losing battle with BBA. Help

[cheeboonyong]

Beginners Info Sheet
--------------------

Tank Dimensions (LxWxH): 80 mm x 35 mm x 35mm (Juwel Rio 125)
Tank Volume (litres or gallons): 100 litres
Lighting Intensity(No of Watts) : 72 W (36x2)
Type of Lighting (FL/PL/MH) : PL
No. of Hours your light is on : 9 hours
CO2 Injection Rate (bps) : 1-2 bps
Type of CO2 (DIY/Liquid/Tank) : Tank
Method of Injection (e.g. Diffusor/Reactor): Reactor
Substrate Used : Normal inert gravel
How Thick is your base fert : not sure. probably too little. supplemented with ocean free root monster.
How thick is your gravel : 2-3 inch
Liquid Fertilizers Used : TMG, Seachem Potassium. No Fe fertilisation
Frequency of fertilization : Once a week 10 ml (TMG), 5 ml (Seachem Potassium)
Tank Temperature : 29
Type of Filter (overhead/internal/canister) : canister Ehiem 2026
Filter media used : Ehiem 2026 inbox media
How long has your tank been set up : 1 year 3 months
Other equipment :

Chemical Properties (Fill what you can)
---------------------------------------
Carbonate Hardness (KH): not sure
Total Hardness (gH): not sure
pH : neutral (green on dennerle colour indicator)
NH4 (ppm): nil
NO2 (ppm): not sure
NO3 (ppm): >40 ppm
PO4 (ppm): >2 ppm
Fe (ppm): not sure

Bioload (Your Fish and Plants)
------------------------------

<State what fishes and plants you have to the best of your ability>
9 cardinal tetra
4 ap. borellis
9 boraras
5 rummy nose
9 corys
10 3-line pencil
6 mountain minnow
Total 52 fish

glosso
crypto balansae
crypto unknown
e. stellata
echinodorus red flame
red lotus unknown
tennellus
blyxa japonica
java fern

Describe your problem :

Recently had an attack of BBA. first time in my whole aquarium experience. not sure how to handle this.

My own conjucture: NO3 and PO4 is way too high. Due to my high fish load (waste and feed)? My CO2 is 1-2 bps and lights is 9 hours x 72 W. but my K is probably too low. I normally see bubbling on the same day and day after I change water and add Seachem potassium (5 ml). Then no more bubbling the next few days. I change water 30-40% every week. Am I dosing too little K? What else is wrong?

The BBA probably came in with my new crypto. Now it grows on my scupltured background (black Styro foam) and other non-plant surface. my plants are fine. however, i also have a high rate of spot algae. makes my glosso very unsightly.

Welcome all comments...Please help... thanks

[cheeboonyong]

and yes it's true. first time experienced BBA in 1 year 3 months. probably luck...but seems to have run out now...

[taz]

Hi,

From your amount of dosage of K (5ml), I think is insufficient. In total only 12.5mg/L. Perhaps you like to increase the dosage to 25mg/L.

Regards,
taz

[cheeboonyong]

what do I do with the existing bba? try to remove them manually? supposedly, if i fix the K problem, there should be no new bba right? but the old bba still needs to be removed right?

[PeterGwee]

Boonyong, first of all you had no idea how much CO2 you have? Second, your PO4 and nitrate is rocket high probably from root monster stuff? I'm not sure about how good your test kits are but assuming they are correct, your high nitrate probably comes from poor uptake of nutrients due to many limited nutrients which you are not supplementing or not enough. BBA is generally related to low CO2 level...do a test on pH and KH to find out your CO2 level..nothing is going to work if that is not fixed! You would also need to remove the rest of the BBA manually or using SAEs.

Okay..here's some solution for you...
1)Do large 50% water change every 3 days to bring the nitrate and phosphate level down. ( Your KH reading would be skewed if your PO4 is rocket high!)
2)Your nitrate and phosphate levels should drop after each water change...if not dump the test kit.
3)Once you get the levels to acceptable range, find your CO2 level and get it to 20-30ppm range during lighting period. (Make sure this is fixed or else nothing works!!)
4)Remove as much BBA manually as possible.
5)Dose back all essential nutrients and make sure they never run out...simple as that.

[vinz]

While root monster has Some N, NO3 and P2O5, I doubt its causing the high PO4 and NO3 if he hasn't exposed them for too long.

Boon Yong, when was the last time you inserted Root Monsters anyway?

I just want to add one thing to Peter's advise... raise your K dosage to 20 to 30 ppm per week. K2SO4 is a cheap source.

[geoffrey]

Yes, raise your K first. Remove as much BBA as possible and leave some prominent one behind for observation. If things turn out well, you will see results within a week. Otherwise you will see new growth of BBA within days.

[cheeboonyong]

I have been having high N and P for lord knows when...maybe since the day I started? And yes, that was before my root monster. I doubt it was the root monster. I did try to make sure they were very firmly lodged in the bottom of the substrate.

I don't have a pH pen. how do I know my exact pH? or is it that crucial? I'm using those long-term ph colour indicator from Dennerle. Can that be ok? I'll raise my KH to 5 and make sure there's enough co2 to let the solution stay green. Should that be alright for my co2?

I'll also raise my K input. can anyone tell me how much Seachem K to dose and frequency for my tank size (100 l)? I don't understand the dosing instructions. It says 1 ml for 40 L to raise by 1 mg/l. so is that 40 ml for 80 L to raise by 20 mg/l? I'll probably have to dose close to 50 ml then. is that per 3 days or per week? or when I stop seeing my plants bubbling? and if I switch to K2SO4, what is the dosage? Thanks everyone

[cheeboonyong]

just to add. i think my test kits are fine. the N and P does come down when I change my water.

[vinz]

Your Seachem K calculation is correct. dose once a week.

K2SO4: From Dr Mallick is about 1kg for under $8. 4 teaspoons to 500 litres, raise about 20ppm. Use this to calculate. 1kg can dose 500 litres about 4 to 6 months (if I remember my calculations correctly).