# BBA in hair grass?



## klibs (May 1, 2014)

I have some BBA in my hair grass. Not cool.

I am currently spot treating with a little H2O2 but it keeps bouncing back.

Any tips?


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## Kathyy (Feb 22, 2010)

If it is growing on the old leaves maybe it is time for a mowing.


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## vinizuh (Sep 17, 2014)

I successfully got rid of BBA in my tank by making sure co2 is at a good constant flow, and i turned off my ray2 fixture for a couple weeks, so basically lowering light intensity. After a couple mow downs, the new DHG leaves grew in BBA free. I think the most 2 important factors when it comes to BBA is light and co2 IME. Ramshorn snails also helped out a lot by eating the weakened BBA on old leaves.


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## TheAnswerIs42 (Jul 10, 2014)

A mow down, and treat with double excel to stop it growing and give your algae eaters a chance to chomp down. I has a similar problem for months and my DHG wasn't growing, just slowly getting coated in black fuzz and turning yellow. My amanos have taken care of all the BBA in my tank now and grass is growing like mad. It took almost 2 months to completely rid my tank of the stuff


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

I only have ottos for algae eaters.

Also I run CO2 on a pH controller through a large reactor. I start it a bit over an hour before lights on. The pH drops from ~7 to 5.9 and remains at that level throughout the photoperiod. I get good pearling throughout the day but have toned down my lights even more as a result of a bit of algae showing its ugly face. I want to say my CO2 is good but who knows.

I also have some crypts that have a good amount of BBA on the leaves (damn slow-growers... Should I just chuck them? I feel like as long as they have BBA on them it will spread throughout my tank.

I will definitely do a trim in the next few days. Right now I am treating the BBA with H2O2 and some excel. It dies but it eventually comes back. Very frustrating.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

Klibs, is the PH already dropped at 5.9 when your lights turn on?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

A pH controller turns on the CO2 when the pH is above the set point and turns it off when the pH is at the set point. So, if the controller is doing anything at all, other than being a back-up, your CO2 concentration has to be fluctuating. (The pH changes slower than the CO2 concentration changes. It isn't instantaneous) Fluctuating CO2 is a primary cause of BBA.

I suggest adjusting the CO2 bubble rate so the pH is at the desired level, at the level that corresponds with the amount of CO2 you want in the water, then just use the controller to shut off the CO2 if you have a problem with your regulator that would otherwise raise the amount of CO2 in the water to a level harmful to the fish. This would keep the CO2 level constant from day to day and throughout the day.


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## Coralbandit (Feb 25, 2013)

Hoppy said:


> This would keep the CO2 level constant from day to day and throughout the day.


 Day to day like 24/7 or a steady bubble count during light cycle only?
I imagine you mean during light cycle and then mean to say the pH controller is not "fast enough" to keep tank steady compared to steady all day injection?(proper BPM count...)


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Coralbandit said:


> Day to day like 24/7 or a steady bubble count during light cycle only?
> I imagine you mean during light cycle and then mean to say the pH controller is not "fast enough" to keep tank steady compared to steady all day injection?(proper BPM count...)


Day to day, if you shut off the CO2 when the lights are off. Or 24/7 if you run the CO2 24 hours a day. 

Because pH changes lag the changes in CO2 concentration, a controller alone will always overshoot its set pH, causing oscillations in concentration of CO2. And, the pH takes some time to reach the same value all over the tank, also contributing to the oscillating value of CO2 concentration. Of course, I have never tested this to be sure it happens, but I can't see any way it wouldn't happen.

CO2 leaves the water, through the water/air interface, because atmospheric CO2 is less than that we want in the tank, so maintaining a constant tank concentration of CO2 requires a constant flow of CO2 into the water. If the controller shuts off the CO2, as opposed to just tweaking the bubble rate, a controller cannot maintain a constant concentration of CO2 in the water.

Years ago, when I was working with pressurized air, I found that if I used a regulator on only a small portion of the air flowing into the "chamber" I was working with, with the majority of the air running constantly through a throttle valve, the regulated pressure would remain much more constant. Same type of problem.


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

fablau said:


> Klibs, is the PH already dropped at 5.9 when your lights turn on?


yes

I do a constant stream of bubbles beginning a few hours before so the pH drops down to my desired range before lights come on. This pH is maintained throughout the entire light cycle then it turns off for the night.


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

klibs said:


> yes
> 
> I do a constant stream of bubbles beginning a few hours before so the pH drops down to my desired range before lights come on. This pH is maintained throughout the entire light cycle then it turns off for the night.



That's good. Two more questions:

1. Once you reach your desired PH, is the Co2 concentration kept constant? Dos your PH controller shows you the same exact Ph during the photoperiod?

2. Is the same exact Ph kept every day during the photoperiod?

I am asking these questions because I also are having a BBA issue similar to yours, and my PH is not really constant through the day and day-by-day, despite I use an high quality regulator, I am afraid my reactor configuration contributes to some sort of little fluctuations.


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## TheAnswerIs42 (Jul 10, 2014)

What are your nitrate levels at? Another consideration is that your nitrates are too low.


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## dzega (Apr 22, 2013)

im in the same boat. 
Co2 super stable through whole photoperiod, everything is pearling, DHG is gowing nice yet forming BBA in it. 
mine was some sort of mini variation and did not grew taller than 2-4cm(started to bend) so i didnt mow it. i thing that might turn out to be a problem.. or not  idk. i restarted the tank because of it anyways and now will mow grass on regular basis, at least that is the plan


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## klibs (May 1, 2014)

fablau said:


> That's good. Two more questions:
> 
> 1. Once you reach your desired PH, is the Co2 concentration kept constant? Dos your PH controller shows you the same exact Ph during the photoperiod?
> 
> ...


Yes and Yes

I dose 3/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week in the tank. Nitrates should be all set as I do not see any deficiencies in other plants.



dzega said:


> im in the same boat.
> Co2 super stable through whole photoperiod, everything is pearling, DHG is gowing nice yet forming BBA in it.
> mine was some sort of mini variation and did not grew taller than 2-4cm(started to bend) so i didnt mow it. i thing that might turn out to be a problem.. or not  idk. i restarted the tank because of it anyways and now will mow grass on regular basis, at least that is the plan


I also have DHG Belem. Mowing the grass and plucking out any leaves with BBA did the trick. I have fully cleansed my tank and scraped off any BBA. Seems to have worked. If it comes back I will do the same thing - there is no BBA in my grass right now...


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## fablau (Feb 7, 2009)

That's good. Can you see BBA anywhere else in your tank?


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