# [Wet Thumb Forum]-BBA Treatment



## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

I was told by an "expert" at the LFS that a sure cure for BBA was to place a shiny copper penny in my tank and just leave it there beneath the substrate. I have a 150 gal. tank and was wondering if anybody has ever heard of or had experience with this treatment? I guess the intent is to have a low level of copper leaching from the penny consistently to keep the BBA at bay.

Comments?


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## imported_BSS (Apr 14, 2004)

I've stopped assuming anyone at an lfs is an 'expert'







! Especially when it comes to planted tank setups.

I can't recall if I've read this before or not, but certainly if that were a 'sure cure' you'd have many folks on these forums recommending it.


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## imported_russell (Sep 14, 2004)

i've never herd of it before, but i have only been reading on the net for 10 months now.

but i wouldn't get your hopes up.


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## Roger Miller (Jun 19, 2004)

Adding a copper object to an aquarium is a long-standing recommendation for preventing and/or curing fish diseases. I've heard it recommended for controlling a couple different kinds of algae.

I wouldn't do it, but feel free to give it a try and give a report.

The problem is that *if* copper gets into the water then it can be very toxic -- not just to brush algae but to anything else living in the tank. Shrimp are likely to be very sensitive to it. Some fish may also be sensitive, but you probably wouldn't see the effect unless you tried breeding them.

The toxicity of copper is difficult to predict. If your tank water is fresh, soft and acidic you can expect it to be pretty toxic. If the water is old, hard and alkaline then it probably won't be toxic -- or do anything else. In most cases the copper will probably be covered by a patina that will effectively discourage any further dissolution.

Incidentally, since 1982 US pennies have been copper-plated zinc. Only 2.5% of the penny is copper. The toxic characteristics of zinc are similar to those of copper, but not identical.


Roger Miller


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## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

The biggest problem with this recommendation besides being wrong!! It doesn't address the reason for having BBA in the first place. You have to balance your tank to get rid of algae. There is not any other way to keep it under control. 

Hawk


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

Hawk:

My tank has been balanced for 3 months.
NO3= 25 ppm
PO4=1.5
CO2 = 28 ppm
Ph= 7.8 pre CO2, 7.2 post CO2
GH=18
KH=15
FE=.1 est.
Micros dosed to Flourish Recommendations
Macros dosed to EI recommendations
150 gallon tank
Medium-Heavy plant load
Heavy fish load.

The reason I asked is that there remains some latent BBA, after pruning, that returns slowly.


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

Hey Trout,
Boost your CO2!! If you are using EI, high CO2 is the way to get things going. My CO2 is at 50ppm. I have completely killed all my algae. Get your CO2 as high as you can without causing your fish any stress. Prune back your affected plants. You will see that the BBA with slowly not grow back. The key for EI is CO2.
jB


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## Pete City (Sep 18, 2004)

I agree with Jason, get the CO2 up, the old concept of keeping your CO2 to 30ppm has been broken by the fact that many of us have suffered fron the same problem you have and started cranking CO2 to insane levels with great success. It works!


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

Jason:
Pete:

The problem I have is that this tank contains Tanganyikan Cichlids. I've already driven the Ph down to 7.2 (they prefer 8.1+). I did this by driving the KH up to 15 and allowing the CO2 to drive the Ph down to 7.2 If I lower the Ph to 7.0, I think I'll over stress them. If I raise the KH to 18-20, the plants will melt away. I'm kind of stuck here. Any suggestions?


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

How much light are you using? What is the length of your photoperiod? You say the tank has been balanced for 3 months, does that mean thet tank itself is only 3 months old? We'll all figure it out together!!








jB


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

Jason:
Funny you should mention light as I was thinking about that.

The tank is 150 gal. and has 4 X 96 watt PC lights. Until Yesterday, I have been running 192 watts from 11 AM to 11 PM and the other 192 watts from 1 PM to 6PM. So, from 1-6 PM I have the full 384 watts running. Yesterday I expanded the 384 watt period from 12 pm to 8 pm and tonight for the first time, my plants are perling up a storm. MY Macro uptake rate has been really slow and I am beginning to think that light has been my limiting factor.

The tank has been up for 7 months and fairly stable for the past 3. I really appreciate your help!!


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## Jason Baliban (Feb 21, 2005)

I have never had a tank that size, but I still think that 192watts is very low. Hawk is a big believer that you shouldnt split light. He feels that to create a "natural" sun effect on a super unatural environment often causes more probs. This is probly a good case for Hawk's argument. The 192 may be too little light for plants to really thrive.....and we know that algae doesnt care as long as there is light. Try running all of your light at one time for 10 hour periods. Give that a go for 3 weeks with your normal fert schedule. Then at the end of 3 weeks we can look at it again. Try not to change too much over 3 week periods.....it will take that long for thinks to settle down and if something works and you changed a lot of things, you wont know what it is. hehehehe Let us know how it works out.
jB


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## imatrout (May 12, 2005)

One step ahead of you. I'll run all 384 watts 10 hours a day for the next 3 weeks and we'll see. I'll keep you advised.

Thanks guys.


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