BBA and Excel

[Gerryd]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the sharing of experience...

I was simply passing along a QUICK and fairly simple way to clean HARDSCAPE of BBA..

I agree with points made about plant growth and c02/temp issues..

Please keep in mind that my tank has very low plant mass due to the majority of the hardscape and my scape layout itself.

So, not like dutchy's tank with 6' of large stems to feed

I think the lower light will help me going forward. I had been playing around with all 12 bulbs for a week or two and then had the 24/7 lights ON for 4 days while I was away, so not surprised BBA got worse

[Tom Barr]

My 180 has few stems, but a lot of Starougyne, but I just hacked it.
A lot of wood real estate...........lots of glass etc........and little algae.

The starou gets a little BBa on the OLD leaves after it melted about 6 weeks ago, then recovered. No BBA on new growth.

When I trim and it is doing normal, I do not get any BBA.
I also do not get BBA except maybe on the spiky tips of the wood, never anywhere else.

Plecos have something to do with this, and perhaps 300-400 RCS.

[scottward]

Hi Tom,

You mentioned earlier that Pitbull plecos are helpful. I will look them up...

So they eat BBA? Sorry if this is a dumb question - but how do you know they are actually eating the BBA? Simple, bit silly I suppose, but could you literaly place a rock covered in BBA in the tank and the pitbull's would decend upon it? Do they do a better job than SAE?

Scott.

[scottward]

Hey Gerry how is the BBA going in your tank? Have you needed to get the Excel out of the toolbox?

It's ok to spray diluted (20:1) Excel mist directly onto exposed plants during a water change? Give 'em 5 minutes then refill?

Also - does Excel have a shelf life?

Does it have a shelf life once mixed with water and kept in a spray bottle (i.e. can I mix up more than I need so it's ready to go whenever)?

Scott.

[Gerryd]

Hey Gerry how is the BBA going in your tank? Have you needed to get the Excel out of the toolbox?

It's ok to spray diluted (20:1) Excel mist directly onto exposed plants during a water change? Give 'em 5 minutes then refill?

Also - does Excel have a shelf life?

Does it have a shelf life once mixed with water and kept in a spray bottle (i.e. can I mix up more than I need so it's ready to go whenever)?

Scott.

Hi Scott,

A bit on the wood again as I had stopped dosing daily excel, had lowered c02 levels for fish comfort, and had eased off dosing for a bit..

So, is back to daily dosing and manual gentle scraping to remove the BBA from the wood. I then can net it out, well mostly

Usure of shelf life but I tend NOT to spray or dip plants anymore. Infested leaves are simply removed and I observe NEW growth after whatever change I made

Spraying while exposed during a WC is a good way. Just dilute more rather than less to be safe, but others have more knowledge of actual numbers to use..

I tend to let the plants simply regenerate new growth as it removes some when the leave is removed so less around, and it is easier to guage new growth than to think, 'how is that damaged and infested leaf doing? ' LOL Most of those leaves are gone anyway so why keep them around? If conditions are good, regrowth should not be far away.

If no improvement seen within 3-5 days, try again...

[Florin Ilia]

Hi Scott,

It's ok to spray diluted (20:1) Excel mist directly onto exposed plants during a water change? Give 'em 5 minutes then refill?

I am not sure of the effects of this treatment but be careful when spraying Excel - don't breathe in too much of that aerosol.

Also - does Excel have a shelf life?

Some people insist there are differences between batches. I don't know if this is due to shelf life or other factors. See this thread for an example: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/al...ml#post1452633

I got rid of BBA using excel (and other measures) by simple dosing in the water column (not even localized injections): http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/al...ml#post1625141

Sorry I can't be more authoritative