[NanoDave]

I've recently started to battle some serious BBA in two of my large tanks (75g) and I've heard Excel works well. I have a bottle of Co2 Booster made by API, is this the same or comparable to Seachems Excel?

 

[xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx]

I've tried both to battle BBA, in the end I found that a true siamese algae eater works better then any product.

 

[Seattle_Aquarist]

Hi NanoDave,

My SAE's have a tough time with healthy BBA. I agree with xxUnRaTeDxxRkOxx that an SAE is really helpful in cleaning up BBA, especially after I have weakened it with 2X normal doses of Excel / CO2 Booster / glutaraldehyde. For BBA I dose the recommended "Initial" dose after water changes but 2X the "Daily" dose the rest of the week. The BBA will start to discolor (reddish) and the SAE will finish the BBA off.

 

[Shremph]

Excel and API Co2 booster both work well for me, but Excel seems to work a little better or quicker. May just be a placebo effect though. H202 works far better than both carbon supplements and is far cheaper. I don't do whole tank treatments, just spot treatments with h202 with filters off for an hour and the spot treated BBA is pink the following day. My RCS, Amanos, BN Plecos, and otos all eat the dead BBA. They eat pretty much anything that H202 kills.

 

[goneRogue]

A blackout is probably the easiest way to kill it, but it will keep coming back until you balance your water parameters. Are you dosing ferts? co2?

 

[Little Soprano]

Oddly enough, my two best weapons are my Rainbow Shark and my Chinese Algae Eater. Other then those guys, no one else eats it. The CAE goes nuts, but he's not exactly the best fish to be chucking in a tank. Most awesome algae eater I own, diatoms, BBA, etc, but he's near 8 inches at this point, and I'm waiting for him to go after the other fish, as he just hit 2 years old. My Rainbow Shark though loves the stuff and picks it off reguarly, other then that I've had no luck getting rid of it. Extra CO2, blackout, H2O2, etc it just always comes back, but it looks so neat on the lava rocks I've just given up.

 

[NanoDave]

I can put SAE in the 75g as I have a few already I can move over but I can't do the same in the other tank as it houses a congo puffer that eats live fish. It's only on the driftwood which I can easily remove from the tank. Can I take the wood out and dip it in strong co2booster? I've heard of bleach dipping but will it kill the anubias I have growing on the wood?