# Massive Algae bloom and growth all of a sudden



## herns (May 6, 2008)

BBA usually appear on highlight and low CO2.

You dont have to run CO2 at night. Set a timer an hour before lights ON and 1 hr before lights OFF.


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

herns said:


> BBA usually appear on highlight and low CO2.
> 
> You dont have to run CO2 at night. Set a timer an hour before lights ON and 1 hr before lights OFF.


the drop checker is a very light green towards the yellow side which is the close portion, I've been running about 80-100 BPM the last week or so it's been insane I've been dosing ferts but i've been dosing less this week thinking that the BBA is going to town with the extra nutrients :icon_eek:


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## willknowitall (Oct 3, 2010)

o2 o2 o2


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

willknowitall said:


> o2 o2 o2


Ive seen you put this on 3 or 4 posts, it would be great if you could elaborate


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

I stopped at the LFS and got a bottle of EXCEL today and I am removing the plants/driftwood affected and one section at a time spot treating them outside of the tank right now I will be sure to take photos and share them and hopefully good effects.


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## Leebee (Apr 23, 2012)

Some people have succsess with hydrogen peroxide. Google is your best friend. :smile:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I think I asked in your other thread, what light fixture are you using? Two T5HO bulbs could give you very high light down to just low light, depending on what fixture it is: Coralife, FishNeedIt, Tek, Catalina, etc. And, BBA is a high light tank problem, only. With lower light BBA may still show up, but it doesn't take over the tank in a couple of days.


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

Coralife T5HO 2 x 54 W one is a normal bulb the other is that Actinic Bulb which I want to replace here soon, one is a 6k bulb the Actinic is a 10k bulb

As a side note I had a small amount on the Java fern (which is a left over from when this tank was set up as low tech)


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

Leebee said:


> Some people have succsess with hydrogen peroxide. Google is your best friend. :smile:


If the excel doesn't do it I will be looking into that, I'm hoping once I get enough plant mass that this will go away, but until then I need to figure out a way to get rid of it


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

That light is not one of the efficient ones - you have around 30-40 micromols of PAR, unless the light sits on its legs, then you would have even less PAR. Many people have suggested that actinic bulbs encourage algae to grow. I have no idea if that is true or not, but I suggest you replace that bulb with one with a color temperature between 5000 and 8000K (even 10000K). That would eliminate that possible problem.

At that light intensity you don't need to have extremely high CO2 concentration, so you may already have as much as the plants need. Just be sure you have good water circulation in the tank, so all of the plants sway a bit from the flowing water.

I would also get some fast growing stem plants, cuttings from someone's tank, and fill the tank with those. Lots of healthy growing plants is a good defense against algae.

But, first you need to remove/kill all of the BBA now in the tank. Any leaves that have BBA are the same as dead, so you can trim them off and remove them from the tank. Clean the filters too, and vacuum up all bits of it that are floating at the substrate. This tank should work out very well eventually.


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

Hoppy

I'm running two filters right now actually, I have the Magnum 350 as well as a tetra 75 gallon HOB style filter running right now so I know there's some good flow going through the tank

I've got some fast growers in the tank ATM who are doing well but I have some slow growers as well such as mosses and the ferns

As for the consider them dead that would mean a massive mowing in the tank, I would end up losing almost all of my fern and a lot of the other plants in the tank including my mosses


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## willknowitall (Oct 3, 2010)

drewsuf82 said:


> Ive seen you put this on 3 or 4 posts, it would be great if you could elaborate


i have five tanks 
all have same light, same plants, same co2, same nutrients at least within small varables

three of the tanks have approximatly 5x the surface to gal ratio
all are rippled at surface
the tanks with much greater surface ratio have no bba the other tanks have some
plants water and bio filters have been moved between all tanks

the only difference i can tell is a higher gas exchange rate, more desolved oxygen


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

Well I think my first strike with the excel is going to be a decent sign. I went for a walk and came back and the first set of java ferns/driftwood I attacked and I have this to show for it 









Sorry for the bad rotation.....


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

When BBA attacks plants the leaves are left badly scarred, and don't recover. Trying to nurse them back to life just leaves unhealthy leaves in the tank, which attract more algae. I have dumped big Java Ferns before, when they were infested with BBA, so I know the feeling. But, those leaves really are dead. The Excel should be focused on the hardscape BBA, not the plants. (Just my opinion.)

Slow growing plants are far more likely to be BBA victims than fast growers. My experience was that Anubias always grew BBA when I had more than about 30 micromols of PAR at the substrate. Now that I have 20-25 micromols, my Anubias is doing well, even though I still have to kill the BBA on hardscape near the top of the tank about every month.

If you enjoy the challenge, go ahead and try to save your plants, but if you want to get back to enjoying the aquascape and fish, switch to faster growing stem plants.


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

So should I rip all of the fern out and replant the driftwood with new fern? I really like the appearance of the fern on driftwood


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

drewsuf82 said:


> So should I rip all of the fern out and replant the driftwood with new fern? I really like the appearance of the fern on driftwood


Cut off the leaves as described but leave the rhizomes attached to the wood. If conditions improve new leaves will grow.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

houseofcards said:


> Cut off the leaves as described but leave the rhizomes attached to the wood. If conditions improve new leaves will grow.


I agree 100%.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> I agree 100%.


Wow, we found some common ground


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

houseofcards said:


> Wow, we found some common ground


That gives you hope for seeing pigs fly someday?:redface:


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## captnphil (Sep 23, 2012)

Could the sun be hitting the tank at some point?


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## drewsuf82 (May 27, 2012)

captnphil said:


> Could the sun be hitting the tank at some point?


There's ambient indirect sunlight but never gets hit with any direct sunlight at all


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## TexasCichlid (Jul 12, 2011)

Don't try and save the leaves. Aggressively cut the affected leaves off at the base of the leaf. Remove affected hardscape and equipment, if you can do so, and scrub/H2O2 then put back in tank. Direct Excel or H2O2 application to hardscape you cannot remove or on glass, etc. Then manual removal and VAC the stuff out as best you can. Don't let it float about. Also, don't do it in stages. You need to be very aggressive and painstaking the first time you deal with it or it just keeps taking over.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Hoppy said:


> That gives you hope for seeing pigs fly someday?:redface:


LOL, I'm holding my breadth for the pigs to fly by......


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## jstehman (Dec 13, 2010)

I know it sucks, but you gotta hack it all out. Your plants WILL grow back.

Like Hoppy and TexasCichlid said, those leaves won't recover. Just use the Excel or H2O2 (cheaper) on the driftwood or rocks.

Concentrate efforts on growing the plants. HTH


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## kalawai2000 (Jan 15, 2011)

Oh boy, Where are my scissors?


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