whetu Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Hi all, I used to have BBA in my tank. Lesson to all: sterilise new plants & decor when importing them from an unknown tank! When I moved at the beginning of May I did a HUGE breakdown of my tank to try to get rid of the BBA. I sterilised everything I could - boiled rocks & wood (then microwaved the wood as well!), boiled filter media, bleached glass, soaked all plastic components in a strong salt solution overnight and even ran hot, very salty water through my filters. I stripped out and threw away my entire substrate and all my plants (some of which I had had for many years). It was a heart-breaking experience and very frightening as I knew I was going to have to put my whole tank through an entirely new start-up phase. The good news is my tank has cycled fully without any apparent stress on my little fishy friends, and some wonderful, kind people from this forum gave me some trimmings from their plants which are now becoming nicely established. The bad news: The BBA is coming back! I have noticed it on my filter intake (which I immediately removed, salted and scrubbed) and a couple of days ago I noticed tiny tufts on some rocks and driftwood (yes, the same ones I boiled & microwaved!) Before this horrible stuff gets fully established again, how can I conquer it? I have some Flourish Excel... can anyone help me through a step-by-step process for using it to conquer the BBA? The fish in the tank right now are: - gold & cherry barbs - a pair of bristlenose catfish - clown loaches (5 - 7 years old - not tiny babies) I have other fish currently in a Q-tank but I'm in no hurry to transfer them over so I will wait until the BBA is beaten before I do that! I know loaches can be very sensitive to chemicals in the water, and the bottle says DO NOT OVERDOSE! (in caps, with exclamation mark!) What do I do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 The method I used was squirting (with an eyedropper) the daily dose for the tank (1ml/40L) onto the BBA. Within 5 days it was gone. Different spot each day. Some say double dose. I didn't want to risk it. Alternately you could take out the smaller pieces into a holding container and try double dose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Flourish Excell might get rid of it in the short(ish) term, but the only way to get rid of it permanently is to maintain better (cleaner) water. It will only become established in water with relatively high levels of disolved organic compounds (Nitrates). I'd physically remove as much as possible, hoover the tank etc., and make sure your lighting is able to support good plant growth, then do some big water changes over the next few weeks, before bothering with Flourish Excel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VinsonMassif Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 One of the more nioxious species, classic low CO2 will induce growth. Typically found in streams, wide temperature and habitat distribution throughout the tropics and northern climates. Red algae in this genus are often the bane of many aquarist. The solution to rid it is rather simple for non CO2 and CO2 approaches, it revolves around maintaining either high CO2 if you use gas or stable low levels in a non CO2 plant tank(no water changes) http://www.barrreport.com/plantdatabase ... ct=3&cat=3 Also some use a strong solution of Hydrogen Peroxide to disinfect the stones, wood, and tubes. The BBA will turn white when dead. This can take minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 I double dosed the Florish excell for a week. Didn't do any water changes till the BBA died and my discus, clown loaches and bristlenoses all came through it without any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Double the intial dose or double the regular daily dose? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Both Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 Double the intiial Then double the daily each day or Double the initial each day I'm guessing you mean the first one. I'll start doing that. God I hate that stuff. I'll test nitrate levels while I'm there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wok Posted June 20, 2008 Report Share Posted June 20, 2008 I used the double initial dose for 7 days straight. double dose x 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 Flourish Excell might get rid of it in the short(ish) term, but the only way to get rid of it permanently is to maintain better (cleaner) water. It will only become established in water with relatively high levels of disolved organic compounds (Nitrates). I'd physically remove as much as possible, hoover the tank etc., and make sure your lighting is able to support good plant growth, then do some big water changes over the next few weeks, before bothering with Flourish Excel. Hmmm... the interesting thing is that my tank has literally only been started since 5 May. Everything was either new or sterilised before I put it in - so the theory about high nitrate levels simply can't be the case. Also I have very few fish in the tank. During the cycling process the ammonia and nitrites barely registered on my test kits. I'm also running 2 x Eheim pro II filters on the tank so I really don't think water quality can be a factor in my problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 The method I used was squirting (with an eyedropper) the daily dose for the tank (1ml/40L) onto the BBA. Within 5 days it was gone. Different spot each day. Some say double dose. I didn't want to risk it. Alternately you could take out the smaller pieces into a holding container and try double dose. I think I will try squirting the Flourish Excel straight onto the algae as you suggest. I am using a syringe to measure it anyway, so it should be easy enough just to reach in and squirt it onto the visible stuff. Also that way I will be able to see whether it is working. I will let you know how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 ... Also some use a strong solution of Hydrogen Peroxide to disinfect the stones, wood, and tubes. The BBA will turn white when dead. This can take minutes. I was deliberately avoiding using bleach on the plastic tubing - does anyone know if hydrogen peroxide will damage plastic? And if I used it to disinfect the wood, does it stay in the porous wood and leach into the water? So many questions! :oops: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 I double dosed the Florish excell for a week. Didn't do any water changes till the BBA died and my discus, clown loaches and bristlenoses all came through it without any problems. I'm glad to hear your BNs & Clowns were ok, Wok. If my initial attempt with the recommended dose doesn't work I will try double-dosing and see what happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 I did a double initial dose today. All fish fine except a few platy, who are healthy, but starting to gasp at surface. I'll do a water change tomorrow, and maybe go back to standard dose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darrell Quadling Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 TRIED ALL THAT WITH LITTLE RESULT..GOT SOME BLACKLINE FLYING FOX WHO CLEANED IT ALL UP FAST AND KEEP IT THAT WAY Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted June 21, 2008 Report Share Posted June 21, 2008 I never had any luck treating with the hydrogen peroxide, and settled for the flourish excel which has largely removed it from the tank. If you do decide to use hydrogen peroxide it should be safe in the tank - it will break down to water and oxygen before too long. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 I have been fighting bba for quite a while - using flourish excel at 1 1/2 x the recommended rate daily and also have some SAE. While its not gone its reducing slowly. I also pick it off when I do water changers with a pair of tweezers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scuba Sam Posted June 22, 2008 Report Share Posted June 22, 2008 I purchased two SAE's recently - wow they are awesome. Tank is totally sorted. No sign of it, they even ate the long tufty bits. Guess I'm lucky. Now I just have to catch them and take them home to the tank there which is even worse... Good luck getting yours sorted. Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted June 24, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Thanks all. I am using the recommended daily dose of Flourish, squirting it directly onto the algae. Because the infestation is quite localised and quite new, I'm hoping the recommended dose will work and I won't have to resort to double dosing. I think I can see a difference already but maybe it's just wishful thinking! :-? By the way, I tried to get a Siamese Algae Eater from Animates in Mt Eden but the first assistant I talked to had never heard of them. the second guy had heard of them but didn't think they ever had them in stock... hmmm... Hopefully the Flourish Excel will work and I won't have to go looking for an SAE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Be careful with Animates too - they often sell other fish that look like SAE labeled as SAE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpidersWeb Posted June 24, 2008 Report Share Posted June 24, 2008 Think it's quite common outside of animates too. They order 'Siamese Flying Fox' and get SAEs and Flying Foxes (haven't seen false siamensis yet). Think its more of a wholesaler issue than animates itself. From talking to a pet store employee they said they knew, but you can't relabel them because that's what they're imported as (rules apply etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Results! After using the recommended dose of Flourish Excel for a few days (squirted directly onto the algae) I then went away for a three-day weekend. I was worried that the BBA would get established while I was gone - but when I came back it had all disappeared from the area I was treating! There is now another small area starting on a nearby rock, so I am going to give it the same treatment. Thanks everybody for your help! It really worked! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted July 1, 2008 Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 Nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whetu Posted July 1, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2008 A bit more detail in case any of this makes a difference to other people's treatment techniques: * I used the dose as recommended on the bottle - the recommended initial and daily doses. * I used a syringe to squirt the dose as close as I could to the new little BBA tufts on the rocks and wood. * I treated for five days and the BBA seemed to be reducing. Then I went away for three days and when I came back it was gone. * The tank has a lot of fast-growing stem plants, good light, good filtration and low fish stocks. I dose regularly with half the recommended dose of Leaf Zone general fertiliser. This is the same tank, with the same fish, same filters and same lights as I have had for a long time - so it's the same tank the BBA originally got established in about 18 months ago. The only thing that changed was my use of Flourish Excel at the first sign of BBA. Hopefully the BBA will either stay gone, or if I have small outbreaks I will be vigilant enough to catch them and treat them early! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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