Combating BBA

[blizowman1]

How exactly do you combat bba. I have a 90g tank running 180w t5ho. I have been running them for 9.5hrs a day till yesterday I cut them back to 8 hrs a day on a timer. I dose excel daily, iron maybe every 2 to 3 days. Potassium twice a week, and flourish once a week. It is still kind of lightly planted at the moment but am adding plants everytime I get a chance. I have the option of just running one 54w bulb but idk if that's enough for some of the plants like my ozelot sword, and red tiger lotus. And I'm about to have a Madagascar lace plant.

The only difference in my tank now from the pic is I added a small amazon sword to the tank. Or what's supposed to be a amazon sword.

 

[fort384]

Are you running CO2?

How much excel are you dosing daily?

 

[blizowman1]

No co2.... I dose probably between 80 and 90ml a day. I use the little baby medicine syringe. I dose 100ml if its after a water change... I change about 20g to 25g a week

 

[fort384]

Sounds like an expensive way to dose carbon.

Have you considered getting a co2 system? I have found high co2 is the beat way to keep BBA away.

For now you can kill the BBA you have by spot treating using your medicine dropper and squirting the excel directly on the BBA every day when u dose. You can also add a little more than normal while trying to eradicate it - it is safe to dose up to about twice the recommended dose.

 

[blizowman1]

Yea ive looked into them but really don't know much about them and don't have to money to put into one right now

 

[fort384]

With your lighting, I think you will continue to see algae issues until you add a CO2 system.

This article may help you learn a little more about CO2 injection:
Beginner's Guide to CO2 Injection in the Planted Tank - Aquarium Advice

 

[blizowman1]

Is there a cheap way to get one together?

 

[fort384]

Cheapest solution I have seen that is a decent rig is the Milwaukee MA957. You can get it at eseasongear: $89 - Milwaukee MA957 CO2 Regulator, Free Priority Shipping!

You would also need a 5 or 10 lb CO2 cylinder and a diffusion method.

 

[blizowman1]

What about this system

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=3578+3747+9935&pcatid=9935

Or I might look on bigalsonline

 

[fort384]

That'll work.

 

[blizowman1]

And then all I'll have to do is buy a tank right?

 

[fort384]

Correct.

 

[blizowman1]

How much are tanks because I actually have a extra check this month I may be able to get that system with if you really think it would be worth it

 

[Super_Blueberry]

How much are tanks because I actually have a extra check this month I may be able to get that system with if you really think it would be worth it

I just picked up a 10gal filled for $97. Without shopping online it was the only option I could find locally. I was told the refills are under $15 when I bought it.

 

[Autumnsky]

Personally, I found a reduction of algae growth with a split photo period. From an aquarium plant book. 5-6 hours on, 2-3 off, 5-6 on.

I would imagine it would be worth a try. Have heard others say they didn't believe it worked. Other source of info stated that a lack of light disrupted the algae growth cycle. Not sure where I read this last part, have been doing a lot of reading in the last couple of months.

The first part is from the Aquamaster book Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock, he references no more than 12 hours a day of light and a midday Siesta period "A 5-6 hour period of lighting, followed by 2-3 hours of no artificial light and then another 5-6 hours of lighting proves effective at reducing algae growth without any adverse effects on fish or plants in the aquarium." pg 28 2004

Free except for a light timer, possibly you have one laying around. Not that you might not benefit from the rest of it (CO2)...

Hope this helps, many people have been having algae problems lately.

 

[blizowman1]

Yea but I've got one of the digital timers with the yellow plugs and blue plugs

 

[aqua_chem]

I've tried the split photoperiod thing. I saw a decrease in plant growth but no noticeable change in algae. That being said, I wasn't fighting bba.

Here's the thing that I see wrong with the split photoperiod system. Plants respond to environmental changes much slower than algae. They switch their photosynthetic machinery on/off slower than plants. It would logically follow that plants would be adversely affected more than algae. The fact that we don't see this its interesting, and suggests that either A) Theres something about the biomechanical assumptions I listed thats incorrect or B) What we're seeing is actually an indirect affect of the siesta, such as allowing co2 to reequilibrate or a reduction of the net uptake of nutrients by the plants, thereby easing any deficiencies that may be causing the algae.


Regardless, getting co2 is still the best way to cure many smart issues.

 

[aqua_chem]

Also, after some napkin math, it would take somewhere between 4-6 months for a $200 co2 system (very reasonable price) to literally pay for itself with the cost of buying excel, depending on dosing and Excel price.

 

[fort384]

I agree that the most effective control of BBA is high and consistent CO2 injection. It won't "cure" plants that are already terribly afflicted, but it will absolutely reduce and slow down new growth.

 

[DragonFish71]

You can also use the Excel in a clean spray bottle. A light spray over the affected areas kills it fast. Don't over spray though, some plants die back for a bit.