 Re: BBA Out of control
Light has little to do with the spread of BBA. BBA grows slower with no light but still grows. Even with a week blackout you won't get rid of your BBA problem.
Nobody knows what causes BBA exactly, there are a lot of theories. One of them is fluctuating levels of CO2. Have you tried dosing Flourish Excel? Adding this periodically and as directed will kill most of your BBA, or at least it will keep it from taking over your tank.
A cheaper method would be applying hydrogen peroxide to the affected plant leafs. This kills the BBA within a few days. However if your BBA is out of control I don't recommend this since it won't do much when it comes killing free swimming BBA spores...
I recommend you do the following: remove decorations like rocks and what not. Soak them up in pure bleach for about 15 minutes. You rinse them well with water, then you let it dry outdoors for 24 to 36 hours to make sure the bleach evaporates well. Then you rinse them with water again. This will kill the BBA off most of your decorations. While you do this, treat your entire tank with Flourish Excel. This will provide your plants with CO2, and it will kill your BBA. When you see no traces of BBA in the tank, you can reintroduce rocks, etc. This combination of bleach and flourish it's what's worked the best for me. I hope it works for you if you decide to try it out.
You have to remember though, the more you let the BBA to get out of control, the harder it is to eradicate. If your CO2 levels are not stable and you use no external CO2 providers, then you will have to add Flourish Excell on regular basis. Either that or turn your tank Low Tech style... |