# A question of organics...



## firefiend (Sep 3, 2009)

So in my battle against BBA I've sought to improve my light/CO2 balance; I'm treating 2x excel and starting dosing trace.

Another aspect of BBA that seems to come up often is "organics." And while I have some understanding on this I'd like to get a more complete and thorough picture.

So, I'd to hear what everyone's definition of "controlling organics" as it relates to BBA. Since I'm still new to planted tanks I'm sure there is a lot of things I'm missing. Little practices successful aquarists are doing that just never occurred to me.


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## Storm (Aug 7, 2011)

When people talk about organics, they're talking about dissolved organic carbon, which is basically any organic material that hasn't yet been processed by bacteria. This includes fish waste, decaying plant material, and anything else in the tank that is decaying, dying, or emitting waste.

You can remove DOC by doing regular water changes, or if you have a healthy biological filter and don't overstock your tank, your biological filter will help to remove it. In a dirt tank if you follow the Walstad method, you have enough biological filtration in the bacteria on the plants and in the substrate to handle this DOC. If you're doing a high tech tank, you probably need to do regular water changes to remove excess dissolved organics.

Dissolved organics are difficult to test for (ADA sells a test kit but it is a special order item), but if you're having an algae bloom due to excessive organics, it usually points to an unhealthy biological filter or poor water change routines.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

I do my weekly 50% water change. I wish I could do mid week water change too. Figure that it maybe too much work. I am definitely overstocking my fish load and plants. I also use purigen to keep my organic under control. Provided that my nutrient levels are balanced and with good CO2 level. My BBA is under control. Plants that are still under acclimation period tend to attract BBA and staghorn algae. Currently dosing excel in the recommended dosage to see if I can get ride of the remaining BBA.


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## Storm (Aug 7, 2011)

I think BBA is more related to Co2/light imbalance, which it sounds like you're getting under control with excel. Organics might have something to do with it but I'm not sure.


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## ghotifish (Feb 16, 2009)

I've been thinking about organics lately because I have algae issues that are not clearly related to light, CO2, ferts, or flow. While planted tank keepers in Asia appear to routinely test their DOC (disolved organics), Organics are generally not given much attention by US freshwater aquarists. When people talk about a tank being balanced, organics are one of the factors that must be considered. Here's an interesting article on the subject:

http://www.aquascapingworld.com/magazine/May08/Dissolved-Organic-Compounds-Explained.html

Today, in hopes of reducing my dissolved and particulate organics to control a bba/gsa outbreak, I did an extra water change (2x/wk instead of 1x), cleaned my filter, searched for any dead leaves, and swore off over-feeding the fish. Just to be safe, I added 1ml/gallon of Excel (that's a huge dose, I hope my fish are okay!) If things improve, I will never know what did the trick. I'm not a good scientist...


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