it just kills what is there. A bleach dip seemed to work fine for my anubias and Java Fern, but is pretty hard on other plants. Most of them did recover for me, but it took awhile.


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## BlackwaterHardware (Aug 1, 2007)

I've began Flourish Excel treatments. It was on clearance on one of the LFS that specialize in pond and marine, so I bought them out. The Otos seem to freak out when I dose the tank. But they're fine after a few minutes. I'll let you know how it goes with the BBA.

I think I'm going to have to go buy some more plants. The bleach dip has reduced my plant load significantly.


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## skewlboy (Jun 9, 2006)

What concentration of bleach/water and for how long did you dip the anubias vs the other plants in your tank?


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

When I did most of my bleach dipping I had a 1 to 20 mix of bleach to water, and that was by estimate, not by actual measuring. I dipped most plants for about 10-20 seconds. That was all it took to see the BBA change color. The last time I tried a bleach dip was just a week ago, but only for a piece of wood with anubias and Java fern Windelov on it. Same proportions and about a 30 second dip. The plants survived in good shape, and I can't see any living BBA on it now. I dipped it in a rinse water bath with Prime in the water to get rid of the excess chlorine.


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