The Dreaded Bba And Getting Rid Of It

[This Old Spouse]

Thank you!

 

[Teephphah]

Just spitballing here (someone already took my idea of Siamese Algae Eaters), but if your big problem is the stuff that's sticking around on bogwood and rocks . . . what about something as low-tech as some sandpaper or steel wool?  You'd think that would get rid of it fairly completely, so that if the conditions that caused it in the first place have been corrected, by completely removing ALL of the BBA, there should definitely be no regrowth, right?  Plus, you don't have to worry about any chemical residue hurting the fish?
 
Just an idea.  Never tried it before, but it seems like it would work.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I was actually planning to take out the affected plants from my 39g today and use a plastic scrubbie to see if I can get the remaining BBA off the leaves. (I think steel wool or sandpaper would tear up the leaves.) The hydrogen peroxide had absolutely no effect. I'll see if I can get some before and after photos.

 

[snazy]

Edit:

 

[This Old Spouse]

Ha, too late snazy! I read your post on my email! You asked a question about what kind I had, and I have both: the black coating on the leaf body and the fuzzy stuff on the leaf edges. The first one I can scrub off, but the fuzzy stuff on the edges will not budge. 

 

[snazy]

Ha, too late snazy! I read your post on my email! You asked a question about what kind I had, and I have both: the black coating on the leaf body and the fuzzy stuff on the leaf edges. The first one I can scrub off, but the fuzzy stuff on the edges will not budge. 

 
I meant it for Zikofski thread but I had yours opened and you were asking how to clean it rather than needed my rubbish

 . I already cluttered your tiger barb thread enough

 If you want to see the pictures I posted have a look under the Algae/Zikofski thread. I took a totally different approach because I had nothing better to do.


And yes, I had exactly these two types myself.

 

[RCA]

I know we are dealing with different "beasts" but I seem to have stopped my BGA (ssshh, don't want it to hear me

)and have just updated the topic BGA problems, any tips?  Not sure if there is anything in there that will help you, but thought I would link in just in case.
 
I find a cheap toothbrush (20p Tesco's value) is great for maintenance on algae.  It gets into the little nooks and crannies and also enables me to reach the front on most of my aquariums with ease.
 
I also have BBA in one of my aquariums and have just added some Amano Shrimps, I know there are mixed thoughts on these and TBH this is my first lot of shrimp.  I found this guy had success with them on his BBA.  Algae Eater… and Home Explorer just hope mine stay in the tank!  I could not believe what two of them did within a day in one of the tanks, totally stripping it of normal algae, amazing!
 
Good Luck...may the fight continue.

 

[This Old Spouse]

I've been reading that post. Someone mentioned having high phosphates and I'm going to get a test and treatment, if I ever get money again.
 
I thought I was beating it, but I noticed the one new anubia leaf I had has now been overtaken by the BBA. Another new leaf came in which is clear, but I doubt for long.
 
Do I need to take out every leaf of every plant that has BBA on it? (If so I will have a very barren tank.)

 

[SO19Firearms]

Someone mentioned having high phosphates

No.

 

[This Old Spouse]

No, what?

 

[SLIM]

Excess nutrients such as phosphates and nitrates dont cause algae I promise you.
Rather than spend money on a phosphate kit, buy yourself some liquid carbon, this will kill it.
Itll just disappear after a couple of weeks meaning you wont have to butcher your plants too.
I know cash is short but this really is your best bet.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Thanks! With liquid carbon, should I be dosing daily, and should I be trying to target the algae?

 

[snazy]

If you start dosing liquid carbon, you need to dose all the range of nutritients macros-N,P, K, etc.. and all micros, otherwise you'll kill one type of algae possibly, and create several other types. This converts your tank to high tech, regardless that you aren't using injected CO2. Liquid carbon just isn't as efficient as injected CO2, that's all.
It is also an algecide, meaning it kills algae if applied in higher dosages(2-3 times the recommended dose on the bottle). It kills some plants too(I can vouch for anubias, but other's known are vallis, anacharis and others...) but make sure you don't dose at once what your tank and fish can handle in a week, and if you use that dose, don't add anything more until the next week via any method.  Liquid carbon is generally another name for glutaraldehyde, which is a disinfectant and does have adverse effects on stock if not administered properly.
If dosed per recommendations on the bottle,the manufacturers claim it's fine for livestock. Daily doses is best because it has a life of less than 24hrs, so weekly dosing is useless.
There are several ways to apply it locally on infected leaves. One is to just dose near the affected plant, with the filter off and leave it for a while.
The other one is to dilute it with water 20:1 water:liquid carbon, drain the tank so it exposes the affected plants/algae, spray on them. Leave for a few minutes, then fill the tank up. The algae is supposed to go pink and die in a week.
There are probably other's too, but I haven't tried them.
Regardless, you need to find the root cause why you have algae, because it will reappear soon after as this is not a miracle cure.

 

[SLIM]

Im sorry but I have a lot of experience with carbons and have to disagree with quite alot of the above.
Yes if carbon is dosed then macro ferts also need to be dosed in conjunction. N P K
No carbon does not kill plants. It doesnt kill anubais or vallis or any plant! I dont know where people get this from.
No you dont have to dose 3 - 4X recommended dosage to kill algae. Just whats recommended on the bottle.
Yes it should be dosed daily
Yes you can spot dose, add directly to algae to kill it quicker but adding full recommended dosage to the water will be enough to kill the algae also.
And yes technically using carbon makes you high tech.
Finally yes I agree you do need to find the root cause.

 

[snazy]

No carbon does not kill plants. It doesnt kill anubais or vallis or any plant! I dont know where people get this from.

 
From doing it myself. It killed it very nicely when I spot dosed on the anubias to kill BBA.  All leaves spot dosed turned pink and melted. I also did the same to the crinum calamistratum, but it didn't get affected at all, so was the BBA on it, using the same dose that killed the anubias. Glad I didn't do it to all anubias. I had to cut out most of it as it was gone to mush.
 
So from this anubias in the center attached to the driftwood:

 
 
I ended up with this below

 
So don't tell me liquid carbon doesn't kill anubias because I'll throw you out the window

 At least in higher dose it does, when poured near the plant.