# Wood & plants covered in black fur



## DariusMyszka (Jul 21, 2017)

Hey everyone, I'm having some issues with black fuzzy alge that I'm assuming is bba in my 130g tank. I can't pinpoint when it happened but it could have been the day I ran out of co2 and had to get it refilled.

I'm running pressurized co2 with a reactor inline with my xp4 filter. I've also got 2 500gph powerhead on either end of the tank. Ammonia is. 25, nitrates are at 0. I dose 2 caps of flourish twice a week, and water changes every 2-3 weeks.
Lights are 6 4ft t8, and 2 2ft t8 on for 6.5 hours, the co2 is on the lighting timer

I'm worried this alge is slowly killing my plants and taking over  I don't think I can take the driftwood out to scrub it all off and I don't have any idea how to get rid of it. Help!


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

If most of your plants appear to be healthy and growing, one way to deal with that (not easy) would be to totally ignore it and wait it out. It may get worse, but again, if you can wait a few weeks, up to a couple of months, it may just peak and then disappear all by itself. You often see these algae cycles in new tanks. 
You do want to make sure that you have some NO3 in your water after the tank is done cycling. Plants need macros and without them usually bad things start to happen.
Also 6 hours of photo period seems a bit short, I know some have success with that, but to me it seems a bit unnatural, and I prefer longer periods, perhaps with less wattage.


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## IntotheWRX (May 13, 2016)

DariusMyszka said:


> Hey everyone, I'm having some issues with black fuzzy alge that I'm assuming is bba in my 130g tank. I can't pinpoint when it happened but it could have been the day I ran out of co2 and had to get it refilled.
> 
> I'm running pressurized co2 with a reactor inline with my xp4 filter. I've also got 2 500gph powerhead on either end of the tank. Ammonia is. 25, nitrates are at 0. I dose 2 caps of flourish twice a week, and water changes every 2-3 weeks.
> Lights are 6 4ft t8, and 2 2ft t8 on for 6.5 hours, the co2 is on the lighting timer
> ...


Black Beard Algae

main cause is co2. make sure your co2 is at a good level. and at a steady consistent level for 1-2 weeks without change.

i think the best way to remove that is to use hydrogen peroxide to kill that black fuzz, you can take things out and spray it. or you can do a hydroproxy nuke by swirling hydrogen peroxide in your tank for about 20 min with your good bacterial taken out of your filter so they dont die along with it. and then do a big water change. should see the black turn red, then white, then melt away in couple days.


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## Anchor (Sep 10, 2016)

Looking at your plants after reading what you do, I'm quite impressed. 

I would reduce your wattage slightly, and just generally clean the tank and filter very well, manually remove as much as you can.

Increase Water changes and a good scrubbing, keep the co2 pumping in there and I think you'll be okay. 

I can't tell if that's black brush algae (bba) or black beard algae. The beard algae looks like hair. The brush algae looks like a bunch of tufts terminating in one spot. Looks to long to be bba but I can't tell.

I would do the same for both algaes honestlyy, but ide rather have beard algae.

Looking at your plants I wouldn't try and change much long term they look good just try and reset the balance first. 

My 2 cents


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## slipfinger (Jun 8, 2016)

Anchor said:


> I can't tell if that's black brush algae (bba) or black beard algae. The beard algae looks like hair. The brush algae looks like a bunch of tufts terminating in one spot. Looks to long to be bba but I can't tell.


Are Black Beard and Black Brush not the same thing, just different names used?


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## DariusMyszka (Jul 21, 2017)

I actually reduced the photoperiod from 8 hours to 6 because of the alge, I figured that was the easiest way to reset the stability. My drop checker is usually blue when lights are on and a bluish green tint when lights go out. 

I might do the hydro swirl if it doesn't go away on in own but Id like to see it go away on its own if possible, I'm not one to throw chemicals at my tank as it usually doesn't end well for me Hahaha 

I'll bump the photoperiod up to 7.5 hours and let it sit for two weeks, and I'll make sure the bubble counter is as consistent as the Milwaukee will let it be. As long as there is no new growth on the plants I'll be happy to wait it out.

Also it's definitely bush alge as it grows as tufts on one spot, it's just very bushy right now on the wood


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## Kubla (Jan 5, 2014)

DariusMyszka said:


> My drop checker is usually blue when lights are on and a bluish green tint when lights go out.


Your drop checker should be fully green when the lights turn on and change back to blue after they turn off. Yours is indicating a low level or no CO2 until the end of the photo period when it goes up slightly.


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## DariusMyszka (Jul 21, 2017)

So just to update the thread, I haven't really touched the tank since I posted originally, no water changes or major cleaning, only trimming and dead plant removal. It seems to have progressed a bit and definitely isn't getting any better. My drop checker usually does go green after two hours of lights on but I'm seriously considering just putting the co2 on its own timer. I have the Milwaukee reg so I get a tiny variation of co2 output everytime the solenoid opens so maybe I have to invest in a better needle valve as well...

Anyways at this point I would like to try giving the tank a h2o2 swirl but I'm really scared of Killing off any plants or fish in the tank  

Ps. My ozelot just grew an extremely red leaf and I feel like it's a beautiful oddity so bonus pic of that


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