Say goodbye to BBA!!

[shrimppaste]

Hi Guys,

Just wanted to share my experience. Last night I came home and found that the back of my bogwood where I did not notice before was covered in BBA. I have enough nutrients light and CO2 so I don;t know why it is happening. So I was thinking I should get a fish to eat this stuff up. So basically I remembered long ago reading about a fish that eats this and hair algae and green alage etc. But I rememebered it was quite rarely seen. Last time I saw it was at C328 so I went back down.

It was 10:30 and I was the last person in the shop. I went in and looked at the exact spot and there they were. Or rather what could be similar fishes. Ok, the last time I saw they were the red tailed Goodeids, and this time I saw a different pair that looks similar. I asked and the uncle showed me the bag. So it just came in!! What luck! They were a pair of butterfly goodeid. They are so rare that they are extinct in the wild!!

Ok now for the result. I came back, put them in my tank and went to sleep. Then I went to work. Today at night when I came back, I saw bald patches where the hair algae used to be. I mean it was BALD! As in somebody came and took a pincher to pluck them out!!! OH MY!!!!! I am really excited and felt I had to share this with fellow forummers so that more people know about them and then more demand and so that we can have them easily available in the future just like we get puffer when we have snail problems!!

[dna9179]

i wonder does y618 sell them or not...

[shrimppaste]

I don't know. But I seldom see them. But they grow to quite big about 10 cm and they nip on other fishes tail. It seems thatall beneficial fish nips on other fishesh tail almost like saying hey! I have worked hartd let me nip their tail.

[stormhawk]

The Butterfly Goodeid, Ameca splendens, is still not extinct in the wild... yet.

I saw the Red-tailed Goodeid at C328, but only the male was present. Glad to hear that they're solving your BBA problem. By the way, the Goodeids are livebearers, so you'll probably have a ton of babies sooner or later.

[shawncel]

I would like to introduce the fish to my tetra tank to clear hair algae. Anyone can advise if I can put these fishes together witn cardinals and other small tetras?

Cheers...

[bbpippen]

oh didnt know they were another sp of splendens.

Was it expensive ?

[stormhawk]

Ameca splendens can be aggressive to other fishes. I would not suggest mixing it with other fishes if possible. Besides, they'll only attack the algae IF they are super hungry. I think in my mind the most effective algae killer is still Jordanella floridae, aka American Flagfish. However, it is very aggressive to other fishes.

[shrimppaste]

Oh! Do you know where I can get the flag fish??

[stormhawk]

The only ones you can find locally are usually the "balloon" form. Maybe Qian Hu has them, I'm not sure, but they are extremely aggressive to other fishes. Their algae eating habit comes into play only when they are really hungry.

[huggissag]

That's great! That's quite a very informative post. Thanks for your share.

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[Desewer]

i am SO dropping by C328 tonite to see if i can get some goodeids for BBA control. anyone mind PM-ing me the price i should expect to pay for them? thanks in advance!

[blue33]

Most fish would take algae only when they are really hungry, those fish mention above dont really take algae unless they are really being starved for very long.

The most effective way to control is still the nutrients that dose in the tank, saying that is easy but every tank setup is different. What alot of people didnt notice is the amount of KH2PO4 dosage(dosage varies with the population of fauna in the tank if you know what i mean), try to add abit more, normal algae would go off in no time.

Another method is Hydrogen Peroxide(cheap and effective than Seachem Excel), but this doesnt cure the roots of algae. Stop all current movement(switch off filter or anything that causes water movement) when spray direct on them. Change water after the process.

Above mentioned, i've test and proven to be good. Hope this helps. Happy planting.

[shrimppaste]

I thought high phosphate is the reason for BBA?

[blue33]

That is long time old story, and it has already being proven to be wrong. Seachem now start to sell "Flourish Phosphorus". They would tell you Flourish Phosphorus is entirely nitrogen-free, but they sell Flourish Nitrogen in another bottle. This is really commercially gimmicks to earn more and they are super diluted in almost all brand, most time you're paying more for water only.

Below is extracted from Seachem website.

Flourish Phosphorus™ is a safe solution (4500 mg/L phosphate) of potassium phosphate that takes the guess work out of phosphate dosing. Unlike competing products that mix nitrate and phosphate in a fixed ratio, Flourish Phosphorus™ (being nitrate free) allows you to dose phosphorus according to the needs of your plants without the risk of overdosing nitrates. When used as directed Flourish Phosphorus™ will enhance and accelerate the growth of aquatic plants without enhancing algae growth. For maximum benefit use with Flourish Nitrogen™ and Flourish Potassium™.

Flourish Phosphorus = potassium phosphate

Hope this explain to those still confuse on phosphate.

[shrimppaste]

I am now using LushGro's Phosphate should I then increase my dosage? My understanding is that if Nitrate is used up by the plants, then it will not be able to use the phosphate and this excess phosphate would help algae grow. So should I increase my phosphate still??

[blue33]

one is organic one is not.

[shrimppaste]

Hi Blue,

So should I increase my phosphate? Currently I am using EI method. I am using 1/2 teaspoon KNO3 and 1/8 KH2PO4. So Should I increase my phosphate? Thanks. Mine is a 50 gallon tank.

[EddyTing]

Those hateful BBA is growing in my tank for months now. Nothing i do can get rid of them. Soaking them with H2O2, bleach, black out, increase CO2, cut off CO2, increase WC, just last a while, then they comes back. And spreading from 1 to another. Anyone has any advice?

[Desewer]

Eddy, how about direct application of Excel? Seems like you're not addressing the root cause, which is why they keep coming back.

How strong is your lighting and what is the lighting period? And how is your CO2 injected into the water? Airstone, internal/external reactor, diffuser?

[shrimppaste]

I am using external reactor but I realised that after lights off, the remaining CO2 in the reactor would still be pumping out. So much so that my fishes are gasping in the morning.