# This darn algae will not go away



## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

how do i get a rid of this black hair algae that I have growing on only the edges of some vals and java fern and dwarf sag
i dont mind the greenish brown stuff on the glass cause my Otto loves it and stays pretty fat and health on it but the black stuff just doesnt look good


does anything eat it. if bushynose do i have 19 hungry babies i can let loose in the tank
can i dose anything with out melting my cryps and vals

seems like a week without light killed it and the ferns and anubias made it our fine


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## NJAquaBarren (Sep 16, 2009)

nothing ate mine. SAEs grazed on it a bit, but not much. Once under control they may be adequate, but they aren't going to eliminate a problem. There are posts on the forum about black line gobies eating it. Haven't tried them yet.

I got my BBA outbreak under control by dosing Excel 3x for 10 days. There's still some but not much. Been 2 weeks. I had some Threadfin Rainbows that died during this time. Was treating Ick with Ick-Guard at the same time. Can't say it was Excel that hurt them. No other fish seemed to have been effected in any way by the Excel. All behaved and ate normally.


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## bherren1 (Feb 15, 2009)

I have used H2O2 to kill it. After it was dead my otocinclus and amano shrimp ate it. But if you don't fix the cause it will just come back. I'm not sure if I'll ever be rid of it in my non-CO2 planted tank....


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

what causes it


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

This link might help you.
http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

awesome link

but now i cant decide if its the first one or the last one on the list...lol


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## Shad0w (Sep 26, 2007)

you might want to post photo, easier to identify that way 

It is prety easy to differentiate BBA and stag horn.


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## nismo tetra (Oct 11, 2009)

BBA and staghorn both have a similiar process to clear it up. One of the 40 breeders here has mass amounts of black beard algea. It's the dominant plant. I am tempted to try a diy co2 setup on it to see if higher co2 does clear it up. The only problem is there is not a decent flow of water in this tank.....which is another reason supposedly it will show up.


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

There is really only one way to get rid of it. Manually remove as much as you can RELIGOUSLY then change the environment so that plants outcompete it.

Algae is omnipresent in all tanks and can never be completely erradicated. But can be kept at a minimum by promoting plant growth.

Sure you can add this or add that to kill it but it will come back again if you don't have good healthy growing plants to combat it on a regular basis.


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

how about adding elodea or some other fast growing plant to use up the extra nutrients


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## EdTheEdge (Jan 25, 2007)

C2C said:


> how about adding elodea or some other fast growing plant to use up the extra nutrients


That is one possibilty. But to get rid of extra nutrients it would be faster to just do a large water change. In the long run just add more plants. A heavily planted tank will IME have less algae problems.

Of course you have to have the proper lighting and CO2 to balance things out.


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## captain_bu (Oct 20, 2007)

C2C said:


> how about adding elodea or some other fast growing plant to use up the extra nutrients


Nutrients themselves don't cause algae. An imbalance of light, nutrients and CO2 does. As light levels get higher the need for nutrients and CO2 increases. At low enough light levels adding CO2 becomes a non-issue. At higher light levels you need proper stable levels of CO2. Plants grown at all light levels need nutrients, the amount needed is relative to the amount of light.

A bit more info about your tank would be helpful if you want specific recommendations from the folks here. The suggestions so far to remove as much algae as possible manually and spot treat with Excel are the best way to deal with BBA. So is the comment that it will just come back if you don't fix the underlying cause.


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## Boberety69 (Nov 19, 2009)

I used checker barbs to get rid of mine. The SAE's kept the algae under control afterward.


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## MoonFish (Feb 12, 2006)

I used florida flag fish one time. I haven't had much problem when I had SAEs, either but like mentioned above, bba doesn't show up when plant growth is spectacular.


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

im trying a strict NO LIGHT policy
lol
seems like it worked on my other tanks


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

ok no light isnt working that great on the vals...lol

does anything eat hair algae


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

besides flag fish
i cant find any anywhere around here


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

you might want to lower your lights.


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## captain_bu (Oct 20, 2007)

Hair algae is difficult to get rid of unless you reduce your lighting intensity. That means less watts or raising the fixture, not cutting photoperiod. You will also need to prune and pull out as much as possible. Once you have it beaten you can slowly raise lighting intensity again. 

I found Rosy Barbs to do a decent job eating hair algae. Problem is that they also eat any plants with fine leaves. 

Fish that eat algae are more helpful in preventing a mild outbreak from spreading. They don't cure the problem once it is established.


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

i have 20watts over my 20gallon
should i try raising it first then lowering the wattage


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

20 watts of what? T5HO?
yeah, try raising it a foot and supply CO2.


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

20watt t8 t12 not sure which but definitely not t5


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## mistergreen (Dec 9, 2006)

hmm. t8 or 12 is not a lot of lights. How many hours do you leave it on for?
Do you dose nutrients? CO2?

here's how I deal with algae. Any growing on plants, I cut off the affected leaves and throw away. Any on hardscape or tank stuff, I scrub off. And then fix the lighting and nutrient issues. You can't expect the algae to go away once they've taken hold.

You can do the overdosing excel or H2O2 but I think I'm over using chemicals. Plants need to be trimmed anyway.


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## C2C (Apr 7, 2009)

just got 500ml of excel
not dosing anything cept root tabs and the occasional co2 i guess i could try barley hay i think thats what i used in my pond. not too sure had a long day at work.


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## NateFank (Jan 2, 2009)

im havin a problem with bba as well and ive jacked up my co2 to the point where my DC is yellow, it benn like tha for like 3 weeks and the bba just keeps growing, ive changed the flow to circulate everywhere and still nothing, i have a 55 gal with 2x 54w t5, pressurized co2 and do EI dosing, i kno it started cuz my co2 was a little messed up for like a week


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## captain_bu (Oct 20, 2007)

CO2 doesn't kill BBA...

you need to remove any infected leaves or spot treat with Excel to kill it. Remove and clean any hardscape. Once you kill the BBA proper consistent CO2 levels, circulation, light control and adequate nutrient levels should keep it from coming back.


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