Has anyone had any luck in getting rid of BBA?

Question

I've been fighting this stuff for 6 months now. I've cut back light to the point the plants are about stressed, cut back fertilizer, added more plants, increased CO2 but I'm just not winning this fight.
Short of tearing this tank down, has anyone had any luck eradicating BBA?

Answer 1

BBA is the root of all evil.

To clarify, do you have BBA currently growing? Or you just can't get rid of what is already there? If it's the latter, you never will. You have to prune the leaves that have BBA on them because even after BBA ceases to grow, it will still stay on the leaves. You can also dunk your plants in a 1:10 bleach:water solution, and rinse them very well after. Your plants won't look very nice but the new growth should be healthy. You can also use an eye dropper to put hydrogen peroxide directly over the affected area.

If you are having continued BBA growth... Are you sure you're getting enough CO2? If your CO2 bubbles are bursting at the surface, it's not getting into the tank.
Don't decrease your light, increase it. I mean like double it. I don't know what you have now, but go a step up. Go compact fluroescent. Get a second bulb, whatever. Algae is more resiliant and easier growing that plants - if you decrease the light, the plants will die before the algae does. I mean don't overdo the light, but try for 2-3 watts per gallon for 10 hours a day.
If you have room, try buying a school of young sae's (siamese algae eaters) - they may make a dent in the BBA, and they are pretty easy to sell later on.

Stop fertilizing completely.

I hope that helps.