Bba?

Erloas · 03-13-2010, 07:37 PM

Well as of right now I can't really tell for sure which type of algae this is. It kind of looks like BBA to me, but it also seems a bit longer. It might be two different algaes too. Right now its not really wide spread, but it is on some plants that are growing well.

The tank has been set up for ~2 months now. I have 3 otos, 5 amano shrimp, and some ghost shrimp for clean up right now.

My lights are on for 7 hours a day, 2x54 T5HO lights (5600 and 10k bulbs). The lights are only about 3-4" above the water right now, on the legs that came with the lights, there are no covers on the tank.

I've got pressurized CO2 and the drop checker is in the green to slightly yellow range (using GLA drop checker and pre-made solution).
I'm dosing EI right now with the standard 55g estimates.

Ammonia and nitrites are 0 (API liquid test kit, ~6 months old), Phosphates are in the 5-10ppm range and nitrates are in the 10-20ppm range.
Been a little while since I checked dGH and dKH but they were about 12 and 8 respectively in my tank and from the tap so I don't assume they've changed much. pH is reading about 7.2 right now, was about 8 without CO2, which is in-line with the charts and the drop checker.

For the most part I just have a Rena XP3 with a spray bar for circulation, I also have a powerhead with a spray bar that I've ran at times but the fish don't seem to like it when it is running and this algae first started when I was running it all the time.

Most of the plants are growing really well (or they seem to be to me at least), the only ones that aren't are the mosses, christmas, flame, and java. They are staying green but they don't seem to actually be growing at all. They were getting diatoms on them for a while but that have cleared up almost completely now. I moved the java moss under the big stump to give very small things a place to hide (if something spawns or I add some RCS) where it doesn't get nearly as much light.

The phosphates seem high, I'm dosing 1/16 KH2PO4 3xweek, haven't checked my source water, maybe I should cut out that dosing altogether?

Here is the thread with the overview pics of the tank to see the plants overall

fibertech · 03-14-2010, 04:00 AM

That is BBA. Get a syringe and some H2O2 and start applying it directly on the algea

03-13-2010, 07:37 PM	#1
Erloas Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Wyoming Posts: 219	Bba? Well as of right now I can't really tell for sure which type of algae this is. It kind of looks like BBA to me, but it also seems a bit longer. It might be two different algaes too. Right now its not really wide spread, but it is on some plants that are growing well. The tank has been set up for ~2 months now. I have 3 otos, 5 amano shrimp, and some ghost shrimp for clean up right now. My lights are on for 7 hours a day, 2x54 T5HO lights (5600 and 10k bulbs). The lights are only about 3-4" above the water right now, on the legs that came with the lights, there are no covers on the tank. I've got pressurized CO2 and the drop checker is in the green to slightly yellow range (using GLA drop checker and pre-made solution). I'm dosing EI right now with the standard 55g estimates. Ammonia and nitrites are 0 (API liquid test kit, ~6 months old), Phosphates are in the 5-10ppm range and nitrates are in the 10-20ppm range. Been a little while since I checked dGH and dKH but they were about 12 and 8 respectively in my tank and from the tap so I don't assume they've changed much. pH is reading about 7.2 right now, was about 8 without CO2, which is in-line with the charts and the drop checker. For the most part I just have a Rena XP3 with a spray bar for circulation, I also have a powerhead with a spray bar that I've ran at times but the fish don't seem to like it when it is running and this algae first started when I was running it all the time. Most of the plants are growing really well (or they seem to be to me at least), the only ones that aren't are the mosses, christmas, flame, and java. They are staying green but they don't seem to actually be growing at all. They were getting diatoms on them for a while but that have cleared up almost completely now. I moved the java moss under the big stump to give very small things a place to hide (if something spawns or I add some RCS) where it doesn't get nearly as much light. The phosphates seem high, I'm dosing 1/16 KH2PO4 3xweek, haven't checked my source water, maybe I should cut out that dosing altogether? Here is the thread with the overview pics of the tank to see the plants overall

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03-14-2010, 04:00 AM	#2
fibertech Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Dallas Posts: 266	That is BBA. Get a syringe and some H2O2 and start applying it directly on the algea