nudge Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 I have a few tufts starting to appear in my non planted cichlid tank, not sure how it got in there? does anyone have any good ways of eradicating it? My rocks are just beginning to develop some green algae so if i can i'd rather not pull them all out and scrape the bba off, i have heard of dosing the tank with florish excel, any suggestions appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 depends what cichlids you have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zeebee Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Excel works wonders, would reccommend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hovmoller Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 Yeah Hollywoods have a recipe for killing bba with flourish excel... overdosing.. but not sure how much. Depending on your tank size this is expensive though.. You could get a siamese algae eater if you didn't mind having one with your cichlids Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 i got rid of it years ago when i had a planted tank by using Flourish Excell, dosed as directed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted July 3, 2012 Report Share Posted July 3, 2012 BBA appears to flourish under excess lighting and nutrients. If you have a non-planted tank, then there's nothing to remove the nutrients except PWCs. I had a bad case of BBA a month or so ago and it seems to have come under control by frequent water changes to get the nutrient levels down, reducing the light to the tank and then using Excel. I had some driftwood in the tank as well that was covered in BBA, and I removed it, and put into another tank just with water and excel. I didn't want to kill my java fern which is why I just didn't sterilize the wood. It's been under a black plastic bag for the last month and the java fern is still alive, but the BBA is mostly dead now. Since the tank is by the window, some light does penetrate the plastic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 I have african malawis and a gae but he's not interested in it. I do a 70% wc every 7 days and try and squeeze in a 20% mid week when i can. Its not to bad at the moment bbut i don't want it to get out of control lights are on for 8.5 hrs a day. Might look into the flourish excel, will it kill off the green algae? Tank is 340 0dd litres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 My green algae was untouched by the excel. If you only have few tufts, stop your power heads, and squirt the tank dose of excel directly onto the BBA using a turkey baster or syringe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 . I do a 70% wc every 7 days and try and squeeze in a 20% mid week when i can. that sounds like too much work, relax man :sml1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted July 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 do you need me to come round and do some water changes on your tanks smidey 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted July 4, 2012 Report Share Posted July 4, 2012 do you need me to come round and do some water changes on your tanks smidey 8) no need, one of 30% each week is all i do at that only takes about 10 mins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted July 9, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 Is the flourish a one off treatment or is it likely to require multiple treatments. also as there is heaps of little tufts squirting each one and being sure i have squirted each one(with a syringe) is gonna be impossible. I am guessing i'll have to individually dose as many as i can find and put the rest of the flourish into the tank. Am i on the right track? Also i do large regular wc's so if its from excess nutients, what kinda excess nutients are we talking?. I don't think it would be excess light as the lights are on 8 hrs a day and the tank is not in direct sunlight. Herse a pic of what i'm dealing with. Its not out of control but i don't want it to take over my tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#!CrunchBang Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I found burning it off with a little butane pencil torch worked quite well in the short term, but that does mean you have to take what it's on out of the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 i've got a bit of that to but i'm sure it's not BBA. it's never go much more than a few spots on the glass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I think you apply as much flourish as required by PWCs until the stuff is gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henward Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 having royal plecos will eradicate it overnight. my tank and pieces of wood, rocks, everything was covered with it, 3 royal plecos later... thereis nothing left Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godly3vil Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 having royal plecos will eradicate it overnight. my tank and pieces of wood, rocks, everything was covered with it, 3 royal plecos later... thereis nothing left You could be onto a nice little money-making scheme there, renting out your royal group to clean up peoples tanks :slfg: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted August 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Well it has spread. I have small tufts now on on pretty much all the rocks. I am changing about 80% of the water over 2 wc every 7 days, i am leaving my lights off now and will see if this helps get rid of it. If there is no improvement looks like I will have to try flourish. Is this a sure fire cure or a bit hit and miss. Do i have to spot treat every single tuft or just get as much as i can then put the rest in the tank? I have also read that people have had success spot treating with hydrogen peroxide. once its in the tank it breaks down into air and water. Has anyone had any luck using hydrogen peroxide? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Good results with H2O2 but don't ever use it in the tank. pH can drop drastically and the H2O2 can quite literally burn the fish gills off killing them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted August 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 hmmmmm, maybe flourish excel might be plan a. Plan b will be pull all the rock out and treat with H202. If I have to go with plann b that may kill off the algae on the rocks but won't it just come back if i have some left in the tank, behind filters etc...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discusguru Posted August 7, 2012 Report Share Posted August 7, 2012 Why go through so much trouble (removing rocks etc..) when flourish excell is proven to work on bba. Takes a few seconds to open the bottle and tip it in the tank compare to hours removing things in the tank to treat and clean and putting them back again. The amount of time spent on doing it jus to save a few dollars is not worth it in my opinion. Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted August 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 If its that easy then thats what i'll do. Theres a lot of conflicting info on wether excel is a sure fire cure. I don't mind spending $60 on excel if i know its gonna work. but would be gutted if i paid that for somthing that may not work. I have no experience with flourish and as it is not designed for killing off bba i'm after info on how effective it is. Would you guys recommend spot treating or just dumping the required amount into the tank. Is it usually a 1 off treatment or does it require multiple treatments. Also, how long should i leave it in the tank before i do a wc? cheers for all the help by the way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubique Fish Posted August 8, 2012 Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 Had BBA in my tropical tanks about a month ago. double dose of flourish excel sorted the BBA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted August 8, 2012 Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 years i ago i used it, as directed to get rid of it and it works well. If your concerned about how much you need to dose due to your tank size drop a third or so of your water out while your treating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted August 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2012 yeah thats what i was thinking of doing. I did that when i treated the tank with metro. So a 250ml bottle will treat 250L. How long did you leave it in tiii you did a wc. Do i just leave it in for a few days then do a large wc or should i wait a week. I guess the longer it is in the tank the more algae it will nuke? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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