[kcsport]

For the last 4 months my fight with BBA has gone down hill.
29 gal.
55 w light kit from AH supply
Press Co2
XP3
inline reactor
I have started to split the time I have the lights on, 8hrs total
I'm using the IE method with dry ferts.
The only plants I have left is tropic sunset and it has stopped growing.
And some hornwort floating at top and a bannanna plant.
I'm not really sure what has happened, the Tropical Sunset use to grow out the top of the tank by the end of the week but now its not growing and loosing a few leafs.
My ph of the water is 7 before CO2 and 6.1 after per the co2 monitor.
I shut the co2 off at night and bring it back on about 3 hours before the lights.
I had ran out of Flourish Trace a while back but it should be here this week, could this have anything to do with it? I have been doeing excel also.
Thank you for any help or advice you can offer

 

[Wö£fëñxXx]

You would be better off starting over!

This time raise that light fixture up off the tank/hang it 8" to 10" inches
above the water, that's a lot of light. or get a smaller fixture.

Tweak the Co2-add more.
the "Co2 monitor is junk" or you are using it improperly.
Good Co2 diffusion and distribution will keep the BBA gone, but you will have
to remove the remaining BBA manually or start over.

N,P,K, Trace mineral, good Co2, moderate lighting.

 

[FrostyNYC]

I also recommend starting over.

When you restart, Id really pack the tank full of fast growers (like that sunset hygro or hornwort). Do you have any livestock? If not, or if you can move them, Id pump the CO2 very high for the few first weeks, continue EI dosing, and let the plants get a real good headstart before algae can make any headway. You probably don't need to dose Flourish Trace, but you do need to dose normal Flourish, if you're not using dry ferts for micros.

 

[Postal Penguin]

I finally, or so it appears, have won the battle against BBA in my 29g tank.

My strategy to battle it was:
Start EI dosing with trace and then add iron about 2-3 weeks after beginning the battle
Ramp up CO2 to as much as fish will allow
Remove any decorations and boil or otherwise sterilize
Trim/remove any and all affected plants.
Grab a syringe and a big bottle of hydrogen peroxide and treat any remaining BBA daily

So far I have successfully won the battle and the few remaining patches on the driftwood aren't spreading so I am not worried. It required almost 2 months of daily work to correct the BBA problem. So it may just be easier to start over.

 

[bsmith]

Co2, Co2, Co2....again Co2. It is the major reason we get bba in our tanks. This is especially evident on tanks with high light like yours. Raise the light too, it cant hurt.

 

[kcsport]

What size bulb should I replace the 55w with? Would a 36w be better? I have upped the co2 a little also. Thank you all for the advice.

 

[oldpunk78]

What size bulb should I replace the 55w with? Would a 36w be better? I have upped the co2 a little also. Thank you all for the advice.

just get a crappy reflector. AH supply's are among the best. i would say you could cut the light by a 1/3 just by swapping it out.

 

[plantbrain]

What size bulb should I replace the 55w with? Would a 36w be better? I have upped the co2 a little also. Thank you all for the advice.

Try a Riccia rock, they will pearl well if you have good CO2, not much if not.
They are a really good "test kit" telling you if you have enough CO2 or not......

Just be very careful with adding too much CO2, make sure there's good water movement(XP3 should do that well) along the surface as well(but not enough to break the surface either).

This will keep the O2 up high, you can always add a bit more CO2 to account for any off gassing.

I'd turn the CO2 on 15 minutes before the lights come on perhaps, not much more than that.

A good high flow thru for the CO2 reactor, or perhaps consider CO2 mist methods instead will also help the CO2 be more responsive.


Excel can also help but needs time to kill off the BBA that is there, several weeks generally.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[hbosman]

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