Any ideas on how to remove bba?

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 yesterday 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 (my lights arent that bright either) and am dosing ferts. What could be the issue? I have had to do a huge water change for the camallanus worms, could that be the reason (extra phosphates or something?) 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. My tap also has 10ppm of nitrates usually.

Would having the light switch from on and off throughout the day help?

 

Pick up a SAE

 

What I did was take all the fish out, turn filters off, take majority of the water out, and nuke the tank with H202 (you'll lose your plants unfortunately). Let it sit for an hour or two, you'll know it's working when the bba is bubbling,then add the water back, add the fish, and turn filters on. You may experience a tiny mini cycle because of the H202 so keep that in mind.

Now, pick up an SAE like Dennis57 said. They do a phenomenal job at eating BBA, and are relatively peaceful (although I had two originally, one was very aggressive. I rehomed him about 2-3 weeks ago and the other SAE is peaceful).

 

I tried just about everything to get rid of mine, it was a long battle. BBA is evil incarnate, I swear.
I tried decreasing the lights. Decreasing fertilizer. Cutting back on feeding. Dosing the whole tank with peroxide. Spraying on peroxide. Dipping things in peroxide. Increasing flow. Decreasing flow. Increasing surface agitation. Decreasing surface agitation. Leaving plants in a bucket for months. I could kill it, but it would always come right back. The only thing I never tried was Excel.

I ended up having to throw out most of my plants except the Java Fern because they were so infested with BBA. Then I got three Siamese Algae Eaters, who cleaned up every speck of BBA off the Java Fern and have continued to keep the tank spotless. The downside is that they get large and need a 4 ft long tank as adults. There are also multiple nearly indistinguishable species sold under the name of Siamese Algae Eater, so there's a risk you might get a species that doesn't eat algae.

 

I also recommend an SAE. Just don’t accidentally get a flying fox

 

Thank you all! Does anyone know where I can get an actual SAE. My tank is 40g so its 3ft so not sure if I can keep it in the long run. I may get it and rehome it if I have to. Are they usually peaceful and do the need to be kept in multiples?

 

I had good results removing the effected plants and doing a short hydrogen peroxide dip. Fought it for months with no success. But I knocked it out in an hour when I finally bit the bullet and resorted to this method. If it ever pops up again I fully plan to save myself the time and pull out the big guns on day 1.

 

I had good results removing the effected plants and doing a short hydrogen peroxide dip. Fought it for months with no success. But I knocked it out in an hour when I finally bit the bullet and resorted to this method. If it ever pops up again I fully plan to save myself the time and pull out the big guns on day 1.

Ive tried h202 dips but they just keep coming back. It turns red and dies then boom its coming back up again.

 

Ive tried h202 dips but they just keep coming back. It turns red and dies then boom its coming back up again.

Yea, I went hard on it. Heavy concentration, 6 minute soak time. I sure did lose some plants to burning don't get me wrong. But I haven't seen bba since.

 

Yea, I went hard on it. Heavy concentration, 6 minute soak time. I sure did lose some plants to burning don't get me wrong. But I haven't seen bba since.

wow, I tried not to burn mines so i did less concentration and only 5 min. i may have to give h202 one more try at a heavier concentration with a longer period before I try the SAE. how heavy of a concentration did you do?

 

wow, I tried not to burn mines so i did less concentration and only 5 min. i may have to give h202 one more try at a heavier concentration with a longer period before I try the SAE. how heavy of a concentration did you do?

I honestly didn't measure. But it was probably close to 50/50. I just put a bottle of peroxide in a bucket and added enough water to bring it high enough to dip the plants.

 

Thank you all! Does anyone know where I can get an actual SAE. My tank is 40g so its 3ft so not sure if I can keep it in the long run. I may get it and rehome it if I have to. Are they usually peaceful and do the need to be kept in multiples?

I would recommend some clithon corona snails before an sae

 

I would recommend some clithon corona snails before an sae

Isnt it just a nerite? I have nerite in there but shes doesnt eat any of the bba

 

Isnt it just a nerite? I have nerite in there but shes doesnt eat any of the bba

Its called a horned nerite and its a different species. Get a group of them and they will eat it all

 

Too bad there isn't a market for it. We could all become BBA farmers

I've noticed my barbs nibbling the bba on hardscape after I had soaked it in 100% H2O2. The snails might have a go at it too.

I have never eliminated it, and I don't really mind it if behaves itself.

When I do a weekly water change in the one tank that has bba, I "spot apply" the peroxide on any plants or hardscape with bba. After it stops bubbling I refill the tank. This has allowed me to keep it in check.

I also reduced my lights from 12 to 6-7 hours and reduced their intensity, though not all lights give you that option.