# BBA, Excel and Anubias



## overgrown (Dec 30, 2015)

Spot treating with Excel is a very typical treatment for BBA. Why not put the rock with anubias in a bowl/bucket, and use a pipet to spot treat with Excel, and then let the rock and anubias soak in the Excel/water for a bit as well.


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

Normally I use a syringe to dribble the Excel onto the rock. Being new to Anubias, I'm not sure what Excel would do to the plants.


----------



## katas (Jan 12, 2015)

Bleach Dip: You should use a 1 part bleach, 19 part water dilution (1:20). This is assuming you are using the standard 5% bleach solution.

Hydrogen Peroxide Dip: Dip in a 3:1 water to peroxide.

NOTE: Dip for 30 seconds. I say this because others with more delicate plants see these posts and tend to run with it and can melt/kill their plants. Wash it off in a bowl of clean water (changing the water after each dip). The black beard algae should turn a red hue when in the water eventually. If it does not then dip again and rinse and repeat accordingly. Once read you can put back into the tank and the fish will eat the algae and the rest will break up in the coming days. I tend to stay away from excel soaking in open air due to bad outcomes.


----------



## Esteban Colberto (Mar 7, 2017)

You can use a syringe to apply both Excel and Hydrogen Peroxide in a concentrated area. I prefer the One Two Punch as described in this Planted Tank thread which lets you treat the whole tank without removing anything.


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

I don't think my Val would survive the One-Two blow.


----------



## katas (Jan 12, 2015)

Hypoxic said:


> I don't think my Val would survive the One-Two blow.


NO Excel or Hydrogen with Val!!!!! Please do not treat the entire tank in this case. Remove the hardscape or plants with BBA and treat!


----------



## Watercrayfish (Apr 21, 2016)

You have to treat the cause. Seems your tank is a BBA farm, what type of light are you using? What is your photoperiod?
(I am guessing its Finnex 24/7... [emoji1] )


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

It's driving me crazy, for the life of me I cannot get things balanced. I have 24W T5 lighting, one JBL Nature Solar and one Eheim bulb that came standard with my Eheim 175 Proxima tank. My photo period is 6 hours right now and my CO2 is at about 15 ppm using a reactor. My water is hard, really hard. My PH is 7.8 with the CO2 running and 8 without (and out of the tap). I've been EI dosing and have been trying to find the sweet spot. Here are some pics. Pretty bad right now and I am ordering an RO unit to cut my tap water. GH is 18 and KH is 14.

Bump: ...and the Anacharis is friggin unstopable!!!

Bump: I have an awesome plant dealer over here in France so I've been trying different species. Some do really well, like the Anacharis and the Anubias, others die right away. I assume this is caused by the hard water.


----------



## katas (Jan 12, 2015)

What is your ammonia?
Nitrites? Nitrates?
TDS?
What are you dosing for ferts?
How much?
What is your dosing schedule?

KH and GH seem pretty high to me... Also odd that you have Co2 yet black beard...


----------



## Vinster8108 (Sep 1, 2016)

katas said:


> What is your ammonia?
> Nitrites? Nitrates?
> TDS?
> What are you dosing for ferts?
> ...


I had a BBA issues in my tank with pressurized CO2. What fixed it for me was starting EI dosing. I have pretty low light ~30 par, figured I didn't need the extra nutrients, but I have seen much better growth and almost no new BBA now.


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

kH and GH are high, I've tested with a couple different kits. Each water change I need to scrape the water line deposits from the glass. 

EI dosing:
1/4 tsp Plantex CSM+B
1/4 tsp KNO3, 1/8 tsp K2SO4, 1/8 tsp KH2PO4
50% water change on Saturdays when the lights are still off before the CO2 kicks in.

Ammonia Is 0
Nitrites <0.3 ppm
Nitrates, I have no idea because the three kits I have tell me 3 different things which aren't even close to one another. But I believe around 15-20ppm. 
TDS, don't know, I don't have a meter.


----------



## jeffkrol (Jun 5, 2013)

katas said:


> .. Also odd that you have Co2 yet black beard...


CO2 by itself doesn't stop BBA in my experience.. Matter of fact it seems to encourage it under some circumstances..(personal observations).


Been dealing w/ it in the 55 for about a year now..
first thing though is I'm not a "cultur-er" so most ferts are natural...

My long term final solution to date:
Increase light slightly, decrease CO2, add Excel..
Finally is controlled in 70% of the tank for the most part.
Excel doesn't seem very "mobile" in this though flow is good. What I mean is where I pour it in (which is the output of the tank filter) is a LOT clearer than the far end of the 55..
There is a "forest" of Hygrophylla corymbosa between.. going to the amazon sword.. which is currently the most problematic plant..though fairly confined to the leaf margins.. 
Water movement at depth is not strong.

Just added 25 more Nerites to attack that side and will changed where I added the Excel..They are already hard at work on some of the sword..
Now this is just an FYI w/out any real recommendation (process is painfully slow and not 100% effective) but will keep you informed as to followup results..
Will be adding some "root tabs" in a bit.. OK put a few in here and there so not "exactly" honest in my opening but few and far in-between...(osmocote/gel cap)

my zero fert, low CO2 injection, higher light tank is much less problematic..though, like the 55 went through a brief "bad spot" but again, dialed down CO2 and it self adjusted.
Plant mass is greater though
As to tank parameters.. mostly low Kh, high Gh. higher than most like nitrates ph around 7 to 6.4, no amm.(note:tests always show .25 to 0, don't consider .25 anything w/ the low pH) no nitrite to speak of..

To the o/p.. keep dosing Excel but regularly and normal dose..see if you can slow it.. then futz..


----------



## Jeff5614 (Dec 29, 2005)

Here's a small thread from UKAPS on the subject of BBA that might be interesting.

https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/what-exactly-causes-bba.36674/


----------



## burr740 (Feb 19, 2014)

I see what you're dosing, but that sword looks severely starved for macros, so do the vals and whatever those Bacopa looking stems are.

The plants are struggling badly. That's why you have bba. Fix the plants and you'll fix the algae.

Of course in the meantime a little spot treating and manual removal can help. While you're at it go ahead pinch off all those dead and damaged leaves. They are not going to repair and will just sit there leeching organic waste. 

In addition to healthy plants, clean conditions go a long way in preventing bba. Make sure you have adequate filtration, and keep the filter(s) very clean, especially right now.


----------



## Bunsen Honeydew (Feb 21, 2017)

katas said:


> NO Excel or Hydrogen with Val!!!!! Please do not treat the entire tank in this case. Remove the hardscape or plants with BBA and treat!


Maybe my experience is the exception, but my Vals are growing like crazy and I add 10 mL of Met 14 daily.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

burr740 said:


> I see what you're dosing, but that sword looks severely starved for macros, so do the vals and whatever those Bacopa looking stems are.
> 
> The plants are struggling badly. That's why you have bba. Fix the plants and you'll fix the algae.
> 
> ...


Your observation is helpful. I'll start upping the amount of fertz to see if the plants respond. I've read that the Anacharis is a macros hog so maybe it's sucking more out of the water than I think. I have Seachem Root Tabs in there too, but I guess I'm still coming up short. I've been focusing on the light and CO2, but maybe I'm off the mark.

I try to keep the tank as clean as possible. I'm forever vacuuming out all the little bits of Val that break off and settle in the Anacharis and low flow spots. I pulled the rocks last night and treated with Excel, even hit a leaf of one of the Anubias just to see what happens to it. 

I'll report back. Maybe this thread will help someone else in the future.


----------



## sdwindansea (Oct 28, 2016)

One thing that has not been mentioned is to be patient. Don't expect the BBA to disappear in a week or two like some other algae. It seems to be a long, draw out process for many, myself included. I have what I believe to be a very healthy tank. I did have a lot of BBA several months ago but it is now minimal. However, it is still there and I work on it every week (spot dosing H2O2/metricide). It is definitely under control and really not even noticeable, you have to search for it. But it is still hanging around. Good luck and definitely report back.


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

Yes, the long, soggy BBA battle. I totally understand the "keep your sleeves wet" motto now.

Just for posterity, As mentioned above, I hit my rocks with Excel and as usual, the BBA turned grey and disolved. I'm also happy to report that the leaf of the Anubias which I doused, is clean and green! (Based upon a one leaf hit in hard water).

Recap: I use a 5ml syringe to slowly apply the Excel only where needed, let drip dry in a bucket for about 5 min, then rinse with tap water and replace in the tank. When my Val tips get infested, I snip them with sharp aquascaping scissors.


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

I also received my new Nitrate test kit. Seems my JBL test kit isn't far off the mark. So I believe that my Anacharis is absorbing all the NO3 (Nitrates). I've since upped my dose from 1/4tsp to 1/2tsp, ( I know tsp isn't a true measure, but then again, I'm not a chemist.) we'll see how that goes. Researching my swords, it seems they are indeed suffering from a NO3 deficiency.

Bump: Geez... it's like auto mechanics, "Why is that check engine light coming on... EGR? That could be 5 different things!"


----------



## Hypoxic (Mar 20, 2017)

The Anubias withstood the Excel dosing. Here are before and after photos, about a week apart:

You can also see how the new growth progressed.


----------

