Dealing with BBA

[EvolutionZ]

hi guys, recentl having quite alot of black beard algae(BBA) in my tank... need some help of clearing/reducing them.
my tank specs are:
2ft tank(~17gallon)
lighting : 2x36watt PL.
Co2: 1BPS.
Ferts : Wondergro Micro+ and macro +. dosing 2ml for micro and 4ml for macro each time as im using EI.
WC: 50% per week.
Substrate : GeX soil with root monster.
plant mass : Heavy.
Filtering system : Ehiem 2213(440l/hr) just cleaned the wool few weeks ago.

is there anything i need to add? i used to have my co2 at 1 bubble per 3second recommanded by a bro, but i found out that one of the reason of BBA growing in tank is lack of Co2... thus, i increase my co2 to 1bps.
need some help here.. thanks

[Shadow]

How do you mixed the CO2 diffusor/reactor? with heavyly planted you need more CO2. Use drop checker to make sure (bps does not tell you the ppm).

1 bubble per 3 second is way too low. even with 1 bps, I'm assuming it is fully mixed. Futhermore you are using very high wattage

[Quincy]

Im using 3-4bps for my 1.5ft tank with 24watts of lights and still encounter BBA. Think you should increase your CO2 and maybe reduce your lights. These BBA are really annoying as they just grow even when I achieve the optimum CO2 ppm with kh of 5 and ph of 6.4.

[EvolutionZ]

Shadow: im using a diffusor.. not all is fully mixed of course.. i was told that 1 bubble per 3sec is the correct amount for 2ft...

Quincy: seems like i have to increase my BPS more..
don't think i want to reduce my lighting... cause if i switch on only 1x36watt, my glosso won't creep...

[barmby]

To clear BBA - trimming and scrubbing.

To keep BBA at bay - add sufficient CO2. use ph/kh chart to determine your ppm level of CO2.

[Shadow]

He is using GEX, pH/kH chart will not worked since GEX have pH buffer capability.

My 2ft tanks are using external reactor, one set to 3bps the other 1.5-2bps. Both are heavely planted, One tank with fern and the other will fast growing stem plants. It take about 3bps to turn the drop checker to yellow for the tank with stem plants. No bubble coming out from the outflow so I assume it is fully desolved.

In your case using diffusor, you might need even more than 3bps. Use drop checker if you can. The gasping for air method can also work. So you can trim or use excell to kill the current BBA and them up your CO2.

[stetan]

I did the easy way out

Added a SAE and in 2 weeks , he ate all the BBA

[EvolutionZ]

Shadow : i used to have a sera co2 test kit, bought the kH test kit as well, used kH 4 solution... but the tst kit indicate that even at 1 bubble per 3 second, it shows me yellow colour... guess i will slowly increase my bps.

Stetan : i got a SAE in my tank.. never touch my BBA at all... instead it went for my NLS pellets...

[PeterGwee]

Get a new pH test kit and use the bromo-blue reagent for mixing with the 4dKH water.

Regards,
Peter Gwee

[stetan]

I bought a really baby SAE. When i put it in the tank, I realise that it started eating the BBA non-stop

I guess I am lucky.

[uklau]

On my 2 footer with 2 x 18W FL, I'm running around 1.5bps. So, for sure your CO2 is not sufficient. Consistent CO2 alone isn't good enough without good distribution across the tank.

What is your bioload is like? For my case, I noticed that after I reduced my bioload to half, BBA stopped spreading & getting weaker. I don't believe in SAE eating BBA. They are too smart to eat those lousy food .

Although Yamato also does not eat BBA, they way they pick up food from the BBA bush will detach the weak BBA over time. Mine took about 2.5 months for the Yamato to clear almost 80% of the BBA lawn (provided that the condition of your tank does not grow healthy & strong BBA).

Good luck with your battle.

[uklau]

I bought a really baby SAE. When i put it in the tank, I realise that it started eating the BBA non-stop

I guess I am lucky.

Pray hard that it would not grow smarter . I must admit that young SAE are hardworking.

[EvolutionZ]

hi uklau.. seems like i need to up my co2.. don't know why that bro told me 1 bubble per 3 second is enough for 2ft..
anyway.. i guess my bioload is kinda light..
1pair of apistogramma agasizzi "red-black"
4 otos, 5 boraras brgrittae,1 Sae and 100+ malayan shrimps..
i have biohome+ in my filter as well..

will up my bps to 2 or 3bps and see how it goes.. thanks

[lEddyl]

here's my 2ft specs.

4x24watt. 8hrs/day
1.5bps with diffusor
ADA substrate with c.parva, anubias and java
undergravel filter with 2224(powered by 1250)
3 snails, 1 apisto

high chance it's your low co2

[EvolutionZ]

have raised my co2 bps to 2 already.. will go and bleach my diffusor later on so that the next day it can produce very fine bubbles...

[blue33]

Hi. I see my Honey Bee Horn snail(yellow and black strap shell) eating the BBA on my hair grass. Can try try!

[TheDane]

You can also try to use a syringe and spray Seachem Excel directly on to the BBA. It will make the BBA go red, then white and then die. In some cases you might have to hit them a couple of times with Excel.

[alechim]

the horn snail dont really eat hard algae like BBA leh, mine dont. They only eat the soft green algae.

[EvolutionZ]

You can also try to use a syringe and spray Seachem Excel directly on to the BBA. It will make the BBA go red, then white and then die. In some cases you might have to hit them a couple of times with Excel.

i know of this method, but i tied it before and it did'nt work.. hit them almost 5times for 5 days and that bunch of BBA still black and "healthy"

[uklau]

Did you turn off your filter before squirting Excel onto the BBA?