[marmaaa]

my 40g tank was doing so well but it all came down pretty quickly. bba started growing at an immense rate and my fish had camallanus worms
Fortunately, Im dosing the tank with meds for the worms and they seem to be reacting good to it. However my bba has not gotten under control at all if anything it has gotten worse.

It started on my dwarf sag then soon mades it way onto my crypts and now my ludiwiga repens. I have h202 dipped some and they went away but some of them had the bba just come back again. So i ordered excel. It came in and I have been using a bit less then the recommended dosage and adding almost daily. But today I had enough of it and snipped away most of the leaves as I was getting frustrated. My dwarf sag has new growth with no bba but its frustrating to see the outer ones covered in just black hair. My crypts are doing better after the h202 but some still remain. My ludiwiga is meh. Some have no bba others do. Its not a pretty thing to look at and I just want it gone! My tank is moderately planted so its not a lack of plants. I have cut down lights to 8ish hours and am dosing ferts. What could be the issue? I have had to do a huge water change for the worms, could that be the reason? Im also under fertilizing so its not excess nutrients. My nitrates are 20-30ppm. This is because I havent done a w/c in almost 2 weeks since I was busy.

 

[ahem]

IMO BBA and hair algae attacks sick plants. So it may be best to remove any plants/leaves that seem to be chronically attacked. As you discovered H2O2 will kill BBA directly. I use Excel at prescribed daily dose, occasionally a little more. I think it does kill the BBA however you have to get the plants healthy so they don't present a surface area for attack. Review your lighting and nutrients, maybe turning the lights a little dimmer while you sort it out will help it along. Always remove the algae when you see it. It helps to see if your actions are working when you can be on a clean slate and see if new algae is popping up.

Keep up with water changes. Be modest with dosing until your plants start showing good growth and algae is gone.

 

[marmaaa]

IMO BBA and hair algae attacks sick plants. So it may be best to remove any plants/leaves that seem to be chronically attacked. As you discovered H2O2 will kill BBA directly. I use Excel at prescribed daily dose, occasionally a little more. I think it does kill the BBA however you have to get the plants healthy so they don't present a surface area for attack. Review your lighting and nutrients, maybe turning the lights a little dimmer while you sort it out will help it along. Always remove the algae when you see it. It helps to see if your actions are working when you can be on a clean slate and see if new algae is popping up.

Keep up with water changes. Be modest with dosing until your plants start showing good growth and algae is gone.

thank you for the reply! I actually cut away all the leaves and dipped them and sprayed them with h202. almost 90 percent has died down and I see no more growing which is good. My dwarf sag is what was mainly being attacked with BBA since cutting all the infected leaves I have seen no more on them and they are shooting runners out! I actually fixed the time and now its on a bit shorter as well and dimmer. My ludiwiga bba has turned red and is dying down. I hope this is the last of bba! I think the bba happened because my tank was recently set up and lights were a mess so was ferts. Now that they have settled in they seem to be doing well. Ill update you if anything changes!

 

[P.Isley]

Any plant parts that have any algae - you are best to cut away and throw out. A plant won’t let algae grow on it if it is healthy. You are best to remove unhealthy tissue. Be as ruthless with it as you can. Removing ailing plant matter + removing algae and doing big and frequent water changes usually has dramatic positive effects on your tank conditions. Problem with BBA is that you DO have to physically remove it. With a mini siphon hose alongside to catch the BBA, I scrape it from wood with my fingernails, use a steel brush to remove it from my lava rocks and snip away and remove any leaves or plant matter that has it. And I’ll do that a couple of times a week along with 50 -70% water changes twice a week any time BBA rears it’s head. After a three weeks usually the tank is back to perfection! 😊

 

[marmaaa]

Any plant parts that have any algae - you are best to cut away and throw out. A plant won’t let algae grow on it if it is healthy. You are best to remove unhealthy tissue. Be as ruthless with it as you can. Removing ailing plant matter + removing algae and doing big and frequent water changes usually has dramatic positive effects on your tank conditions. Problem with BBA is that you DO have to physically remove it. With a mini siphon hose alongside to catch the BBA, I scrape it from wood with my fingernails, use a steel brush to remove it from my lava rocks and snip away and remove any leaves or plant matter that has it. And I’ll do that a couple of times a week along with 50 -70% water changes twice a week any time BBA rears it’s head. After a three weeks usually the tank is back to perfection! 😊

My issue was that I couldnt get them off the leaves. They were STUCK!! I actually did a h202 dip first but it came back again. Although I didnt want to do this step I knew I must, so I cut ALL the infected leaves. It hurt having to cut so many but its what I had to do. I did big water changes a couple time nearly 70 percent 2x a week. After cutting I did an additional h202 dip and I sprayed some with it as well. I stopped the excel for a bit and the plants are already looking so much better. None on my dwarf sag as of now has any BBA and my ludiwigas bba is dying nicely! If I see any infected leaves I trim immediately. I have adjusted my lights and ferts and I think it has helped tremendously. I hope it does not come back!