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bba problem, should i start pps pro

3K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  wayne17 
#1 ·
Hi I have a 305 litre corner aquarium, 550mm deep from gravel to water level I have 105 watts of t8 light which works out at 1.47 wpg after taking off 10% for gravel etc. the lights are 5 months old 6500k plus one juwel colour bulb, so I consider this a low light tank, lights are on 8 hours a day.
I dose 7ml of excel a day for carbon, 6ml of flourish comprehensive twice a week and have seachem root tabs near my crypts and swords, have just started dosing 3ml a day of potassium sulphate mixed at seachem potassium rate of 6 grammes to 50ml as quite a few hole in my hygrophillia leaves.
My tank parameters are
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 3
Ph 7.8
Water company sample of tap water in my area are
Very hard water
Calcium ( hardness) 158.8 (mg/l)
Alkalininty CaC03 284 (mg/l)
Boron B 0.048 (mg/l)
Calcium Ca 148 (mg/l)
Chlorine (total) 0.1 (mg/l)
Iron FE 6 (ug/l)
Magnesium MG 6.87 (mg/l)
Phosphorus P/L 907 (ug/l)
Potassium K 3.78 (mg/l)
Nitrate N03 22.07 (mg/l)
Nitrite N02 0.005 (mg/l)
Sulphate S04 78.4 (mg/l)

Mg/l equals milligrams per litre or parts per million
Ug/l equals microgrammes per litre or parts per billion

My problem is that I have been fighting bba for about three months and started dosing excel then, for last month have been direct dosing affected areas which seems more effective on the tufts of bba than on the strands on the edges of leaves.
I started dosing ferts about two months ago and I have good growth but does not help with bba.
i was wondering would dosing pps pro method of ferts help? Would it be okay with my hard water , I do a weekly 15% water change
Everywhere seems to state lack of Co2 may be a cause of bba should I slowly up my dose of excel, would this have the same effect as increasing Co2 which I don’t have .
Do I need to beat bba before trying pps pro?
Many thanks for any advice
wayne
 
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#3 ·
Afraid I can't get any sae's , as this is my first tank and I knew very little about the hobby I was sold some algae eaters buy LFS wich turned out to be false sae's.
I have three they can get a little boisterous with each other now and again but leave the other fish alone, but I believe they would not tolerate true sae's.
Don't touch bba alas
Wayne
 
#4 ·
Hey Wayne ive had a planted 72g for three months now and running into the bba problem. I have tried triple dosing on excel, didnt help at all. I was talking with other plant keepers and they told me hydrogen peroxide would work. Im about to try it, im tired of this bba. Ill let you know if it works.
 
#5 ·
Cheers mate, keep me posted with how it goes.
I'm going to carry on with the recommended dose of excel (direct dosing with filter and airstone turned off for twenty minutes). My dry ferts have arrived so will start dosing the pps pro dose mix1 and see if that helps
 
#7 ·
I'm going to use potassium sulphate, potassium nitrate, mono potassium phosphate, magnesium sulphate and trace mix. Using pps pro recipe.
Dry ferts just cost a lot less, I live in uk and 500ml of seachem potassium cost me £15 where as a 500g jar of potassium sulphate cost me £5 and I can make the equivalent of eight 500ml bottles with that!
 
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