I have BBA on my windelov and it seems like its spreading quite rapidly! I heard Excel will remove the BBA but how do i dose it? Take out the whole driftwood with the windelovs and dose directly or jus dose it into the tank? I have a 4ft tank (67 gallons)... I dose about 3/4 tsp of KNO3, 1/2 tsp of KH2PO4, 1/2 tsp of K2SO4 and 15 ml of Seachem Flourish Trace twice a week. 50% water change once a week. CO2 is about 3 bubbles per sec. I have a UV 5 watt on 10 hours a day and FL lights 108 watts on for 10 hours. My water flow is about 1500-2000l/hr and temp is kept at a constant of 27. what am I doing wrong!
you just inject directly on the BBA using syringe for few days, it will turn white. No need to take out the plant. You can also cut the ifected part. Still you need to find out what happen, otherwise BBA will comming back. My guest is your CO2 is too low.
I increased my CO2 to about 6 bubbles per sec. Hope it helps. Wat about my fert amount? Is it correct? I using Lushgro...
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253liter tank with 1500-2000l/hr is 6-8 X. That's quite a tsunami in there if the figures are right. IME too much flow let's algae spread fast.Originally Posted by Sratchuback
For the BBA on the windelov, Just snip whatever that's infected. If you really have to save it, drain the water till the plant is out of water and apply excel directly on it. [turn off your filters first]
If you can remove it even better but take care to do a WC if there's too much muck stirred.
You can if you dare to fail - Stan Chung
1. Remove all leaves affected.
2. Shorten light on to 6-8 hrs.
3. Increase CO2 supply.
4. Ask yourself what you did before BBA occurs?
@ aquastuff.org
Sratchuback,
Possible to take a photo of the infected leaves and posting it into the gallery? Is it black spots or furry black balls attached to the leaves?
visit my photo albums @ flickr!
Its furry black patches stuck on the leaves. This is wat i did:
1) Inject Excel onto the affected areas (Abt 120ml)
Result- BBA turn white but still stuck on the leaves. Half my fauna dead. By afternoon BBA turn grey....Sigh
2) Took out the driftwood and started to snip away...
Result- Driftwood with winelov look "Botak". More fauna dying... white patches on their bodies. Even SAEs are dyding.
3) Did 30% Water change
Result- White furry batches coming out!
Can anyone tell me if flow will drop. I'm using a Dymax EPH 2000 Flow rate is like 2000l/hr. Set up is such. Tank--> Eheim 2026--> Dymax pump--> CO2 reactor (inline)--> Chiller (Atman)--> UV light 5 watt--> Tank.
I see my flow is like very slow... Changed the sponge in my filters but still very slow. I sometimes can see dirt particles in suspened mode not moving... Is this a problem?
You should have just dosed around 1.5x the recommended daily dosage of Excel and still get results on the BBA. It just takes longer (about a week) but it is very safe for your fauna.
Anyway for your CO2, it isn't only about upping the injection rate. You need to have consistent levels throughout the day. Take different readings throughout the day, [perhaps on a Sunday] take a reading in the morning, once in the afternoon and another in the evening and compare the results of your CO2. Take the readings after you finished your Excel treatment to avoid any unnecessary wrong readings.
The circulation could be the problem. Your CO2 is not distributed well across the tank and that causes either unstable levels or simply deadspots. Algae drops in when such environments are such.
I am not good with equipment so I am not too sure if your current configuration is really optimum.
Studying the water chemistry and nutrients is a science.
Knowing what plants to get and how to use them is an art.
Aquascaping is a marriage of art and science, the logical and emotional.
-Calvin
My CO2 is on only for 10 hours a day at 6 bubbles a sec. I mean i need to have it "on" 24/7? Gonna try to get a 5000l/hr pump and throttle discharge. What do you think? As for excel... do I still dose? 1.5 X the recommended amount?
No, you do not have to on it 24/7. Just inject CO2 during photoperiod will be enough. You can try to start injecting CO2 about 30 minutes prior to lights-on to have good CO2 levels the moment light hits the tank.
You should just continue to dose 1.5 times over the next few days. The idea is to inject it directly over the BBA using a syringe. Should the water turn cloudy then stop for a day or 2 and continue after that as Excel has affected the BB culture in your bio-filtration.
Don't inject so much. Your 253 liters tank only need an initial dose of about 22ml and a maintenance dose of about 7ml daily. You went too much, way too much. I was surprised that anything could have survived it.
Studying the water chemistry and nutrients is a science.
Knowing what plants to get and how to use them is an art.
Aquascaping is a marriage of art and science, the logical and emotional.
-Calvin
I also experienced BBA in my tank because I ran out of CO2 for 2 weeks.I bought Siamese Algae Eater and BBA were wiped our in 2 weeks.Hope this helps.
Ya... I went overboard... My maths is terrible... My tanks kinda cloudy now.. so i'll lay low for a while... SAEs are dying... sigh...
If the fauna are still not doing well, do a major WC (perhaps around 50%) and dose Excel at just a little over the recommended rate. Perhaps 30ml on the initial dose and around ~10ml for the daily dose.
Studying the water chemistry and nutrients is a science.
Knowing what plants to get and how to use them is an art.
Aquascaping is a marriage of art and science, the logical and emotional.
-Calvin
ok will do tonight... Water still cloudy and my fauna all at the top. Just got the 6500l/hr pump. Will fix up today. just to check... CO2 after the reactor comes out in really small bubbles rite?
Misting is fine and I do that. I hardly use reactors nowadays anyway. Just ensure that the bubbles are spread/circulated well around the tank. Take different readings (and at different points in the tank if its big) to ensure good stable levels.
For the Excel, always start a little lower first. If your fishes are still OK then you can increase it slowly.
Studying the water chemistry and nutrients is a science.
Knowing what plants to get and how to use them is an art.
Aquascaping is a marriage of art and science, the logical and emotional.
-Calvin
Reactors rule! Especially having a 6500l/h pump to power it is mind boggling!
As for excel dosing, use a syringe to inject excel directly onto your infected plants underwater. This way you can kill much more BBA with much lesser excel. 120 ml is overkill. I think 30ml is more than enough to zap dead all BBA. Tried and tested. Works everytime on BBA. Would not say that for some other algae though.Hope this helps.
Maybe you can give us a pic of your tank? How much is your plant mass? This is the first time I heard so little light can give BBA problems.
I should be working not posting
What's the power rating for that pump? 100W?
You can if you dare to fail - Stan Chung
Its an Ocean Runner Aquamedic OR6500. Its 115w. Do you guys thinks its like overkill... Right now my Dymax EPH 2000 is like giving me an output of like.... how to put it... urine? Maybe its because of the way I arranged my equipment? The BBA is all white but some of my plants died need to replace those... My lighting is kinda low... below 2w/gal
I should be working not posting
115W? You serious? That plus the flow is overkill IMHO for a planted tank. Fine for a marine tank perhaps.
I only use about 1000+/hr for my 500liter tank. Power consumption for both the canisters Eheim 2215 and 2028 total less than 50W.
You can if you dare to fail - Stan Chung
Really?!! I see that the flow on my pump is very slow... and quite worried that the Co2 isn't evenly distributed. Also I'm using the the pump to suck water from my tank into my filter and drive thru a inline CO2 reactor, chiller and UV. I have a valve at the discharge to throttle flow initially and increase when ever flow drops due to filter cloggage.
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