Excel dip for BBA

Detritus Mulm

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Jun 12, 2005
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I've been fighting BBA on the Anubias for a while now and it seems to be getting worse. I dipped it in some PP (Potasium Permanganate) a while ago, but it had zero effect. So I put the plant in a bucket and squirted it with about 60 ml of Excel and then filled the bucket with water and let it sit for about an hour. Some of the BBA seems to be turning red, but the impact wasn't miraculous. Maybe I have to wait longer? Also will the leaves with the red BBA become algae free or should I just clip them?
 

VaughnH

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Rarely, in my experience with BBA, which I hate to admit is substantial, does a leaf infested with BBA ever recover. BBA seems to permanently damage the leaves it grows on. It is better to just prune off those leaves and let the plant grow some new, hopefully algae free ones.
 

Detritus Mulm

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VaughnH;38787 said:
Rarely, in my experience with BBA, which I hate to admit is substantial, does a leaf infested with BBA ever recover. BBA seems to permanently damage the leaves it grows on. It is better to just prune off those leaves and let the plant grow some new, hopefully algae free ones.

Thanks, it seems to have a ton of new algae free leaves, but the ones with existing BBA have really turned black this week. I've upped the Co2 to about 50-60 (yellow drop checker) and added Excel to the daily auto-doser. I tried overdosing the weekly Excel, but at 50 ml in a 55 gal the SAEs were really bothered.

I'm going to redirect the spraybar, reduce the light, drop the Co2 a little and maybe add a bit less iron. I guess I'll parse the Anubias and put some in the GF tank. It's a bit of a shame, since it's a monster now.
 

Tom Barr

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Just add a bit more CO2 like you have and stick with the suggested Excel rates, perhaps the daily ranges after a water change for a few weeks and it should go away slowly.

2-4 weeks or so.

Tom Barr
 

Henry Hatch

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Aug 31, 2006
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I'm with Vaughn on the BBA issue. I used to try dipping, but gave it up. I was also having problems with Anubias. I trimmed all the infected leaves which got rid of the BBA and seemed to encourage new growth and allow some of the younger leaves which were shaded to grow faster. From there it was a matter of water changes, cleaning, co2, and circulation. With time I got a pretty clean tank.
 

Detritus Mulm

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Henry Hatch;38820 said:
I'm with Vaughn on the BBA issue. I used to try dipping, but gave it up. I was also having problems with Anubias. I trimmed all the infected leaves which got rid of the BBA and seemed to encourage new growth and allow some of the younger leaves which were shaded to grow faster. From there it was a matter of water changes, cleaning, co2, and circulation. With time I got a pretty clean tank.

Thanks,

A lot of the BBA I squirted/dipped has died off, but the leaves look pretty ratty. I'll leave them til the weekend and snip them off.
 

VaughnH

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I have always used my long pruning scissors to trim anubias leaves off, but many people have posted that the better way is to just snap them off, leaving no stem at all. I always mean to do that, but never remember while I'm pruning. Now I have no anubias left, so remembering is easy. (I gave them away, preferring to just use crypts for now.)