BBA attack

[ishaan]

In my low tech aquarium i am facing Black beard algae issue, and talked about it with sree ram sir and got some procedure to follow to get rid of it and i hope it will work also. But anubias is not looking good because of it so i thought to remove that atleast from anubias, while reading some articles on web i read that bleach dip can help, so i wanted to know if vanish bleach commonly used in our home is useful for this or not and what are the safety precautions before doing this.

[SCORPIO]

* Change their position. Put these anubias in low light area.
* Change water frequently.
* Introduce 2-3 rosy barbs in the tank.

Or
Remove all the anubias from tank and put them in another tank. Now also introduce some Ramshorn snails. Don't feed them anything. They will clean all the algae in 2-3 days.

[ishaan]

* Change their position. Put these anubias in low light area.
* Change water frequently.
* Introduce 2-3 rosy barbs in the tank.

Or
Remove all the anubias from tank and put them in another tank. Now also introduce some Ramshorn snails. Don't feed them anything. They will clean all the algae in 2-3 days.

i can't introduce rosy barbs as they are in my shrimp tank, i have ramshorn snails lets try them

[apuda2010]

Planted tanks look very nice for the first two months. Eventually , algae begins to take over because something goes wrong. Therefore , it is important to understand what has gone wrong before you think of eliminating algae.

Algae feeds of exactly the same nutrients which our plants utilise. Therefore , think of this as a race. If the plants use up nutrients faster than the algae , then the plants win , else the algae wins.

Anubias , while they look very beautiful , are slow growers. Algae will mostly outcompete anubias.

To overcome this problem , the tank needs a good balance of the following :

1. Slow growing plants and fast growing plants
2. Good light for a specific period of time
3. Good source of water. Tap water in India carries more macronutirents than in developed countries. Check this out - pour water into an absolutely bare tank , you will have an algae bloom in a week's time !!
4. A quality source of CO2. This can be atmospheric CO2 in low tech tanks or pressurised CO2 in hi tech ones.
5. Correct amount of fertilisers to stimulate plant growth.
6. Water changes

I am yet to see a single tank , including mine , which does not have periodic algae outbreaks.

To answer your query directly - DO NOT use bleach or peroxide or glutaraldehyde unless you know what you are doing. Begin by taking one plant out and testing the effect using dilute solutions of these chemicals. Also note that every single of these chemicals is potentially harmful and dangerous and needs to be used carefully. And forget using in an invertebrate tank.

[aamir]

apuda

[ishaan]

P
To overcome this problem , the tank needs a good balance of the following :

1. Slow growing plants and fast growing plants
2. Good light for a specific period of time
3. Good source of water. Tap water in India carries more macronutirents than in developed countries. Check this out - pour water into an absolutely bare tank , you will have an algae bloom in a week's time !!
4. A quality source of CO2. This can be atmospheric CO2 in low tech tanks or pressurised CO2 in hi tech ones.
5. Correct amount of fertilisers to stimulate plant growth.
6. Water changes

as it is a low tech it is having only 20 watt cfl lighting and no Co2 supply or ferts dosing. and this tank has only anubias and mosses.

[apuda2010]

Your tank specs are a recipe for algae growth, not plants growth. Add CO2 or else the anubias will disappear in some time. Dont get me wrong. Its not that anubias or moss dont grow without CO2, they do. But algae grows faster with such slow growers around.

[ishaan]

Your tank specs are a recipe for algae growth, not plants growth. Add CO2 or else the anubias will disappear in some time. Dont get me wrong. Its not that anubias or moss dont grow without CO2, they do. But algae grows faster with such slow growers around.

adding Co2 will solve the problem?????
will do that just now. 1bps will be enough for a 1.5 footer? i have shrimps in this tank.

[Abhi]

Planted tanks look very nice for the first two months. Eventually , algae begins to take over because something goes wrong. Therefore , it is important to understand what has gone wrong before you think of eliminating algae.

Algae feeds of exactly the same nutrients which our plants utilise. Therefore , think of this as a race. If the plants use up nutrients faster than the algae , then the plants win , else the algae wins.

Anubias , while they look very beautiful , are slow growers. Algae will mostly outcompete anubias.

To overcome this problem , the tank needs a good balance of the following :

1. Slow growing plants and fast growing plants
2. Good light for a specific period of time
3. Good source of water. Tap water in India carries more macronutirents than in developed countries. Check this out - pour water into an absolutely bare tank , you will have an algae bloom in a week's time !!
4. A quality source of CO2. This can be atmospheric CO2 in low tech tanks or pressurised CO2 in hi tech ones.
5. Correct amount of fertilisers to stimulate plant growth.
6. Water changes

I am yet to see a single tank , including mine , which does not have periodic algae outbreaks.

To answer your query directly - DO NOT use bleach or peroxide or glutaraldehyde unless you know what you are doing. Begin by taking one plant out and testing the effect using dilute solutions of these chemicals. Also note that every single of these chemicals is potentially harmful and dangerous and needs to be used carefully. And forget using in an invertebrate tank.

Very nicely put accross.

[apuda2010]

Yes Ishaan, 1.5bps should be good enough. Meanwhile clean the algae away with toothbrush. Get one or two Otos if you can.