# fur looking thing on myaca root



## ScarletFire (Nov 4, 2012)

I was inspecting the tank, and I saw that the roots of one of the myacas have this green fur looking thing. Do I have an algae problem, or a bacteria problem or something? Or is this normal?


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Looks like the start of BBA to me...


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

+1

My recommendation is to trim off the top of the plant that has the BBA and remove it.

Then double dose excel for a few days to help make sure it is gone.

People also often recommend lowering the light time for a while to totally blacking out the tank for I think 5 days.

I try to manually remove all that I can and dose with excel.

One common cause of BBA is too much light time so you may want to reduce the amount of time your lights are on by an hour.


----------



## ScarletFire (Nov 4, 2012)

Do I just remove the section that has BBA, or further down as well?


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

ScarletFire said:


> Do I just remove the section that has BBA, or further down as well?


For now, I would just remove the BBA affected parts. However, if you notice it start to spread, I would aggressively remove all affected parts.


----------



## ScarletFire (Nov 4, 2012)

pyrrolin said:


> +1
> People also often recommend lowering the light time for a while to totally blacking out the tank for I think 5 days.
> 
> I try to manually remove all that I can and dose with excel.


Would blacking out the tank influence the livestock? I have a pleco and some shrimp. They're nocturnal creatures, so they wouldn't mind it, or would they? If humans have extended day time, I would be so happy.

Excel provides more carbon, which is required for plant growth, but wouldn't this allow for more algae growth? I thought that for plants, less is more - in terms of nutrients.


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

there is something in excel that when double dosed, kills some types of algae. If it was fully researched as an algae killer it would then not be available for sale in Canada due to strict rules.

All I know is that it works and that is enough for me. It can be a little hard on some plants when double dosed but usually not that much of an issue. Mostly it hurts plants with very fine leaves and it does hurt vals a little but they bounce back well enough.


----------



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Fwiw, I've left the lights off for days at a time when it's too hot or when there were algae problems. The fish and shrimp don't seem to care either way. They eat and behave as usual.


----------



## ScarletFire (Nov 4, 2012)

I've read that additives shouldn't be just put into the tank because it's really concentrated, and should be dripped. On my breeder sponge box, it says that there is a spot for additives. How should I add it? Because I'm using excel to get rid of BBA, should I put it where the BBA is located?

In addition, I've also read that excel will make some plants die. I have wisteria, myaca, rotala rotundifolia, rotala indica, sunset hygro, java moss, java fern, and some Bacopa Caroliniana. Does anyone have experience with excel and these plants?


----------



## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

ScarletFire said:


> I've read that additives shouldn't be just put into the tank because it's really concentrated, and should be dripped.


I guess it depends on what kind of livestock you have.

I have dosed dry fertilizers in large aquariums with no problems. In smaller aquariums, I like to mix them into water first (that way, I can also avoid ridiculously small spoon measurements).



ScarletFire said:


> On my breeder sponge box, it says that there is a spot for additives. How should I add it? Because I'm using excel to get rid of BBA, should I put it where the BBA is located?


If you are dosing Excel to get rid of BBA, just turn off the filters and let the water movement settle down. Then you can use a syringe to spot treat. Don't forget to turn your filters back on.



ScarletFire said:


> In addition, I've also read that excel will make some plants die. I have wisteria, myaca, rotala rotundifolia, rotala indica, sunset hygro, java moss, java fern, and some Bacopa Caroliniana. Does anyone have experience with excel and these plants?


All your plants should be fine. I have had melting with _Vallisneria_ and Hornwort. Some mosses don't like it, but java moss should be fine.


----------

