Treating BBA

[Mebbid]

I decided today to start treatment of BBA with hydrogen peroxide. I have a semi heavily planted tank with a growing outbreak of BBA. I do regular water changes 1x-2x per week trying to keep my nitrate levels at 20ppm or less. Currently my lighting levels are mid to high and I use Flourish root tabs, API Leaf Zone, and API CO2 booster. Since I have fish that require fairly heavily oxygenated water I cannot increase the CO2 any more than it currently is.

Plants include:
Hammerleaf Aponogeton
Unknown Aponogeton
Amazon Sword
Christmas Moss
Java Fern
Water Sprite
Valisneria Spiralis
Myrio Filligree
Ruby melon sword
Dwarf Hair Grass



With the exception of the Spiralis and the Filligree (the 2 most heavily infested with BBA) all plants are growing very well
I am going to start treating with 1ml/g of hydrogen peroxide to see if that has any effect on plants, fish, or algae. If the algae isn't effected I will increase the dose in small amounts in the hopes of doing enough damage to the BBA to kill it but leave my plants unharmed.


Day 1:
1ml/g
Slight change in color of BBA - dark brown instead of black some greying on the tips
No noticeable effect on any plants or fish

 

[aqua_chem]

What kind of light do you have? DIY CO2 or pressurized? CO2 doesn't necessarily affect O2 levels. The only way the two are related is if you are trying to minimize surface agitation.

 

[Mebbid]

I have a Coralife 2 tube T5HO light fixture with a 10000k and an actinic blue light in it. For a carbon source I'm using the API CO2 booster, I need to have too much surface agitation to keep CO2 levels up in my tank.

 

[aqua_chem]

How long are your lights on?

 

[Mebbid]

The lights stay on for 12 hours a day

 

[aqua_chem]

I would probably try to take that down to about 6 hours to get the BBA under control. Your only other options really are increasing CO2 or decreasing light, but both of those are more difficult. You'll also need to remove what BBA is already in the tank. Trimming affected plants and spot dosing with hydrogen peroxide or Excel are the best methods for doing this.

 

[Mebbid]

thanks for the advice about the 6 hours of light. I am trying to find the safe levels for a full tank dose of hydrogen peroxide currently. I figure I will increase the amount I add by a small amount every 3 days or so if I don't see any changes. I started this so I could keep a kind of journal for what changes take place in my aquarium. Having a fairly diverse lineup of aquarium plants as well as a wide array of fish including a few very sensitive ones should serve as a good reference point for anyone else with similar issues.

 

[tiger terror]

I'd also recommend replacing the actinic with a 6700k bulb,the actinic bulb doesn't offer much or any useable spectrum that is beneficial for your live plants...