What is the best way to treat BBA in tank

[Ssnaaiil]

I have some bba in one of my tanks, I am wondering what the best way to get rid of it is. I read that adding 10mls of 3% hydrogen peroxide per 15 gallons poured right into the tank once a day for 3 days should get rid of it, is this is good idea? If I do it this way should I turn off the filter/airstone for a bit or leave it running? Or what’s another good way to get rid of it? The tank that has it is one of my 55g tanks that houses platys, bn pleco, snails, and cherry shrimp

 

[SotaAquatics]

CO2 fluctuations are the number one cause of black beard algae. Are you injecting CO2 into the tank at all? Usually consistent higher levels of CO2 will get rid of BBA all on its own after some time.

If you are unable to pull/cut out the BBA or do individual plant dips then you can do a full tank wide treatment to help kill all the current BBA in there. I have never heard of doing hydrogen peroxide for 3 days in a row, I would try the below method first as I have had good luck with it.

Cut out/remove as much BBA as you can manually first. Add 2 tablespoons of 3% H2O2 per 10 gallons, I think that's roughly 30 ml per 10 gallons. You will want to remove all filter media as the hydrogen peroxide will clean out your beneficial bacteria at same time. The most important thing for this to work is you NEED water flow, so use any extra pumps, power heads, run your filter without filter media, etc. The more water circulation you have the better while the tank is dosed with H2O2.

Let the H2O2 flow around the tank for about 15 minutes with as much water circulation as you can get going in the tank - I have even manually swished water around with my hand before... After 15 minutes of this, do a 50% water change or as large of one as you normally do with your tank maintenance and put your filter media back in. Next dose the initial dose of Seachem Excel, followed by the normal daily Excel dosage every day going forward.

To prevent BBA from returning, you will either need to keep doing daily Excel doses, or work on a reliable CO2 system to keep levels consistent.

As a warning - Shrimp can be a little sensitive to this, I personally have not had any deaths with my shrimp while doing a tank wide treatment as above, but have heard that some people weren't so lucky. The fish should handle this no problem however if there is anything in that tank you are really attached to, it wouldn't hurt to pull it out while doing this. Some plants are sensitive to Excel like Vals, but they can build up a tolerance to it over time if you have any in there.