Best course of action to fix these plants

[Joexemm]

So i have 2 species of anubias that are covered in BBA best i can tell and have been for a long time. Truth be told this tank went through some neglect #life..... that being said i run Co2 from 11am-9pm and lights from 12-10pm PH 6.8 79degrees 0 ammonia/nitrite nitrates are high 80-160 ppm on the api kit. but the fish are shiny and healthy and producing babies (live bearers)

gh & dk are 11/140 so hard water. i dont have an iron test and i think i was overdosing ferts to get the nitrates that high i have since cut back and the color change is taking longer each time on the test so im ASSUMING the water changes and not dosing is working. 

40g sump w/filter socks for water polishing. K2 mini plastic media being tumbled by 2 large sponge filters & a wall of pumice blocks for my bio filter. I have a ton of room to do more but so far im thinking there is no reason to yet. 

Tank is 125g display and probably 30ish gallons in the sump. I am guesstimating approximately a 600gph turn over i have a 500-1500 sicce return pump almost completely closed on the adjustment. this is the happy medium where the tank is quietly flowing back and not filling up too much in the display (sumplifeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) i have 2 1" drains w/1 emergency and a 1" return into a 3/4' loc line duckbill that i have positioned into 2 directions. 

there is 1 small powerhead in the opposite end to create some stimulation in the lower reaches of the tank.  

Should i just cut the leaves or idk... i hate to throw is out but yeah.... covered

 

[Odd Duck]

You may not be able to get those leaves back into good shape, but you should be able to clear the BBA with adjustments to light, ferts, etc, and I’ll let others advise you on that since I don’t do high tech.  Clearing the BBA from the plants should help prevent new leaves from getting covered once your growing parameters are adjusted.

I would start with using hydrogen peroxide, 3%, to treat the BBA directly.  Turn off all filtration, wait until the water is still, then trickle peroxide at 3 mls per gallon directly over the plants.  Leave the filters off another 10 minutes, then restart everything.

I use a syringe with a short piece of rigid airline connected via a short piece of flexible airline.  You can use a coral feeder or turkey baster.  If you can easily pull out the plants, you can spray them directly with the peroxide but there is slightly higher risk to the plants if you use straight peroxide.  Diluted at least half with water seems to be safer for spraying directly.

Pics of my syringe set up.  You can get syringes from some pet stores or pharmacies.  You need a “Luer” tip syringe (slip or lock doesn’t matter, lock is shown) to fit into the flexible airline.

 

[Mmiller2001]

Spot dose H202 at 15ml per 10gallons. Turn off everything that causes water movement. Wait a few minutes for the water to become still. Paint the BBA with the H202. Wait 20 minutes and then return all pumps to operation. Repeat every 24 hours.

Then correct the underlying problem. If you are not injecting CO2, excessive organics is most likely causing the problem.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Mmiller2001
I see your injecting, double check CO2 levels. Improve surface agitation and correct your dosing. Are you doing 50% water changes weekly?

[Joexemm]

@Odd Duck ill give this a shot. the plants i can take out no problem just kinda wedged into crevices.  used to be superglued but the wood rots faster then they root and hold if at all lol

 

[Joexemm]

@Mmiller2001 This tank gets a 50% weekly at this point.  I am going to be redoing the aquascape. Keeping my gravel but moving it to mesh bags to create a little more dynamic feel. then going to cap it with aqua soil.  The plants in this setup never took off like i had hoped and im thinking thats due to the inert gravel.  My valisneri is super brittle and has little stress cracks all up the leaves. Amazon swords dont seem to be flourishing. I had a smaller 65g that i had no problem making it a jungle the difference being the substrate.. they are the same plants lol. 

So when i do the aquascape it will be a 100% water change. and then 25% every day for a week. then 50% there after to try and combat the initial release from the soil.  

As for the Co2 injection my drop checker is green and my ph is nailed at 6.8 while its on and creeps to 7.2 a few hours after the Co2 is off. best i can tell the water is saturated. Ill redirect the return to get me some more surface agitation. 

[Mmiller2001]

If it's green, you're probably low. I would take a water sample and set it out for 24 hours. Test the pH. That will be the degassed pH. You want a 1 to 1.5pH drop. If I run a drop checker, it's almost yellow and only a tiny amount of green. Looks like Gator Aid.

What are you dosing weekly?

[Joexemm]

@Mmiller2001 i use the EZgreen from Co-op. I was kinda dumb and was doing 1pump/10g  daily for 2 weeks... 16pumps a day. then i read the directions again and read the WEEKLY word this time. so basically i over did it... alot... HOWEVER the BBA was there before that incident.  im still thinking organics is the issue as stated above. the tank is gravel and nothin but a poop trap.  

[Mmiller2001]

I've recently went away from heavy gravel vacuuming and now just hover the vacuum over the substrate. Try not to do deep gravel vacuum. Let the plants handle the deep stuff.

I'd also look at tracking your dosing and how much of each is being dosed. Usually, when injecting CO2, all in one fertilizers have limitations. Also know, that inert substrates don't limit you on good plant growth and limited algae.

Here's an older shot of my Eco Complete tank (inert substrate). I also use a chart to track dosing. 

Here's how dosing EG looks also.

Edited April 20, 2022 by Mmiller2001

[Patrick_G]

For a long time I had similar problems with my Anubias. I adjusted lighting and added an occasional dose of Seachem excel. It cleared up, but I’m not sure if the light or the excel was what solved the problem.  
 

Your 10 hour photoperiod sounds bit long. I don’t do high tech, but I’d try 7 hours. That might help prevent future growth. 

If possible I’d try and remove the Anubias from the water and give them a dip in a dilute soultion of Hydrogen Peroxide or Seachem Excel. If that’s not possible them try the spot treatment method. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/20/2022 at 12:47 PM, Patrick_G said:

Your 10 hour photoperiod sounds bit long. I don’t do high tech, but I’d try 7 hours. That might help prevent future growth. 

On my anubias QT tank it started basically identically to the OPs.  The plants were in tubs with the lights on and too much going on in the water, when I pulled them out they looked like that. 

I reduced lighting on one tank, on the other I added amanos.  BRB.....

Reduced lighting:

 

Added Amanos:

When I say "reduced lighting" my window for plants is a very long rise/set time and the peak is only for anywhere from 2-4 hours (reduced from 4-6 hours).

The second photo shown I have no issues with that plant. The first one shown I have cut away dead roots and removed a lot of the bad leaves, but you can see the new growth now slowly making it's way in.

On 4/20/2022 at 8:38 AM, Joexemm said:

Should i just cut the leaves or idk... i hate to throw is out but yeah.... covered

If the edge of the leaf is covered, no. If the entire surface of the leaf is, yes.

 

[Dancing Matt]

Invite @eatyourpeas over, they will take care of it 😉

[Joexemm]

@Dancing Matt i dont get the joke! =( however COME ON OVER AND EAT SOME PEAS

[Dancing Matt]

@Joexemm, I am being a little bit of a pill. eatyourpeas is a member who is trying to grow BBA for their tank on purpose.

[Joexemm]

@Dancing Mattyeah he can come take all he wants!

[eatyourpeas]

On 4/20/2022 at 7:31 PM, Joexemm said:

@Dancing Mattyeah he can come take all he wants!

I would love to!!! 😍

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/22/2022 at 11:04 AM, eatyourpeas said:

I would love to!!! 😍

I got some floating anubias and light settings that'll make it perfectly easy. Pay for shipping and it's yours LOL

[nabokovfan87]

On 4/20/2022 at 1:18 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

update on these guys.

I moved them to the tank with my larger amanos.  There is two pieces floating in the photo above. The top right is the nana petite. then sligtly left is the Anubias Nana I moved. This is them now: