Just trying to figure out why the bba is growing like crazy in my tank. I have my co2 levels in green all day, light is good, nutrients are in check. Should i just keep hacking away all my plants until it goes away? Will it go away?

BBA = poor co2 levels for your light level. Forget about the DC right now because the BBA is telling you thats it's not accurate.

Give us some more details about your tank setup and include your DC setup, change frequency, mounting location etc......

And be sure water flow and movement is good. I had BBA even with good everything else (CO2, ferts, lighting, etc.). As I soon as I increased flow it started to subside. I did not realize that CO2 was not sufficiently distributed around the tank. I got a Koralia circulation pump and it helped greatly when pointed towards "dead" zones around the tank. Now if I can only figure out why I'm getting GSA.....sigh....(yes, even with high phosphate levels)

just found out my dc soulution was 5kh not 4, fixed that. Will do a 50% change, and clip plants today.

what would be considered good movement of water? All the leaves of my plants are lightly swaying in the water. What kind of movement on the leaves should i be looking for?

Give us some more details about your tank setup.

60gals, 4x65w pc lights, EI dosing, eheim 2026 filter, with spray bar on one side, and powerhead opposite blowing back towards the spray bar. light fish load, pressurized co2.

here is a pic with some of the bba issues


and...

Hi,

4x65w = 260 watts / 60 gals = > 4wpg.

That is a lot of light and will drive high nutrient demand.

You may want to remove a bulb or two, or not have all 4 on all day.

Are they on separate switches?

What is your lighting duration?

I would reduce your light by at least 30-40% and go from there........

Your EI and c02 levels are most likely insufficient for that amount of light........

14hour days for the lights. I have my nitrates at 20ppm, phosphates at 1ppm, micros are dosed every other day. I can pump as much co2 and ferts as i want, so how can that be a limiting factor? The leaves are pearling normally.

Algae grow in response to light, just as plants do. When you have super high light, as you do, any slight problem with CO2, fertilizing, water circulation, tank cleanliness, lack of adequate plant mass, etc. will let any algae get the upper hand, and BBA is especially persistent with that much light. If it were me I would remove two of the bulbs and go with 130 watts over the 60 gallon tank. That gives you a fighting chance against the algae.

If the BBA is far worse on the higher leaves of the plants, you can benefit a lot by raising the light higher too. The higher the light is above the water, the more uniform the light intensity in the water.