What are the reason to invite BBA?

As above, I would like to know what are the causes for a tank infect with BBA? Cos I can't seems to get rid of BBA, & it keeps coming back more & more.

As from what I know poor waterflow, high fish bio-load or lack of plants invite BBA..So any other reasons to invite BBA into a tank?:evil:

Poor circulation and wild fluctuating levels of CO2 will cause BBA.

To try and eliminate it, first of all try to remove as much as BBA as possible by hand. Trim off the affected leaves and lightly siphon the gravel. Then try to ensure good circulations and also try to maintain a good level of CO2. Maintaining a good balance of lights/CO2/nutrients will help as well.

Low plant mass usually invites all sorts of algae, not only BBA.

High fish load will cause problems mainly because the biological filtration cannot handle the wastes and cause a spike in ammonia. Ammonia is the root cause of most algae, not nutrients like Nitrates or Phosphate. Its been a long misconception.

-Calvin

[silane]

Originally Posted by the_r0ck

Poor circulation and wild fluctuating levels of CO2 will cause BBA.

To try and eliminate it, first of all try to remove as much as BBA as possible by hand. Trim off the affected leaves and lightly siphon the gravel. Then try to ensure good circulations and also try to maintain a good level of CO2. Maintaining a good balance of lights/CO2/nutrients will help as well.

Low plant mass usually invites all sorts of algae, not only BBA.

High fish load will cause problems mainly because the biological filtration cannot handle the wastes and cause a spike in ammonia. Ammonia is the root cause of most algae, not nutrients like Nitrates or Phosphate. Its been a long misconception.

-Calvin

Calvin,

Anyway to get rid of them? I have a tank full of them, thought of redo the tank, but it is a 4ft, very siong to restart again.

Originally Posted by silane

Calvin,

Anyway to get rid of them? I have a tank full of them, thought of redo the tank, but it is a 4ft, very siong to restart again.

I used the florish excel method, seems to be working the BBA turn to WBA (white Beard Algae)

Inject excel directly to BBA using stringe. I inject once every day, and it all turn to red on 2nd day and turn to white on the 3rd day.

Originally Posted by silane

Calvin,

Anyway to get rid of them? I have a tank full of them, thought of redo the tank, but it is a 4ft, very siong to restart again.

Here's what I post earlier:

Originally Posted by Calvin

I used Excel before and it works. I guess its due to the ingredient of Glutaraldehyde present in Excel.

Use 2x the recommended dosage and have a syringe to inject directly over the thicker bunches of BBA. Do it everyday until the BBA is gone. If you see cloudiness in the water, stop as the BB in the filter is affected. Wait for a few days until the water is clear before trying again. You might want to do a minor water change (15%) during those few days.

Along the way, just remove manually all you can.

Its best to remove all fauna from the tank though I left my yamatos and otos inside with no problems. But on paper, I recommend you to evacuate all of them if you are going chemical.

The thing is that the plants are severely weakened by it. The affected leaves and the more affected plants will turn glassy and brittle.

-Calvin

Its more difficult for a 4 footer as it is much bigger and tougher to eliminate. But if you don't have time to inject directly over the BBA, just pour it in should also help.

Your parameters is wrong somwhere so you gotta fix it if you do not wish to do a total rescape, though doing a total rescape might not work if you repeat what you're doing, as BBA can come back again. Relook at your lights, circulation and overall balance.

-Calvin

-Calvin

[elimmel]

it's going to be difficult with all the CRS in the tank.

best to transfer the CRS out and strip the tank.
start over with a view to go low maintenance without co2.
if still intend to use co2, then need to take note of water circulation, co2 level, high plant mass and making sure nutrient levels are good to drive plant growth.

[LVANILLA]

Originally Posted by aquascaping1982

As above, I would like to know what are the causes for a tank infect with BBA? Cos I can't seems to get rid of BBA, & it keeps coming back more & more.

As from what I know poor waterflow, high fish bio-load or lack of plants invite BBA..So any other reasons to invite BBA into a tank?:evil:

New setup or old setup. New setup is bcos biofilter is nt working yet, plamts nt rooted, hence algae is feeding more than plants. Increase CO2, plant more to absorb more , remove BBA leaves or gravels. hav patience, if u are doing correctly, the plants will grow well, once u see that, BBA will naturally die off.............for me it takes 2 -3 mths to stabalised the tank, use slow biofilter, canister type best.

Better start w lesser fish....

As for my tank the specs are:
2ft tank support by Ehiem 2232 & a 12cm fan
JBJ subtrates & black quartz gravel
PL lighting 36watts but I on only 1 tube of light
Ferts:KNO3,KH2PO4,seachem flourish,lushgro-aqua & stick monster
Flora:Aunbias nana,Windelov,Egeria densa,Rotala sp. Nanjenshan,Lilaeopsis brasiliensis,Red tiger lotus,Java & Taiwan moss.
Fauna:Rummy nose tetra-8 Emperor tetra-2 Black neon tetra-6 Neon tetra-12 SAE-3 Otos-2 Yamato-4

Daily routine-Lights on for 10hrs daily, every thursday 2ml of seachem flourish & 5ml of lushgro-aqua, every sunday dosage of kno3 & kh2p04(1/8 & 1/32 tsp) & no water changes at all only top-up water

Yup my tank was a low-tech which have been around for 5 months so no co2 & high in lighting, bba appear everywhere from plants to driftwood. I suspect is poor circulation of waterflow which leads to BBA.

You can consider ditching the LUSHGro Aquas or lowering the dosage first. You have most of the things covered with the rest of the things you already have. Your fishes should provide the rest (you have quite a bit for a 2 footer but I think its still OK).

If you suspect it is circulation problems, then experiment with your output pipings. Be it using the rainbar and try to shoot them across the tank or using a lily pipe and blast them around the tank.

I don't know the plant mass though you have quite a plant list for a 2 footer.

-Calvin

Originally Posted by the_r0ck

You can consider ditching the LUSHGro Aquas or lowering the dosage first. You have most of the things covered with the rest of the things you already have. Your fishes should provide the rest (you have quite a bit for a 2 footer but I think its still OK).

If you suspect it is circulation problems, then experiment with your output pipings. Be it using the rainbar and try to shoot them across the tank or using a lily pipe and blast them around the tank.

I don't know the plant mass though you have quite a plant list for a 2 footer.

-Calvin

the_rock, why would you suggest to ditch the lushgro-aqua is there any reason for being doing that? Yup I myself knew that my fish bio-load is rather high or still ok only, and high fish bio-load means will get to invite lots of algae however, my plant is heavily planted till there is no space for me. My only last choice is that poor circulation will invite BBA, well will try either rainbar or a lily pipe..