Algea....Is this BBA?

[mhx]

Ruffle sword
I am pretty sure this is BBA


chain sword
I am 60% sure this is BBA, but it looks Dead?


What type of algae is this? Its really close to my light, kinda slimy and hair like, easily removed with tooth brush..

[CichlidFan]

Not a clue....can you put some shrimp in there, maybe they could help with the clean up?

CF

[Somefishguy]

http://www.gwapa.org/articles/algae/

Looks like BBA, and not dead, thats how it looks.
Second one looks like either Cladophora or hair algae.


Do you have CO2 on the tank? Is it DIY CO2? BBA is caused by inconsistent CO2

[Bogdan]

BBA is caused by inconsistent CO2
[/QUOTE]
This is totally anecdotal, I have the most inconsistent CO2 in my tank and zero of algae, neither BBA nor any other.
My guess would be this is relatively new tank which is still imbalanced. Do you use CO2, fertilizers? How much light do you have what are the water parameters and so on...

[mhx]

I am using ada aquasoil.. And Total Fert Pellets. They are under every plant, execpt stem plants.

http://www.aquariumplants.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=FERT&CartID=1

Yes tank is new. Right around 1.5/month mark with fish & plants. Tank was cycled prior with fishless cycle.

Light is 8x39watts t5 HO
Runs for 8hrs full power, 12-8pm.

125gal tank

I keep CO2 is around 30ppm
Nitrate 0

Ive tried adding nitrate in liquid form but it does nothing but increase brown alg and green spot alg on glass.

[Bogdan]

Too much goods in the water. I would trim the BBA attacked leaves, no more fert. and add fast growing plants which will suck up the goods from the water. You may try water changes but the pellets are slowly dissolving so it may not work. Next time if you start with new substrate remember it has a lot of nutrients for plant so no artificial fert required and always start with easy fast growing plants which you can slowly change to other plants of your choice. Anyway sooner or later when the fert get depleted things will get back to normal. It is one of the diseases specific to immature tank.

[Matt in Houston]

Too much goods in the water. I would trim the BBA attacked leaves, no more fert. and add fast growing plants which will suck up the goods from the water. You may try water changes but the pellets are slowly dissolving so it may not work. Next time if you start with new substrate remember it has a lot of nutrients for plant so no artificial fert required and always start with easy fast growing plants which you can slowly change to other plants of your choice. Anyway sooner or later when the fert get depleted things will get back to normal. It is one of the diseases specific to immature tank.

+1

Totally agree...

The Amazonia substrate is potent stuff.

[lilmissruffcountry]

K, so if you do have BBA..how do you kill it without killing off the fish. I have heard of using peroxide in small amounts, but this can be fatal to fishes if dosed incorrectly. So what would be the proper dose per gal/10gal? I have been fighting BBA in my tank, but have no ferts, aquasoil, or co2...so whats the deal?

[mhx]

You can try an excel overdose, depends on how hardy your fish are. I have avoided that. The best bet is to remove the infected leafs.

post some pics of your BBA

[lilmissruffcountry]

You can try an excel overdose, depends on how hardy your fish are. I have avoided that. The best bet is to remove the infected leafs.

post some pics of your BBA

I have Vals in the tank...they will melt

[mhx]

ahh.. just trim the infected leaves is your best bet during a water change

[lilmissruffcountry]

ahh.. just trim the infected leaves is your best bet during a water change

Its a 55 gal, been going now for awhile..3 months I think. No ferts or aquasoil, no co2, the light I have gives the tank a 2.3wpg. Have the time down to 6 hours per day of light. doing 25-50% WC's every week. Tanks has L144 pair, some swordtails(6), and a bunch of guppies(25 or so). 3 airstones, an one HOB filter. Temp kept at 78F. Plants include 4 types of vals, anubios nana, an a few assorted crypts. Vals are the most affected, as is the glass.

[fishboyt]

I have the same type of algea.

[mhx]

You need to pull out whats infected.

Post a picture of the tank...

Seems like you have alot of light and no nutrients for your plants to grow and out compete the alg growth.

Your tank is new like mine you prob have brown spot or green spot alg on your glass, just scrub that off weekly the day of your water change.

[Mzungu]

Search HFB for more info on the hydrogen peroxide. I know there have been a couple threads about it. But in a nutshell, you spot-treat the algae with a syringe - that way it's easier not to overdose.