# whats this and how do i fight this?



## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

help me!


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

That would be the Dreaded Black Beard Algae (I think) Spot dose with H2O2 and increase your co2 (not beyond what your fish can handle) and lower your light amount. It is a pain in the butt to deal with.


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## Capsaicin_MFK (Nov 15, 2009)

Looks like either hair algae or staghorn. If you are injecting co2 you need to increase the amount you are injecting.

Is it tough to pull off the algae? If it is then it is definitely BBA.


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

CO2 has been cranked up to 50ppm for almost a week now running 24/7 so there are no CO2 fluctuatiins AND i have been dosing excel AND and liwered my light time.

Zero change. It looks very happy.

I am beginning to think this is not what people think it is.


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## anh (Jul 20, 2009)

try hydrogen peroxide, excel works well for me also.


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## g33tar (Jan 8, 2010)

Try adding a little more excel than you are. I was putting a capful or so in my 12g trying to fight it a while back and nothing happened. 

Then I threw 2 capfuls in there and the next morning it was pink and a week later gone.


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

put 3 capfuls in last night to my 40g. See if anything changes by tonight.


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

still looks healthy as ever!

was this misidentified perhaps? Or somethinf else I can try?


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## fishykid1 (Apr 5, 2010)

Does BBA not grow in little tufts? That's how I've seen it in the past.


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## Centromochlus (May 19, 2008)

fishykid1 said:


> Does BBA not grow in little tufts? That's how I've seen it in the past.


Agreed... Looks more like staghorn algae to me. Excel kills this stuff really well when used to spot treat the algae. Instead of just overdosing excel in your tank, fill up a pipet with the liquid and directly shoot it onto the algae. This method kills the algae much more effectively.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

What AZfishkid said. Its definately stag. Excel will wipe it all out. You still need to find out why you got it or it might come back.


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## Mgiorgi1221 (Mar 23, 2011)

What water levels should be tested if a algae bloom occurs?


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## chad320 (Mar 7, 2010)

Mostly N but id test any that you have a test for. And research possible causes.


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## Mgiorgi1221 (Mar 23, 2011)

I'm not the best with testing water so bear with me. Is that nitrogen or nitrates. I also read to test phosphate?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Mgiorgi1221 said:


> I'm not the best with testing water so bear with me. Is that nitrogen or nitrates. I also read to test phosphate?


It was nitrates (nitrogen is not easily used by plants, and is more readily used in the form of nitrates).


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## Mgiorgi1221 (Mar 23, 2011)

Thanks going to try and find test for nitrates and phosphates....have you ever used hydrogen peroxide treatment? And is it harmful to plants and or fish?


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

i tested my water this morning and nitrates were 5ppm, nitrite 0ppm, ammonia .5ppm.

weird part is that my gh/kh is 13/13 i been doing water changes the last two weeks using my new ro/di system.

my other 20g tank i am doing the same to and its gh/kh is 6/7.

was thinking perhaps the excel was causing or the bowl rock i was told is inert is not inert.


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## Ahura-sama (Dec 7, 2009)

Careful: Peroxide will damage the HC in enough concentration. It burns all the tiny leaves off of the HC.


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

I also want to add just because you have the right conditions for a week with no change in algae growth that's pretty normal. It usually takes close to 3 weeks + in the right conditions to see you algae go away. Using methods like hydrogen peroxide and excell will get you results faster but again keeping the conditions the same for close to 3 weeks is important to figure out if your on the right track or if you still need to do some tweaking.


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

Ok i bought a syringe and spot treated several of the rocks and HC.

Not all of it because I didn't want to overdose the tank.

How long until I see results and when can I do a water change to get some of the Excel out?

Will this melt my HC?


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

anyone?


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## Rockhoe14er (Jan 19, 2011)

efface said:


> anyone?


I'm going to refer to my previous post. Sometimes it can take up to 3 weeks before you will see results.

Hydrogen peroxide usually work quicker and within a week the troubled area should look better.


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## kevmo911 (Sep 24, 2010)

When spot dosing with Excel, with all filters and powerheads off for 10-15 minutes during and after dosing, I generally see treated algae areas turn solidly pink in 24-48 hours.

I would not use more than 3x the daily recommended dosing for Excel (recommended is 1mL per 10g, so no more than 3mL per 10g). Unless the algae is *everywhere*, you should be able to dose all affected spots with that much Excel.

Fragile plants (especially those with thin, narrow leaves) may have some issues with spot treatment, and I refer you to post #18 for the HC question.

I'm currently experimenting with spot treating moss with Excel, and so far (5 days) the moss doesn't look to have suffered. And it's kinda cool to see it with pink highlights 

And I'll refer to you the Excel sticky in the algae forum for more info.

Oh, and no, you don't need to do a water change after dosing. Just don't overdose more than 3x the daily dose. You can do this daily for a couple weeks before starting to worry about damaging most plants. Excel becomes inert after 24 hours or so, especially with higher light.


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

I killed the pump and aquifers like 10mm of excel on a rock and let it sit. Been over 24 hours and still looks healthy.

At my wits end and do to the scaping it's not an easy option to remove the rocks.

Would a 9w uv light help?


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

Will a Siamese algae eater clear this up?


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

Getting desperate guys.  I have some ferts on the way so I can get rid of any imbalances but I am sure it's just going to help the algae.

Looking closely I think it's hair algae an not stag. Dosing excel directly on the rock didn't work.

I have shrimp and galaxy rasbora in the tank so I need to be mindful of them. I tried some algae fix and it killed some shrimp even though it was a small dose and I cranked up my skimmer to help introduce more oxygen.

Pulling the rocks out to bleach and scrub is not an option either due to the soil build up. If I disturb it I will get an ammonia spike and probably kill my live stock.


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## Jeffww (Aug 6, 2010)

I've got staghorn....Lower the water level to about 2-3inches (just enough to let your fish swim). And then get one squirt bottle of pure excel or 3% h2o2 and mist all the plants lightly. Use like 3-5 sprays per region, about 2 feet away from the plants. Then take another squirt bottle or bucket of water or cup and dump fresh water or tank water over the sprayed plants after you wait like 30 seconds. That should kill any surface algae where the spray hits. The stuff is exceedingly sensitive to H2O2 and excel and direct contact with it will turn it bright red.


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## efface (Aug 27, 2010)

Haven't tried spraying yet but I just completed. 3 day black out. Algae looks the same.

Is it suppose to look different?


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