# black brush bush beard algae problem



## aquarist (Aug 29, 2012)

Personally I have battled BBA in my 75 gallon for about a two years now. If you only have it on two plants I would throw them away ASAP! BBA is like aquarium cancer you can't get rid of it. I have tried bleach and strong hydrogen peroxide with not much luck, these methods kill the visible algae but in my case within a week I would see new tufts growing on things. 

The only thing I have found to control BBA, hence I said control not cure, are TRUE Siamese algae eaters, I've spent hundreds of dollars on excel and algae treatments and the like to try and control my problem, nothing worked well. I spent $60 on 8 TRUE SAE and they have been the savior of my tank. There are two draw backs to this method. Number one, so many people with try and sell you fake SAE who will NOT eat BBA, true SAE eat BBA like its candy. Number two SAE tend to want to dig up some plants, I have to fight mine to get dwarf hair grass and dwarf baby years to root. 

Unfortunately there's not a lot of options when it comes to BBA, there are a bunch of different methods out there and some people manage to get good results but to me I suggest going with the fish route.


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## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

yeah im starting to see this fish is the only way to manage it. im going to trim the bba infected leafs off tonight with a wather change but man i dont want to pull out about 15 jungle val from one tank. i might try the hydrogen peroxide. i was adding some api o2 to both tanks an one tank cleared for a week and one got worse an now its back. i have a lfs that carries real sae. i hate this damn bba!!


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

anytime i had BBA come up I would turn off all pumps and filters and use a syringe to spray Excel over areas with BBA. Leave the pumps off for 15 mins or so. Almost immediately it starts dieing off. repeat as necessary.

I had great luck using Excel for algae control.


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## mfield16 (Jul 14, 2012)

I've read that an imbalance in co2 can cause BBA as well. Do you perform water changes often? If so, make sure the water is off-gassed by leaving it sit out in a bucket for a day or 2, or overnight with an air stone. Some people also perform water changes at night to help with this.

Also, consider a siesta in the middle of the day. I'm currently experimenting with this on my tanks, as I have read it doesn't work for everyone. 

I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in, but this is info I have read from this website.


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## ktownhero (Mar 21, 2011)

More plants in the tank will help. Other than your floaters, the tanks are kind of sparse and the plants you do have in there (sag, vals?) are the type that BBA loves to cling to. Get some nice stem plants in there and fill that baby up. 

More plants = less algae IME.


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## barbarpapa (Jun 24, 2013)

nerite snails did the trick for me


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

BBA seems to grow almost exclusively on leaves that are growing very slowly or not at all. I find that anubias leaves almost always attract BBA, for that reason. Those people who seem to avoid BBA use pressurized CO2, making sure the concentration of CO2 in the water is the same every day, day after day, and they have enough CO2 concentration that no plants are limited in their growth rate by a shortage of CO2. They also are very good "housekeepers", keeping their tanks very clean, with no buildup of organics. The more light you have the more likely you are to have BBA, but I get it in a low light, non-CO2 tank also. With low light, BBA is very slow growing, so you can control it a lot easier than with high light.


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## migs_hernan (Jan 12, 2013)

My 20gal tank also have that kind of algae. Some are on the leaves of my Amazon Swords and most of it can be found on the small rocks in my substrate. For the BBA on my swords, I just cut the affected leaves and for BBA on the substrate, I do nothing. My Philippine Rainbow Shrimps are the ones who are in task of reducing them. They love eating BBA. I feel so lucky to have this kind of shrimps.








You may visit my thread about my Philippine Rainbow Shrimps at this link: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=487785&highlight=


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

I have some in my 40 that was starting to spread but is not to terrible. I've never seen my Oto, or snails on BBA. I have seen my Endlers tear at it voraciously, especially hit females.


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## migs_hernan (Jan 12, 2013)

TekWarren said:


> I have some in my 40 that was starting to spread but is not to terrible. I've never seen my Oto, or snails on BBA. I have seen my Endlers tear at it voraciously, especially hit females.


Otos and snails don't eat BBA. They prefer soft algae like brown algae and diatoms.


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## TekWarren (Oct 6, 2013)

migs_hernan said:


> Otos and snails don't eat BBA. They prefer soft algae like brown algae and diatoms.


Right roud: I've just seen people claim they do.


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

you would probably be fine with only one bulb, that's A LOT of light for those low light plants. I would also cut the dosing amount in half if you havent done so already. Ive found that Hydrogen Peroxide works really well on BBA. it will take about a week of target dosing but it works.


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## tattooedfool83 (Mar 15, 2013)

Do a water change and spot treat the bba with excel and then fill the tank. The bba turns red, then grey and then disappears


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## Zorfox (Jun 24, 2012)

Hoppy said:


> BBA seems to grow almost exclusively on leaves that are growing very slowly or not at all. I find that anubias leaves almost always attract BBA, for that reason. Those people who seem to avoid BBA use pressurized CO2, making sure the concentration of CO2 in the water is the same every day, day after day, and they have enough CO2 concentration that no plants are limited in their growth rate by a shortage of CO2. They also are very good "housekeepers", keeping their tanks very clean, with no buildup of organics. The more light you have the more likely you are to have BBA, but I get it in a low light, non-CO2 tank also. With low light, BBA is very slow growing, so you can control it a lot easier than with high light.


+1 Especially in regards to CO2.


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## migs_hernan (Jan 12, 2013)

You may also try dosing liquid carbon that can prevent algae production.


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## asuran (Oct 12, 2007)

excel + SAE works


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## migs_hernan (Jan 12, 2013)

asuran said:


> excel + SAE works


That is also right! roud:


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

Dead BBA is eaten by many fish. Live BBA is eaten by very few fish.


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## birdermom (Jun 10, 2013)

I am going the fish route and added 3 SAE this weekend. I researched and think I got the real thing. I have low light plants, use root tabs, and 2 54watt bulb fixture. Tank 75 gallon....what is minimum time lights can be on for plants? Can tank take more s algae eaters? I have 5 cories,7 otto, and pleco, ram, growing out 7 angels, 5 will be removed in the next month. Trying to control with no addition of anything but fish.....


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## Whiskey (Feb 15, 2005)

birdermom said:


> I am going the fish route and added 3 SAE this weekend. I researched and think I got the real thing. I have low light plants, use root tabs, and 2 54watt bulb fixture. Tank 75 gallon....what is minimum time lights can be on for plants? Can tank take more s algae eaters? I have 5 cories,7 otto, and pleco, ram, growing out 7 angels, 5 will be removed in the next month. Trying to control with no addition of anything but fish.....


How high is that 2x54W Fixture off the tank? How good are the reflectors?

I have a 75G CO2 injected tank with the Tek 2x54W Retro (parabolic reflectors) and that thing 6" off the water with Guisman bulbs can provide 100 umol at the substrate! 

If you don't have C02 I would first recommend experimenting with raising the fixture, you want to be shooting for somewhere around 15-30 umol without C02.

Whiskey


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## birdermom (Jun 10, 2013)

It is sitting on the tank, on legs so 3 inches off...reflectors not that good...so maybe too much light?


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## Whiskey (Feb 15, 2005)

birdermom said:


> It is sitting on the tank, on legs so 3 inches off...reflectors not that good...so maybe too much light?


It is hard to know without measurements, but the trick in this hobby is to strike a balance with carbon (CO2), nutrients (Ferts) and light, where light is always the most limiting factor.

Given your setup the first thing I would suspect is too much light, it could be a nutrient deficiency as well though, it's just less likely.

There are 2 ways to attack this, either add more carbon and ferts to let the plants grow to the full potential of the light, or lower the light, still letting the plants grow to the full potential of the light they are receiving. 

If you are looking for a low maintenance tank than I would raise the light another 4 inches and after a month evaluate the algae growth rate. If it has slowed, you are on the right track, lower more. If stopped than you are done, you simply need to trim the effected leaves out.

If it gets worse than you are barking up the wrong tree so to speak.

Whiskey


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## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

ok been battling this stuff for a long time now. i have tried spot treating with hydrogen peroxide and it worked on the java fern turned red in a day and after 2 days it is completely gone. i cannot remove all the algae infected leaves cuz i would have barely any plants in the tank. ill try cutting the light down to one bulb for each tank instead of two. im also going to order some excel and some syringes to help me spot treat with either the excel or h2o2 better. i was using a spray bottle but it broke an didnt seem to work well enough. all good ideas everyone has given me. hopefully i can get this under control. ive also thought of adding more plants as well to see if this helps


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

Whiskey said:


> It is hard to know without measurements, but the trick in this hobby is to strike a balance with carbon (CO2), nutrients (Ferts) and light, where light is always the most limiting factor.
> 
> Given your setup the first thing I would suspect is too much light, it could be a nutrient deficiency as well though, it's just less likely.
> 
> ...



Too much light with 1.44 WPG?


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## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

haha im not even at 1.44 wpg im closer to the 1.13 wpg


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## HUNTER (Sep 4, 2012)

When you say spot treat with excel, do you mix excel with water or pure excel?


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## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

im going to use a 50/50 mix of excel an water. ive used this method with h2o2 but after a few treatments it didnt really do much.


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## Kat12 (Aug 11, 2013)

rexpepper651 said:


> haha im not even at 1.44 wpg im closer to the 1.13 wpg



oops, did math off birdermom


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## Subtletanks91 (May 29, 2013)

Get some sae and zebra nerites. Worked very well for me.


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## Subtletanks91 (May 29, 2013)

Also the wpg rule is no longer in effect, par readings and lumens are better measures of light. You can have say 3wpg but if you tank is 24 inches tall you might only have a small par reading. Just an example here guys.


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## jasb (Apr 25, 2013)

water changes as well as co2 and double dose excel for a week, if double dont work try triple, it has worked for me in the past


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## GadgetGirl (Oct 11, 2013)

Is Excel safe for Amano shrimp and Nerite snails? 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


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## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

yeah i ordered my excel. took one bulb out and my water change day is coming up. i was adding co2 but it wasnt excel and it had no affect on the algae.


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## aceranch (Dec 21, 2013)

+1 on the nerites. They do wonders on all forms of algae in my tanks including black.


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## rexpepper651 (Mar 7, 2013)

only thing about snails is i kinda of have a nice population of assasin snails still i think after battling a hardcore free for all with the ramshorn's but i think one tank is snail free an the other has some left


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## MlDukes (Nov 24, 2009)

Spot treat straight excel. Don't dilute it. Regardless this is only a temp fix. Unless you change the conditions and find the root cause it will only come back.


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## mattjm20 (Nov 2, 2013)

I think it's pretty simple. You have a lot of light and not that many plants. Furthermore, those plants don't even need a lot of light. I would simply reduce the photo period or try removing a bulb. Alternatively, you can add more plants that grow quickly and will compete with the algae.

One thing I periodically do is leave the lights off for a few days if I see signs of algae and that usually helps a lot. Obviously doing this before you have BBA helps.

Good luck!


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

I would like a good pic of the light level (substrate) of a tank that has no algae and is doing well, if anyone could do that. I think I can roughly match my lights with the pic's light level taken without flash in the dark with just the tank lighting on. I think that would help a lot - thank you!

ps I have a 10g, which doesn't matter, moderately planted, with one 13W Compact Fluorescent Light at one end angled to light the whole substrate. I have a glass cover. I have plenty of algae, about 3 different kinds. Thanks!


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## Whiskey (Feb 15, 2005)

Django said:


> I would like a good pic of the light level (substrate) of a tank that has no algae and is doing well, if anyone could do that. I think I can roughly match my lights with the pic's light level taken without flash in the dark with just the tank lighting on. I think that would help a lot - thank you!
> 
> ps I have a 10g, which doesn't matter, moderately planted, with one 13W Compact Fluorescent Light at one end angled to light the whole substrate. I have a glass cover. I have plenty of algae, about 3 different kinds. Thanks!


It doesn't really work that way, the camera changes f stop and shutter speed and ISO to expose the shot properly, even if you set those manually different lenses loose different amounts of light.

If you used the exact same camera for both shots maybe, but even then the camera picks up many spectrums of light that are useless for plants, heavily weighted to green I most sensors so you would also have to be using the exact same lights.

The best bet is a PAR meter.

Whiskey


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## Django (Jun 13, 2012)

Thanks for the reply. I don't know much about cameras but I think you're right. Too bad.


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## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

Hoppy said:


> Dead BBA is eaten by many fish. Live BBA is eaten by very few fish.



Thanks Hoppy...I had wondered why my otos had suddenly begun eating the BBA on the manazita branches in my 60 gallon. Late last week I spot dosed the BBA with excel on the branches...


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## Pegan (Dec 28, 2013)

mattjm20 is right. Less no of plants = algae magnet
This is what I do when I start a new tank. I put a handful of Guppy Grass / Najas Grass in a netted veggie bag. I sew suckers in the corners and stick it in the back wall of the aquarium. Usually keep it for 2-3 months. During this time the grass absorbs all the extra nutrients and triples and quadruples like crazy. Result: Never had algae problems in all these tanks!!


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## Pegan (Dec 28, 2013)

Here is a picture of a new quarantine tank that I set up last year with a bag of guppy grass...


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## Fletch (Mar 18, 2004)

This is how I am *controlling* BBA in my low tech 55g. I spend 5 minutes doing this before every water change. Find an empty nose spray bottle. Add 1/2 teaspoon of Kosher salt. Add 30 mls (1/8 cup) of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (drugstore). Mix well. Turn off all filtration and air stones. Use the spray bottle to carefully dribble some of the peroxide directly on top of the algae covered surface. The salt is there to make the solution heavy, so it falls from the spray bottle, down on to the plants. It also makes wavy concentration lines, so you can see where your liquid is going. Move the water around the plants as little as possible. Let stand 5 minutes. Do a water change to remove peroxide from the tank. This seems to be killing the black brush algae on my Anubias, but the plants are still thriving and throwing out new leaves. BBA is the cancer of the aquarium. You can control it, but it will come back if you give it the right conditions.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Is interesting to me that I can take pieces of wood,rock,with BBA which occasionally used to appear in my tank's, and place it/them in tank with single T8 bulb and within a month,,the algae is gone.
If however one accept's that it is the light that drives everything in planted tank,,then this makes perfect sense.
This is how I dealt with the BBA and upon returning the pieces to my display tank,within a month,,the algae reappeared.
I then lowered the intensity of light in display tank along with duration of photo period,,and pieces I placed from tank with single T 8 bulb ,no longer became infected again.
This is easy to try, but does require patience not often seen in technological age where everything is about instant gratification.
I also expierimented with reducing fertz like phosphates,pottasium,nitrogen,but plant's,over time,,became more distressed which gave rise to various other types of algae.
Truly there is a balance that need's to be struck but in my vew,,it is the Light that drives everything.
Note... This method is what work's for me and assumes non limiting fertz,naturally produced CO2 with no supplement's ,regular weekly water changes,monthly filter maint,and patience .
Doesn't cost anything but time going by.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

roadmaster said:


> Is interesting to me that I can take pieces of wood,rock,with BBA which occasionally used to appear in my tank's, and place it/them in tank with single T8 bulb and within a month,,the algae is gone.
> If however one accept's that it is the light that drives everything in planted tank,,then this makes perfect sense.
> This is how I dealt with the BBA and upon returning the pieces to my display tank,within a month,,the algae reappeared.
> I then lowered the intensity of light in display tank along with duration of photo period,,and pieces I placed from tank with single T 8 bulb ,no longer became infected again.
> ...


I've done this too, but more recently, I did it with java fern, the non CO2 lower light tank, the plants are nice and clean as whistle.
Hopefully more will use the lower light non CO2 methods. 

I've never had any BBA in a correctly set up non CO2 plant tank


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## THE V (Nov 17, 2011)

plantbrain said:


> I've done this too, but more recently, I did it with java fern, the non CO2 lower light tank, the plants are nice and clean as whistle.
> Hopefully more will use the lower light non CO2 methods.
> 
> I've never had any BBA in a correctly set up non CO2 plant tank


Apparently I've messed up mine 'cause I always have some on the filter outputs and hardscape in mine. :icon_redf Thanks for letting me know that I'm a loser! :icon_cry: 

It's generally in regions of high flow from the filters. A little quick work with a green scratchy every couple of months is all that is needed to keep it in check. :biggrin:


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