# Another BBA thread



## Gramazing (Mar 6, 2010)

Here are my stats:

55 gallons, moderately to heavily planted.

Lights: 4 x 32W T8 6500K, 2 circuits on 11 hours each with an overlap where they are both on at the same time 9 hours. (IOW 2.33 WPG for 9 hours) They both go off for an hour in the middle of the day at the same time.

I have a Sunsun canister filter, the medium sized one with the UV bulb (not working and I don't see the need to replace it.)

Injecting CO2 through a limewood airstone under the filter outlet. I think this is not very efficient and intend to make a reactor. Drop checker is dark green. I have a solenoid which switches it off about an hour before lights out and an hour or two before lights on on the morning.

GH 11
kH 7
pH 7.2
Ammonia 0.0
Nitrate 20ppm


I have BBA and I just can't budge it. I have trimmed my plants to within an inch of their lives and have uprooted all my marselia quadrifolia . I was really hoping to get a nice carpet but the stuff was just turning black. I tried the overdosing with Flourish, didn't work. The plants I could take out I took out and sprayed with hydrogen peroxide. When I do a water change and water levels drop I spray the filter bar and other hardware with H202, also the tops of the plants that show. Still get the stuff.

I was dosing with EI but was finding the Nitrate levels were going through the roof, so I only does once a week when I do a water change. As you can see the nitrate levels are still 20ppm and that was a week before the last water change. I don't know what the phosphorus levels are.

Even though I have cut back on the EI dosing to once a week I still do a 50% water changes every week. Could this be doing it? Without injection the natural CO2 levels in my water are pretty low and my tap water pH is usually 7.8 without CO2. So there would naturally be a big fluctuation in CO2 levels and pH levels when I do a 50% water change.

So should I still do water changes like this? I read somewhere Tom Barr saying don't do water changes: other people have said do a BIG water change. What should I do?


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## niko (Jan 28, 2004)

I just went through a BBA outbreak in a 5 year old established tank. I handled it gracefully. Tank is 55 gals with 4 big discus in it - the worst scenario you can think of. Within 6 days the BBA that I left as a "focus group" is gone.

Here's what I did:

1. Clean the filter.
Did not need cleaning. It has only biomedia. Rinsing did not produce anything nasty looking. But the filter had algae growing on the top layer of media because this is an HOB AquaClear filter which is clear and close to the bulbs so it gets enough light. Normally I keep that algae growing there as a form of a mini algae scrubber. These algae do not spread anywhere in the tank.

2. Inreased the flow slightly.
Because I cleaned the filter from some stringy algae.

3. Change 1/3 of the water every other day.

4. Fertilize well.

5. Feed the fish less.

6. Added about 20% of the recommended dose (recommended on the label) of Excel. Bottle was 4 years old, don't know if did anything or not.

6. Done.
Maybe I will take a picture of the tank in 2 days. Looks nice!

With all this I'm not telling you I have the receipe for fighting BBA. But as I've said many times before - I believe that BBA is caused by bad filtration and accumulation of organics in the water. With an undersized filter like yours and mine the only thing you can do is change water. But not too often. I have tried daily water changes before and things went bad pretty quickly.

By the way - I do not believe in EI or in test readings. There are better ways to run a planted tank but you need to get comfortable that you can run the tank based on a feeling what is going on. Very much like driving a car...

--Nikolay


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## Gramazing (Mar 6, 2010)

This is what's in my tank.

From left to right back: stem plants R.Colorata, Moneywort behind; C.Spiralis back, Amazon Sword, C.Moehlani, C.Wendtii

Front: some Marselia Quadrifolia and Minuta (now pulled out) 
Middle: Java fern growing on some driftwood.

There's also a small anuba nana front left but I took it out as was always black.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

I agree with Niko that BBA is caused primarily by having too much organic content for a given setup. Higher light will usually give you less wiggle room with this. Anything you can do to decrease the organic level is good. So always best to not analyze specifically but hit it from all sides. Which would include water changes, less feeding, less light (I prefer duration over intensity). I like a clean filter as well, but I'm not as worried about flow once the tank is established since most filtration especially in good size tanks is taken place in the tank and not thru the filter. Also a nice group of Amano Shrimp will help out as well. Takes them some time, but they will go through BBA. Again hit it from all sides.


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## Gramazing (Mar 6, 2010)

Organics could be a problem; I get an accumulation of junk in the corner under the filter intake. Over the last few water changes I have been vacuuming though. Still, after week there is an accumulation in that corner. I tend to feed the fish every day and not leave a day of rest.

My filtration is pretty good IMO. The flow from it is pretty laminar and there is a good turnover. The opposite side from the spray bar down the bottom at the back behind the stem plants is probably fairly dead, given how dense it is down there.

I have dozens of cherry shrimp in there; if I get Amano shrimp would there be a problem?

So I could focus on organics. Does anyone have an opinion on my lighting or CO2?


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Other than viewing I've never found any real benefit to running lights 11 hours. If your having algae issues cut back lighting to 8 hours. Your co2 could be fine that way, but a drop checker would probably give you a better indication where you are with that since the method might not be the most efficient but you can always increase bubble rate if necessary. There is no problem with Amanos and Cherries, in fact I highly recommend the Amanos as just another piece of the puzzle in keeping things clean.


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## Gramazing (Mar 6, 2010)

Thanks for your reply. I only have all 4 tubes on for 9 hours, and today I actually just added half an hour to the off time in the middle of the day, so they will now be on together for only 8.5 hours. I always assumed that having 2 lights on wasn't adding much to the overall lighting (1.15 WPG). Still, I think I will cut them back even more.

Like I said, I have a drop checker, showing dark green. I have about 2 bubbles per second of CO2: it's harder to out more in the water with the airstone I am using, so I will at some time finish making my reactor.

I am still wondering about water changes though. It seems that is bound to cause a lot of fluctuation in my dissolved CO2 levels. My water pH is usually 7.8; with injected CO2 it gets down to 7.2.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

As long as your adding back in what you need through EI the water changes will only help. Do them religiously you will drastically cut down on the level of organics available. I've never seen an issue with co2 reduction during water changes. If your concerned do them at night or early. Best advice as I said previously just hit it from all sides. Water changes, good co2, light easement, less feeding and you will see a difference.


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