BBA who? Never heard of the stuff.....

[TankGirl]

Sorry to blantantly show off my now-BBA-free tank like this, but I received so much help here and I am sure that is the reason for my success. A little over a month ago I tore this 55gal down due to a severe BBA outbreak, and I had to remove most of the plants and bleach everything before setting it back up again, with a slightly negative attitude. I was pretty sure the stuff would return, but with the help of AA I am happy to report there is no sign of BBA. I quit trying to measure my CO2 and just cranked it on up there until I saw the plants responding, and added more iron than I was before. Otherwise my dosing regimen is the same. I don't even want to say what the pH/KH chart says my CO2 is currently, but the fish are not the least bit suffering so maybe the chart is not something I need to worry about. The java moss is growing up to form a curtain that will hide my spray bar, and then I will be happy.

 

[Hara]

very pretty

 

[Jchillin]

Though I'm not a CO2 connoisseur, I have to admit that the tank looks great. Congrats.

 

[sherry]

please summarize the advice they gave you.. I just caught my first glimpse of bba today!!!


YUK

who swore I'd need the co2.. Malkore?

 

[Simpte]

Tank looks great!!! Co2 charts are so misleading as you have now learned. YOur fish and plants will tell you when enough is enough.

 

[TankGirl]

who swore I'd need the co2.. Malkore?

I have no doubt he told you about the CO2, and I am positive that it was the source of my problem. I had always implicated PO4, since it is high in my tap water, but that is a nutrient that the plants will uptake readily, and if you have enough NO3 it should not cause problems. I really thought my CO2 was at the top end of safe for the fish, but increasing it did not bother them at all so that's what I did.

It all boils down to what most of us already know: there is a deficiency (not usually an excess) that allows algae to get the upper hand by keeping the plants from utilizing the other available nutrients.

In a tank without plants you can simply keep water column nutrients very low with water changes and limit light to starve the algae. In a planted tank you need to really spoil the plants and give them everything you can, because they can starve the algae when they are growing properly.

If you can get on top of it now, Sherry, before it gets out of hand, you will have a much easier time, since problems are much easier to prevent than to fix, as I know all too well!

 

[czcz]

Congrats! IME beating BBA is a watershed: now you can beat anything and focus on growing plants instead of algae. Your big pics in your gallery are nice Love your P. stellata broad-leaf.

 

[TankGirl]

Thanks, Joe - I have you to thank for many of the plants in that tank.

 

[workfortheman]

Congrats, TG. I'm glad all that work wasn't for naught! The tank looks *stellar*

 

[greenmaji]

8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O 8O
Exellent!

 

[BrianNY]

At least I know there's still hope for me then. I'm sending you the airline ticket. I figure a 125g is 2 person job.

 

[rich311k]

Congrats. Tank looks super.

 

[caribou]

What are your ph/Kh levels? Hope you don't mind me asking. I started dosing about a month ago. I trying to keep everything balanced at this point but maybe could up my CO2 as well. BTW, your tank looks great, I've been following your BBA thread.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

First, Awsome tank....
Second, what is the foreground plant you are using that is down on the gravel. The real short stuff. I really like the setup.

 

[travis simonson]

Wow, the tank looks pristine TG! Very nice. It makes all your hard work worthwhile

 

[TankGirl]

What are your ph/Kh levels?

Right now the KH is at 6 and the pH is at 6.4 by my electronic meter, which I calibrate regularly, so if you have a chart handy you'll see that the CO2 levels are stoopid-high, lol. I am taking my own advice and not treating the test results but treating the tank, and since the fish seem extremely active and happy I'd say the CO2 is really not as high as the chart would indicate. The plants are in heaven so I'll call it good. I am going through more CO2 gas than before but it is worth it. With this light level anything but pressurized is an exercise in futility - this equipment in the cabinet is this tank's best friend, and mine too.

Lonewolfblue, the foreground plant on the left is glosso (taking over!) and on the right I have ET (Elatine triandra), which I am now very fond of, since I have found it easier to plant in coarser substrate and is less of a pain to keep rooted. The pic does not show it so well, but the ET is spreading extremely well.

Brian, I'll be looking for those tickets in the mail, since I agree, a trip for me to NY is imperative for the problem to be fixed - there is no getting around it.

Travis, the work has been worthwhile, and I have learned a lot - mostly that a regular schlub with an algae-fied tank can get things under control, especially with help from folks who have been there before.

BTW, I was gone for two days for a quick trip to D.C. and a dose of Smithsonian, and when I returned the P. stellata was redder than ever on top, as was the R. rotundifolia. This demonstrates Travis' comments that P. stellata shows off a bit better when the NO3 levels drop a bit, and it seems to hold true for the rotundifolia as well. I am going to play with this some and see if I can find a happy medium. The glosso is starting to climb up the driftwood like a vine, so I'll break out the scissors this weekend.

Let me just say again that I appreciate all of the help I received with this problem, and I am so happy to be a part of this fabulous community - imagine how things would have gone (like things used to go back in the day when I started in this hobby) if I was relying on help from the LFS for a BBA outbreak..... 8O

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Awsome, again, great looking tank.....

 

[Xzap]

I've been thru the same thing TG. I've about pruned everything out of the tank & just when I think I've got a hold on it, BAM !

I also quit looking at the co2 chart and started watching the plants and fish.

My kh stays between 7 - 9dkh and my pH is 6.7 - 7.0

I just ordered a whole new array of plants, mostly swords, so I know I'm gonna have to work hard as they are prone to BBA.

Thx,

Dave