# BBA on jungle val



## Twistyy (Apr 27, 2016)

What is the best way to remove bba from jungle val


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Usually a quick dip in a very mild bleach solution will do the trick. After that, just scrub the algae off in distilled water. Or, you could also mist/dip some Flourish excel on the leaves. Be careful though, vals are usually sensitive to excel according to rumors, so use half-strength mixed with water would be ideal. 

Alright so that's how you remove it manually, now, what's your tank specs? How long do you leave your lighting on? Do you inject co2? Do you dose fertilizers? Are there water pumps in the tank to provide proper circulation? There's gotta be a balance. I hope didn't overwhelm you with the questions lol But yeah, if we want to crack down on the BBA issue growing in the tank and control it, we gotta take action.


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## Twistyy (Apr 27, 2016)

I use 2 finnex planted plus 24/7 1 of them is on the 24/7 and the other comes on for 6 hours a day ... yes I inject C02 it is a pressurized system and it is on for about 6 1/2 hours a day 1 hour before the lights go to max and off 30 minutes before they shut down it is somewhere between 10 and 12 bbs with a atomic defuser .... I am using seachem flourish tabs and aquvitro .... it is a 46 gal bowfront and I have a marineland C220 with a spray bar and a EHEIM Skim 350 Aquarium Filter....

there is only 2 or 3 leaves that have the BBA on them and they may have been on there when I got them from my LFS ..... I dont feel that I am having a real problem algae I have some green spot on the glass and on the drift wood but who doesn't the plant load is pretty heavy as you may have seen from the pic sorry it isnt a better pic I was running late for work and was hurrying I will post a better one tomorrow


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## Clear Water (Sep 20, 2014)

What I have done is to lower the water down to were I can spray the bba with excel let it sit on the leaves for a couple minutes. The algae will turn red in couple days and die. If you can remove the plant spray it and replant. I would stay away from bleach it will kill the plant.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Since algae is a plant, itself, any kind of treatment will take some decisions on how long and how strong. Bleach is fine if it is done quickly. Hydrogen peroxide is as well. But whatever is used it can do some damage to plants as well as algae. Different plants will get differing amounts of damage so it will take some trial and often some error to get it right. 
I do not expect to ever fully run algae free so I go low and slow on treating the plants. I try a method on a leaf or two to test what strength I want and for how long before I do a whole plant. There are lots of things that can change the answers for what you personally find on your plants. 
a simple bleach dip would seem easy until you think about the bleach reacting with almost all things. So if you take a piece of wood with plants for a quick dip, there results may vary with how much other stuff is dipped at the same time. Dipping a plant with tons of algae may get a different result than dipping one with just a spot or two so that chlorine is left to work on the plants. 

Can you see doing a small dip with weak bleach to see how it goes before redoing it if there is not enough? I like gradually working into the stronger/longer areas.


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## dukydaf (Dec 27, 2004)

Vals and bleach do not mix. Even if damage is not immediate the plant will lose all leaves within days, same for egeria. Cut all leaves with BBA, vals grow fast enough.


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Okay I take back recommending a bleach dip. I didn't know vals were that sensitive. Honestly I've never bleach-dipped vals before but I have with anubias, which worked out nicely and thought vals can handle it as well. Guess I shouldn't assume.. all plants are different even if they have some things in common.

Alright so, about the tank specs.. Wow 24/7 on one of them?? Really! I've never heard of anyone using lighting on all day and the other turned on and off daily lol Interesting! Does it help with fast growth or some other benefit? Anyway perhaps try experimenting.. maybe the drawbacks of the lighting technique you have is some BBA growth. So tone down the photoperiod on the fixture that is timed for 24 hours every day. See if that helps out minimize the BBA. 

Oh yeah, are you dosing NPK and trace fertilizers as well as the tabs?? Since you are injecting co2, that drives up nutrient uptake. That said, I definitely recommend dosing macros and micros to help correct any possible plant deficiencies that can eventually run amuck in the tank. Buy dry ferts, they are a lot more inexpensive in the long run dosing your tanks; you can mix them with water as well and dose liquid form. 

All in all, just tinker with everything; from your co2 to the lighting and ferts making sure everything is in balance. 

Good luck!


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## Twistyy (Apr 27, 2016)

the finnex planted+ 24/7 is a light that is programmed from the factory to run a simulated day so to speak it ramps up to a "Bright Sunny Day" then back down to nothing my tank is 21 inches deep so to have enough PAR to grow a HC carpet I needed 2 but with them both in the 24/7 mode it was to much light and I was starting to get more algae than I wanted so I put the other on its own timer... Shortly after that everything seemed to balance out 

I removed the leaf with the most BBA and bought a couple American Flagfish 

as for growth on most of the plants are growing like crazy


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## StarsFish (Apr 10, 2016)

@NeonFlux I don't think one of the lights is on for 24 hours, 7 days a week. I believe Twistyy is using two Finnix 24/7 fixtures with one programmed for the built-in 24/7 light cycle.


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## NeonFlux (Apr 10, 2008)

Thanks for the heads-up. Anyhow, wow, that's pretty cool. I outta get me one of those some day when I get back on high-tech! Anyway, everything sounds good, man. Do what you gotta do.


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## Leeatl (Aug 8, 2015)

+ 1 to NeonFlux about tinkering and balancing things . I have been fighting BBA for months and have finally got it down to a couple small places in my 30 gal and next to nothing in my 75 gal . I was dosing liquid fert , I didn't need it and I put my lights on 4 hours off 2 on 4 . I don't do CO2 . I dose glut(Excel) and did double doses till BBA was under control then you can go back to regular dose slowly . Just change one thing at a time and wait and see . If no change then change something else . When the tank starts to come in balance you will know and see it .


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