Losing Battle Against BBA, Please Help

[sleepylof]

I'm using an Aquaclear 200 power filter. It provides mechanical, chemical, and biological filtering.


Thanks for bringing up the point about splashing water. I checked and made sure the water level in the tank caused to splashing.

[czcz]

Does very low ammonia mean you have trace ammonia? Is the tank overstocked?

In addition to the great advice you've received, you should do a massive water change after removing infected plants and increase weekly changes.

13mL is a lot of Excel in that volume and I am surprised existing algae is still spreading. One powered reactor more than doubled the combined dissolved [acronym:25966cc340="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:25966cc340] of one Hagen ladder and a bell in my set-up, [acronym:25966cc340="For what its worth"]fwiw[/acronym:25966cc340].

[sleepylof]

Actually, I have only 3 Gouramis, Cory Cat, Glass catfish, and 2 algae eaters in the tank.

Although the bleach dip worked well for most of my plants (25:1 for 2 mins), the Amazon Sword's leaves are questionable. They appear thinner and slightly transparent. ... I'm thinking I couldn't have burned it because I used a rather dilute bleach solution (25:1) for only 2 mins. Any advice for this? ...As I am stunned... Do you advise cutting off the leaves and allowing the rhizome to produce new shoots or should I just leave it like that and it will recover?

Is there anything special I should do for the plants besides giving them plenty of light and nutrients while they recover from the bleach dip?

Appreciate all the great comments I've received on this, and I'll keep you posted.

[czcz]

As you know, the idea behind bleach is your plants are stronger than algae, so it's not uncommon for delicate or thin leaved plants to be sick afterward. I would just trim the leaves and let the plant regrow, but it may recover on its own... time will tell. Take Travis's advice about ruthless trimming to heart: the only way I beat BBA was to remove all infected leaves, increase [acronym:065f1ce061="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:065f1ce061], and water changes to remove spores after trimming and maintenence. The little new growth with BBA were removed immediately, and then water change. My plants grew back healthier than before, and I have not had BBA since. A 30 second 5% bleach dip melted my favorite plant (P. stellata "fine leaf") and I've soured on it, especially since it is unnecessary to win. I used Excel too and found dosing 4mL into ~15g (actual water volume, ~2x recommended dose) stopped BBA from spreading. Just my experience.

So do you have trace ammonia? I know very little physiology, but perhaps the algae is thriving despite high carbon because it takes ammonia before the leaf does.

[sleepylof]

I think the BBA had already gotten the best of most of my plants. I've trimmed off almost all the leaves. Hopefully within time, the plant will regrow...

I guess never start a high lit tank without [acronym:a458eb8437="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:a458eb8437]. (After I tried to add nutrients, Excel, and increase [acronym:a458eb8437="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:a458eb8437] after the fact, it was too late). Hopefully now, the plants will regrow without BBA.

[travis simonson]

Originally Posted by sleepylof

I guess never start a high lit tank without [acronym:848257e3eb="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:848257e3eb].

Don't feel bad. I had the exact same experience. I put 3.5 [acronym:848257e3eb="Watts Per Gallon"]wpg[/acronym:848257e3eb] over an ARLC tank thinking I could grow wicked plants and not use [acronym:848257e3eb="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:848257e3eb]. Maybe it can be done by an expert, but I'm not sure if that's even possible. [acronym:848257e3eb="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:848257e3eb] really evens-out the equation