# This can't be BBA can it? Please help! Pics



## abcemorse (Jul 24, 2008)

Looks like BBA on the anubias leaves and a combination of that and maybe green spot algae on the skull and stuff. Slow growers like anubias are prone to BBA; for a short term kill you can spot treat with flourish excel, long term maybe increase the circulation, more frequent water changes and consistent dosing with excel once the spot treatment takes affect. good luck!!


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Well the fish man pet store is recommending something called algea fix. The do have a bottle of excell for like 10.89 be he said that's for plant growth not for fixing an algea problem when I know better from reading your posts.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated as i'm gonna go in town in a bit and I may just try to get another filter as well to improve circulation.

Thanks


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Well I went into town and got the flourish excell!! I didn't even bother aksing for help as obviously they suggested something else over the phone.

Now my questions are since my tank is due for a rescape and a trim, should I go ahead and do that before dosing? 

I just did a water change yesterday so should I also do another one today before I start dosing also?

And should I use a syringe and squirt it toward the affected plants? Is that how it's done? I've never used excel or anything else before.

And any sugestions for the spots on the glass to keep it from coming back?

Thanks so much for the help!


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## bsmith (Jan 8, 2007)

I would tear down the whole tank and start over. Your substrate is not helping grow any plants which is the best defense against algea, a healthy plant mass.

What are you unhappy with your tank as it sits right now?


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Well i'm not really wanting to tear the tank down and my plants are mainly plants that can be floated or tied to something so that the substrate wouldn't have to be changed.

My plants are growing great my anubias nana has at leaste 3 to 4 new leaves and so do my other larger anubias and my java moss has doubled in size and my water sprite is at least 10 times larger than when I got it too and the pennywort which was only 6 inches tall is now up to the top of the water line in the back corner and growing all the way over to the other side to the front corner. 

So it seems that my plants are growing just fine. I just got these plants at the end of spetember.

But i'd like to move my ship which has java moss on it and my other rock that has java moss over to the other side where the current is not as strong and move my anubias over by my the filter and plant my huge water sprite and trim and replant some of my pennywort. 

It's seems when I feed that alot of the food that gets in the filter water path just goes down into the java moss and gets stuck in it. 

I did also today take my filter pad out and rinsed it good in some tank water I scooped out and replaced the carbon in it. Now the water circulations is much improved!!

it's just taken so long to get the water parimeters normal and I really don't want to have to go through another long cycle and risk dying fish or shrimp.

I hope that makes sense.

But still wondering if I should do the rescape and dose or should I just wait till the algea is gone and then rescape should I do another water change today since I just did one yesterday?

Thanks for any help!


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## thirston (Nov 17, 2004)

It's BBA, as others have already pointed out. I recently nuked a bunch of BBA in one of my tanks by removing every single plant and giving them all a bath in a Hydrogen Peroxide / Water solution. I scrubbed all my filter in's & out's, heater, driftwood, glass, etc... and replanted everything. Voila! No more BBA. If the excel doesn't work well for you, try the H2O2.

Once you've nuked the majority of the algae you will have to take some steps to prevent it's recurrence. There are a slew of posts on this site that will direct you when the time comes.


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

What is your lighting?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Don't run the lights more than 8 hours a day. That could help. Using Excel helps. Doing weekly water changes, tank and filter cleaning once a week helps. But, getting the plants growing as fast as the light you have lets them grow helps as much as anything else. That may mean dosing Excel, and possibly doing weekly small doses of nitrates, phosphates, potassium and trace elements.


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Well the lighting is what came with the tank so i'm sure it's just average and low lighting. I bought the tank last year from a friend and he said it was nothing special. 

Oh no Hoppy I was so trying to just keep things as simple as possible and not have to get complicated.

Right now about half of the surface is covered by our pennywort and water sprite but I deffinately need to decrease the light time and get my son to usderstand that! When he gets up in the morning he turns the aquarium lights on! He's 7 1/2 and loves our aquariums! He's learned so very much about this hobby and me too but i'm just trying to keep things as simple as possible! So I could really use tips on keeping things simple too!!

Thanks everybody and keep up with the ideas!


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Oh and Thirston whats H202? Remember everybody i've only been keeping plants since late september so i'm pretty new at this still.

This site has been amazing and a nice lady from fish lore recommended it!

Thanks for everybodys advice!!! We so appreciate it! 

As much as I want to rescape maybe I should leave that alone and take care of the algea first and rescape later unless my ideas to move the anubias under the waterflow of the filter would be good in the long run. I'm still not sure if i'm understanding things right. This BBA attaches it's self to mainly slow growing plants so would the best placement be for them to be in a and area where the water movement is the greates so that the algea can't attack it and or start?

So my quest is to get this algea gone for good and keep things as simple as possible! Your help is much needed and so very much appreciated!!!


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

FWIW, here is my experience with BBA and what happened.

I had this in my high tech tank 40 gallon with pressurized c02 when I first set the tank up. The only thing that seemed to get rid of it was the addition of a bristlenose pleco and siamese algae eater that grazed on this stuff like cattle grazing on grass. They consumed it within a week among both of them. It has not since returned.

I also had it form in my 10 gallon tank with 30 watts lighing and DIY c02 injection. It's disappearance coincided with reduced lighting from 30 watts to 20 watts total. The only other change I made was adding a bunch of amano shrimp, but as far as I know amano shrimp do not eat BBA so I doubt that they had anything to do with it's dissappearance.

I also had BBA form in my 5 gallon low tech tank with only 15 watts light, no c02. but daily Seachem Excel dosing. It appeared about 4 months after I set up the tank and was only visible for about a month. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared. I have no idea what caused it's dissappearance as I did not take any additional redemial measures. It just mysteriously dissappeared.


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

I so wish my clown pleco, otto cat, twig cat and ghost and cherry shrimp would help me out!!

Oh well we'll get this figured out!

I'd love to buy a bristlenose cat and siamese algea eater but i'm pretty sure i'm at my limit on occupants! Would love to have a bigger tank!!!!


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## abcemorse (Jul 24, 2008)

H2O2 is hydrogen peroxide, a very cheap alternative to excel, but not quite as effective, IME. It does work and some claim it's easier on fish when not used excessively, dunno, really, I usually do a bbath in a seperate bucket if I use H2O2. The most important thing to realize here is that either of them is a temporary fix. The real solution is to idnetify the cause and rectify it, otherwise it will just come back. Easier said than done, I know, sometimes (probably more often than not really) it's more than one thing. Patience and perserverance is the key here. Try the light dosing of nitrates/phosphates, shorter photoperiod, good (50% or more, weekly) water changes and give it time. Good luck!!


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

I so know and my goal is to find out why this is happening and find the long term answer! I wish I could figure out why this is happening!!! I'm hoping the excell will fix the problem for now. But I just don't want it to come back again ever!

Was the low water flow my problem?
Or over feeding?
Or a possible shrimp that passed away that I didn't know about?
Could it be that half of the surface is probably covered with plants?
Or possibly the really long light period?
Should I place my slow growing plants where the water flow is strongest?

Please let me know what you think may have caused this? So I can also fix that so once it's gone and goesn't come back.

Thank you


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## brion0 (Sep 28, 2008)

Get a timmer for your tank. You can pick one up at Lowes or H.D. for under $5. I like the skull an ship. I think you should put more plants on them to soften the lines. A stem plant that does good in my low light 20 is wisteria, might look good in the back left corner.


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## abcemorse (Jul 24, 2008)

It could be (and probably is) a combination of all those factors. There are a lot of parameters to keep balanced in a planted tank, and don't be fooled when you see pictures here and elsewhere of pristine tanks, everyone has and will have problems and have to make adjustments. I'm in an ongoing battle now with GSA, not real bad but a nuisance nonetheless. You probably will have to take out and clean a lot of stuff, as generaly you can't make existing BBA go away, only stop new from growing. My guess is mostly the low circulation, slow growers, not enough water changes and long photoperiod all combined to the mess. Try to get rid of what's there, get the other stuff in line and go from there. Again, patience is huge. Hope that helps!!


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## Naja002 (Oct 12, 2005)

BBA=low C02. In a low light setup the tank gets the C02 from the atmosphere. Your filter isn't working very well and neither is your air pump/stone. For the air pump you may just need a new air stone. The filter? Maybe it needs cleaning, maybe it's just not up to the task. Either way, you need to increase surface disturbance and circulation. The tank is basically starving for C02 and 02 (oxygen). 

Whether or not to do water changes (WCs) on a low light setup--is up to the tank. If things get worse after a WC--then do less WCs.

The lower the light--the more of an art it becomes.

You need more C02 and 02--surface disturbance and circulation.


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Well I am lowering the light period to 8 hours and yesterday I finally did a rescape and I just don't like it at all really not like it was before and I'll try to post pics later. I planted my water sprite that was to big and it just doesn't look good to me for some reason.

I started dosing excel finally today! and yesterday when I did the rescape I used a new unused filter pad and tried to gently scrub of as much algea as possible! I got the fussy stuff on the anubias nana pulled and took a few of the leaves off as well but that stuff is impossible to rub off!

We'll see how things go!


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## Homer_Simpson (May 10, 2007)

CKJ said:


> ... I got the fussy stuff on the anubias nana pulled and took a few of the leaves off as well but that stuff is impossible to rub off!
> 
> We'll see how things go!


Why try and rub it off?? Just trim the really badly infested leaves. Trimming is not always a bad thing. Like terrestrial plants, when you trim aquatic plants, it promotes new growth and takes away from the energy the plant has to put out to sustain a severly algae smothered or diseased leaf. Plus anubias are pretty hardy and will make a come back when conditions improve.


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Well so far since I rinsed out the filter pad and git a new air stone and started triple dosing with excell the bba has not progressed one single bit! It acutally looks much better! So hopefully in time it'll completely go away!

Hopefully the much improved water circulation will solve this. As that was the only thing that had changed when the bba had started. We'll see!

lol


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## bellearoo (Jan 10, 2009)

*Black hairy algae a nightmare*

I feel your frustration with this algae. I had it in my 77 gallon aquarium, I had bought plants with some black algae on them. I then found out it is the worst kind of algae to get, I was horrified. I had black hairy algae growing on everything I thought my tank was destroyed. So I spent many hours finding out what it was and why. What I found out was that it is one of hardest to get rid of, but there is a way. You need to get some fast growing bunching plants like Anacharis. The aquarium plants and the algae compete for the nutrients so if there is a lot of light and nutrients and slower growing plants the algae will win and overcome everything. Algae loves phosphates so you will need to do water changes often and get some Anacharis plants or similar, and add them to your other plants and get some phosphate filter pads that you can cut to fit and put a piece in your filter. Your plants are growing, but you need really fast growing plants at least until the algae is under control. Also cutting back your plants and replant the cuttings will increase your plant growth. The plant growth has to be stronger than the algae so that it wins the fight for the nutrients. So just use a gravel vac and do more water changes, pick of the leaves off of your plants that are really heavy with algae and get phosphate filter pads and try not to overfeed, and you will overcome it. I did it and mine was way worse than yours, I still get a little bit of it here and there but it does not progress any further. The really hard green algae spots that get on the glass are some organism that the algae is growing on. You need to get an algae scraper or I use my finger nail and scrape it off. With diligence your can overcome the algae without redoing or spending a lot more money on your aquarium. Well good luck!


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## bellearoo (Jan 10, 2009)

*Another algea tip*

I forgot the other thing I did to conquer the algae. I learned that black mollies, gold barbs and the true siamese algae eaters are the only fish that eat this kind of algea. So, I bought gold barbs and siamese algae eaters, and they helped a lot!


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Yikes my floating oakleaf watersprite and pennywort are getting some holes in the leaves!

Is that from overdosing the excel to get rid of the bba?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

Are you still running the filter with the carbon in it? If so, that is part of your problem. In a planted tank, carbon will suck out nutrients needed for the plants and also filters out the excel.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

sewingalot said:


> Are you still running the filter with the carbon in it? If so, that is part of your problem. In a planted tank, carbon will suck out nutrients needed for the plants and also filters out the excel.


There is some dispute about whether this is actually true or just myths. The inorganic fertilizers we use are extremely unlikely to be affected, but I'm not that sure about Excel.


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

Yes i'm still running carbon but the plants were fine with the carbon in the filter before and didn't start showing any signs of these holes till I started using the excell so I didn't think the carbon would be a problem.

And actually the oakleaf water sprite was about the size of a half dollar in late sept and is now way bigger than my hand. And the pennywort which was about 4 in long is now up to the top and clear across the tank to the opposite corner.

I just have a hob filter. What would I put in there if I couldn't have carbon? I thought the carbon would also help filter out copper if I had any so my shrimp won't die?


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## sewingalot (Oct 12, 2008)

After reading Hoppy's response, I don't want to advise you to take out the carbon. All of my HOB's have no carbon in them, just a sponge. But with shrimp and copper, I do not want to suggest changing anything. Especially since I have none. 

The excel could be causing the holes in the plants if they didn't show up until after the excel dosing. Holes in plants can also be deficiencies or someone/something snacking on them. Do you have a picture of the damage?


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## abcemorse (Jul 24, 2008)

sewingalot said:


> Are you still running the filter with the carbon in it? If so, that is part of your problem. In a planted tank, carbon will suck out nutrients needed for the plants and also filters out the excel.


After a period of time, a couple weeks I'd guess (emphasize guess) the carbon becomes saturated and loses effectiveness anyway, which is why I don't even use it at all. No probs. Some feel it actually begins to leach the very pollutants it removes back into the water once saturation is reached.


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## CKJ (Oct 3, 2008)

I don't have pics yet but I think I just changed the carbon less than a week ago.


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