# Ok seriously, how the *#@% do you get rid of Black Beard algae?



## fishsandwitch

I would try excel


----------



## RachPreach

well i just found from another post to dose h2o2 at 1ml per gallon to the tank with the lights turned off and filters off. They also said to use excel at the same time at 2x the recommended dose. I guess Ill try this everyday or every other day for a while.


----------



## macclellan

BBA is mostly caused by low c02. Since you aren't injecting co2, you need to reduce your lighting intensity. h202 will kill it, but won't stop it from coming back. You need to address the root cause.


----------



## RachPreach

ok well i cant reduce the lights any more than i already have. I only have 64 watts over a 100 gallon tank and they run for 7-8hrs.


----------



## plantbrain

Do you do water changes?
If so, stop.
Top off for evaporation only.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


----------



## Natty

Isn't algae a PITA or what? :hihi: 

There's even a sticky on the whole subject too, thats how messy it is. You should check the sticky on the parameter's section of this forum. Has a list of how you'll deal with all of it.

If you've never had algae problem, then you've never really had a planted tank.


----------



## CmLaracy

plantbrain said:


> Do you do water changes?
> If so, stop.
> Top off for evaporation only.
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


I'm curious as to why as I'm fighting a minor bit of BBA myself in my high tech. I do frequent water changes.


----------



## RachPreach

plantbrain said:


> Do you do water changes?
> If so, stop.
> Top off for evaporation only.
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


i do water changes every 3-4 weeks.

why should i stop doing water changes?


----------



## macclellan

water changes add co2, and the fluctuating levels cause the BBA. With only top offs, you aren't effecting the co2 levels as much. 

I believe Tom's advice was for low tech only. In other words, doesn't apply to you, Mr. 75-P-FTW!


----------



## doxikota

plantbrain said:


> Do you do water changes?
> If so, stop.
> Top off for evaporation only.
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


I have some BBA on my java ferns but seems to be spreading. My tank is low light 2wpg 55. I occasionally dose with Excel. I do partial water changes once a week. Why no water changes? Will it affect the fish if I don't do a water change? I have hard water (off the API chart on GH). KH was 3 drops which looks like 53.7 ppm KH ( I don't understand these charts). pH was low at 6.4. ammonia, nitrites 0, nitrates maybe 5.0 ppm (that's probably stretching things.) 
pb


----------



## CmLaracy

macclellan said:


> water changes add co2, and the fluctuating levels cause the BBA. With only top offs, you aren't effecting the co2 levels as much.
> 
> I believe Tom's advice was for low tech only. In other words, doesn't apply to you, Mr. 75-P-FTW!


heeyyy :hihi:


----------



## @[email protected]

constant dosing of excel (double the dose unless you have some very sensitive stuff in ther) spot dose part of it, scatter the rest. bleach dip the plants that can take it (2 minutes is the min on a 1:19 ratio, less then that and the BBA will survive). btw, it will take forever. also, trim the plants and cut off old leaves covered in BBA (or new ones) basically remove it from the tank while simultaineously killing it chemically with excel. adding some DIY CO2 would help too.


----------



## lauraleellbp

On a low tech tank too many PWC can end up stripping the water of nutrients for the plants, especially nitrAtes. This gives algae the upper hand.

Just one more reason to go low tech :hihi:


----------



## RachPreach

i will never put co2 in my water again.....very bad experience. I lost ALL of my beautiful fish because of a co2 overdose. it was the most horrifying, devastating thing that has ever happened to me as far as pets go. Yes fish are on the same level to me as my 2 cats and 2 dogs are.


----------



## RachPreach

so as far as water changes go.....when and how often should i do water changes??


----------



## lauraleellbp

Trial and error- I've just set up my 90gal lowlight and I'm going to shoot for 25% every 2 weeks and see how that goes? You could keep tabs on your nitrAtes and use those as a guide if you wanted; don't let them get over 10-15ppm?


----------



## Green Leaf Aquariums

Go lean on your light and nutrients. Also you may want to mind your photo period. Good luck


----------



## @[email protected]

RachPreach said:


> i will never put co2 in my water again.....very bad experience. I lost ALL of my beautiful fish because of a co2 overdose. it was the most horrifying, devastating thing that has ever happened to me as far as pets go. Yes fish are on the same level to me as my 2 cats and 2 dogs are.


 
buy a ph regulator, and measure kh to find out what the optimum ph should be (ph fluctuates with CO2, kh does not) and set the ph regulator to shut down the CO2 if it drops. it will prevent that from happening. regulators only work with pressurized though.


----------



## RachPreach

yes i had a regulator....but the substrate I have in my tank drops my ph to a low level so I just had the co2 on a timer since the regulator wouldnt allow it to come on. Oh well, it doesnt matter, im not doing that again. 

So Tom Barr said dont do water changes....ever?


----------



## Wö£fëñxXx

I have several low tech tanks that do excellent
with various type of stems, anubias, moss, with 
shrimp & fish, the only time they get a water change
is when it is time to do a good pruning/rearranging
and glass cleaning. 
Maybe two or three times a year, I do top offs weekly
sometimes twice weekly.
These tanks get aerated two to three times a week
by raising spray bar to surface.
These tanks do so well and are so easy to maintain
and they look really good, the only drawback is plant sp
you can grow.


----------



## RachPreach

wow two to three times a year?? What about the plant mulm and fish waste?


----------



## @[email protected]

wow, i change the water in my eclipse three every other week. i think a few times a year is just a bit risky.


----------



## CmLaracy

wow I do water changes every other day almost... but I'm running higher tech so I guess it may be needed, but still, thats pretty interesting!


----------



## @[email protected]

well i dont think you need it that often (though your tank is spotless, so it doesnt hurt obviously). actually, i have found that my tap is higher in some nutrients that my tank is, so its kinda like adding fertz for me. but your water might be different.


----------



## Wö£fëñxXx

I am talking a "low tech" tank, not highlight-C02 injected,
do not confuse the two they are opposite each other.

Mulm and fish waste is plant food, it is part of the eco-
system, when you start adding more light and C02
then supplementation for nitrate/phosphate is required.
Good filtration+media is also very beneficial for any 
enclosed eco-system including the low tech tank.

I dose very little N and P in these tanks, maybe once monthly
it really depends on what I see.

They do get a weekly dose of K+ and trace.

You can change the water more if you so desire or if it needs
it through either over population or heavy feeding but then
you are missing and element called balance.

In a well ran modestly stocked tank that has good filtration 
& is not over feed or neglected is devoid of frequent water change.


----------



## Max F

Been a while since i've had Black Beard algae in my low tech 29 gallon. But from what i remember it was caused by too much iron (or thats what I think was my limiting nutrient) that came from too many root tabs or root tabs that weren't buried enough in the gravel.

Just scrap off as much as you can by hand. Don't do a water change for a month or so and don't add nutrients. This is for a low tech tank.


----------



## @[email protected]

hmm really, in my tanks too much iron resulted in thread algae. dont you hate how many forms evil can take on? lol


----------



## RachPreach

well i just topped off the tank today, no water change. I plan on dosing h2o2 and excel every other day. The h2o2 at 1ml/gal and the excel 5ml/gal. Does that sound ok for bba treatment?

I do have trace element ferts(csm+b) that i could dose once a week like craig said, but what is K+? is that potassium? I have some of that too.

I just want to know what nutrient I need to add to keep the bba at bay.


----------



## RachPreach

Max F said:


> Been a while since i've had Black Beard algae in my low tech 29 gallon. But from what i remember it was caused by too much iron (or thats what I think was my limiting nutrient) that came from too many root tabs or root tabs that weren't buried enough in the gravel.
> 
> Just scrap off as much as you can by hand. Don't do a water change for a month or so and don't add nutrients. This is for a low tech tank.



and BTW, i cant just scrape this stuff off, I would be doing it for a year with how much there is. And I havent done a water change in a month and I never add nutrients anyway.


----------



## Max F

RachPreach said:


> and BTW, i cant just scrape this stuff off, I would be doing it for a year with how much there is. And I havent done a water change in a month and I never add nutrients anyway.


Sorry, I couldn't help with advice. My other advice would be that sometimes these algae blooms just need to run their course. Good luck with the dosing methods for killing it.


----------



## RachPreach

well i just topped off the tank today, no water change. I plan on dosing h2o2 and excel every other day. The h2o2 at 1ml/gal and the excel 5ml/gal. Does that sound ok for bba treatment?

I do have trace element ferts(csm+b) that i could dose once a week like craig said, but what is K+? is that potassium? I have some of that too.

I just want to know what nutrient I need to add to keep the bba at bay.


----------



## plantbrain

Most of the advice here is still based on CO2 enriched tanks and it's still wrong(plenty of tested examples where the notions put forth here have been falsified) for that approach. Fe, NO3 etc..........none of these parameters over a wide range induces any species of algae in a well run (eg, a control tank) CO2 or non CO2 tank that starts without algae.

You cannot say much about a tank and the ability of Fe, NO3 dosing to induce algae in the system, if............that system already has algae!:thumbsup: 

Well, I guess you can, but the earth might still seem flat to some folks too.

BBA is entirely a CO2 related issue.

CO2 can vary in a CO2 enriched aquarium and if you do weekly water changes etc in non CO2 systems.

BBA does best and is found in fairly "clean" water, and the CO2 ranges are 5-10ppm for optimal growth.

NO3 levels are typically 20 to 200 parts per billion, Fe much lower........so the lower levels are not limiting. I do not think any aquarist can measure down this far.

Both Steve and myself spent 6 months each trying to limit BBA.
Even at 0.0 ppm for NO3 and PO4 using Lamotte test kits, it did not put a dent in an established mat.

We changed the CO2, it went away in about 1-2 weeks.
DIY folks typically have bad cases of BBA.
Folks that do lots of water changes on a non CO2 tank also.

A balanced tank is what you want for a non CO2 system, you do not get to over load and over feed the fish. That is one of the trade offs.
If you want lots of fish and to over feed, go CO2, but even that has limits.
You can set up automated daily water changers in some tanks if you own your own home and are willing, then you can go non CO2 and stabilize the CO2(Daily water changes can do it) at the lower end.

Folks think they see results and jump to the conclusion that say low PO4 reduces BBA, but that is not the root of the problem.
This is easy to test, how could this be the right conclusion if when we test high levels of PO4, we do not get algae?

It cannot be the right conclusion.

So why do we see some species go away when we reduce PO4?
Because the system was CO2 limited to start with, you assumed it was good, it was not and that led you to an incorrect assumption/conclusion.

If you limited PO4 strongly, then this reduces CO2 demand, thus the plants are no longer CO2 limited, they are now PO4 limited.
This led many to assume that PO4 was the key, but that was wrong.

Poor CO2 control causes 90-95% of all algae related issues, not nutrients.
At lower lighting, it's harder to tell what causes algae because patterns take longer and the intensity to induce algae spores becomes progressively slower.
At high lighting, you see it rapidly though and can tell the relationships quick.

Finding a balance is always going to be easier at moderately low light.
That's another reason if you reduce the intensity, most species of algae are rather easy to keep at bay.

Less light does what as far as CO2 uptake rates?
It reduces them.

So if you ran out of CO2 at high light, adding 1/2 that much will place much less CO2 demand on the plant's need.

So light, CO2 are the main drivers, not nutrients(but they can become so if you limit them and have non limiting CO2).
Find the root causes and you will have far less issues.

Regards, 
Tom Barr


----------



## Naja002

plantbrain said:


> If you limited PO4 strongly, then this reduces CO2 demand, thus the plants are no longer CO2 limited, they are now PO4 limited.
> This led many to assume that PO4 was the key, but that was wrong.


Sweet, and Thank You, Tom. That actually fills in another piece of the puzzle for me. I've come to understand nutrients limiting other nutrients, etc and causing things to "stall". But the quote above adds a lot more sense to the equation for me. :thumbsup: 




plantbrain said:


> So light, CO2 are the main drivers, not nutrients(but they can become so if you limit them and have non limiting CO2).
> Find the root causes and you will have far less issues.



Ditto. :thumbsup:


----------



## doxikota

Is BBA plant specific? I have it on 2 Java ferns only. No other algae noted anywhere else in the tank. No co2, have been trying to overdose with Excel, 
water changes once a week of about 15-20 gals (estimated). 
55g
2wpg (on 12hrs Sat and Sun, 5hrs weekdays)
aquarium plants substrate with their little pellet underneath the plants. 
1 Angel
4 cory's
6 serape tetras
5 danio
2 dwarf gouramis
1 6" pleco
1 clown pleco
1 clown loach
1 guppy

1 bubble wand, 1 bubble bridge
2 HOB filters
PB


----------



## RachPreach

ok so im still trying to understand what i need to do. 

Im assuming from the info Ive gotten, that since i have a low tech tank(no co2), i need to do less water changes. 

Can I benefit from decreasing the amount of time I leave my lights on? I leave them on for 8hrs and I have only 64watts over a 100 gallon tank. 

Is the method I stated earlier about dosing h2o2 and excel every other day going to be something I need to do?


----------



## RachPreach

also, do co2 levels change(increase,decrease) if i dont do water changes?


----------



## lauraleellbp

I personally would only "spot treat" h2o2 by squirting it directly onto the algae (using an eyedropper, syringe, etc) rather than dosing the entire tank. It breaks down fairly quickly in the water, otherwise? (breaks into water and o2)

Are your plants growing at all? With under 1 wpg my suspicion is that your plants aren't getting enough light to begin with, therefore algae is getting the upper hand?

I'd also start dosing low ferts- getting your plants healthy IMO should be the key to your algae issues.


----------



## CmLaracy

RachPreach said:


> well i just topped off the tank today, no water change. I plan on dosing h2o2 and excel every other day. The h2o2 at 1ml/gal and the excel 5ml/gal. Does that sound ok for bba treatment?
> 
> I do have trace element ferts(csm+b) that i could dose once a week like craig said, but what is K+? is that potassium? I have some of that too.
> 
> I just want to know what nutrient I need to add to keep the bba at bay.


Just want to make sure that you mean 5mL of excel for every 10g. At what you wrote everything in your tank will die... be careful with excel, I've found it at high doses to be more harmful to livestock than CO2 at high ppms.


----------



## @[email protected]

yeah, be careful with excel; its no problem if you know what you are doing and dosage and pay attention to whatever you are measuring with (i reccomend one of those oral liquid dosing thingys from CVS), it can kill not only fish but sensitive plants if you overdose (vals are the most common case).


----------



## RachPreach

opps yeah i meant per 10 gallons. sorry guys. 

ok so back to business. Its virtually impossible to spot treat because of it being literally everywhere. My plants otherwise are growing well. I just have some christmas and flame moss and some varieties of anubias and java fern. 

So I dont know about dosing any ferts.....Help!


----------



## Wö£fëñxXx

I wouldn't spot treat anything with h202.
Just toss the infected plants and get more.

You are probably BBA infected from when you did have
C02 and it wasn't up to snuff, that can be hard to rid.
Clean the tank good and start over.
Do your homework


----------



## MikeS

So if get a CO2 set-up (ordering now), would I still use excel to treat BBA?


----------



## mpodolan

You can spot treat with excel to kill it. Keeping your co2 at optimal levels after this will help prevent it from coming back


----------



## MikeS

by spot treating, you mean using a syringe to squirt excel on the BBA while underwater, right? 

What about dosing the tank as a whole (210 is mighty big to just spot check - trying to get in there is the hard part)?


----------



## Wö£fëñxXx

Once you get your C02 the next challenge will be you
getting it setup efficiently in a 210g.
Do your homework.

You can dose the whole tank w/Excel if you want, it 
can get costly fast, follow directions on bottle, trim off 
BBA infected leaves/stems.


----------



## MikeS

Understandably. What will I need to do/look for?


----------



## Wö£fëñxXx

Well, you need to decide on what look you are going for.
Do you want to use reactors or diffusers.
If reactors you will need powerful filtration not only
to filter the tank but drive reactor/s.

Please dont say you have two Emporer400's with biowheel...
Haha
Read read read, then you will need to learn what and how
to dose, so read about that too.
Check out the search feature for aid. 

Regards


----------



## MikeS

I have an Eheim 2180.


----------



## Wö£fëñxXx

MikeS said:


> I have an Eheim 2180.


You will need a lot more power than that.


----------



## RachPreach

ok no offense but this post is about getting rid of BBA. I am trying to get rid of it on a NON CO2 tank. I am not interested in adding co2, ive been there, done that. 

Otherwise, if your interested in gettting rid of BBA in a co2 tank, then start a new thread please. I started this thread to have help to get rid of it in a non co2 tank.


----------



## mpodolan

No, you are correct. This thread got hijacked a bit. 

I think the advice already given is pretty good. Trim away all the bba you can. This stuff will hang on pretty well, so just cutting it out is probably best for you. Cut back on water changes, as Tom mentioned. You can also keep treating with excel or h2o2 to help get rid of what's there. It's going to take time to get rid of this problem. These things don't happen quickly. In these low tech tanks, everything happens very slowly, which can be a very good thing. Just be persistent with trimming it away and you should be rewarded eventually


----------



## RachPreach

well since starting treating with the h2o2 and excel on monday, ive noticed the bba starting to turn a bluish gray color. I guess that is a good sign, eh?


----------



## mpodolan

Probably. I've seen mine turn all kinds of colors after treatment. I've seen red, purple, white, gray, etc. I hope yours is on it's way out, too!


----------



## CmLaracy

mines turning a scarlet red


----------



## RachPreach

CmLaracy said:


> mines turning a scarlet red


what are you using to treat your bba


----------



## CmLaracy

RachPreach said:


> what are you using to treat your bba


a good hefty 3x to 4x OD of excel via spot treatment 3 times a day. Leave the filter off for 45 minutes afterwards. 

Despite how much I'm ODing I haven't lost one of my 22 rummy's or any of my cherries or amanos. :thumbsup: :eek5:


----------



## ikuzo

i used to OD with excel.
day 2 they turn red
day 4 they turn white
day 5 bba no more


----------



## RachPreach

well im just treating the whole tank. 1. because i dont have time to spot treat 3x a day and 2. its all over my 100 gallon so that would take forever to spot treat. But i think my method is working pretty good. 
Im going to be moving my tanks to another location so I guess Ill soak the wood and larger rocks and plants in a bleach solution(19:1 or 10:1). Does that sound good? For how long should I soak? And as for boiling my driftwood, its pretty impossible to do that since its the branchy kind and pretty big. Any other suggestions?


----------



## mpodolan

Soaking the driftwood will work fine. It just tends to take a bit longer. Just soak it until it sinks and stops releasing tannins (or releases an amount you feel is acceptable. 

I think you'll be fine with just dosing the whole tank. You seem patient enough to let this run its course!


----------



## plantbrain

Oddly, throughout this entire thread, one of the best solutions has never been mentioned for either a non CO2 nor a CO2 enriched tank with BBA.
Add an SAE.
They chow this stuff unlike any other critter.
Why use herbicides when you can use biocontrols?

If you add Excel, you are no longer doing a non CO2/carbon enriched system.........may as well do water changes and dose Excel from then on........or address CO2.

And even if you kill the BBA in a non CO2 tank with Excel, once you stop adding it, it'll come back. Especially if you like doing weekly or once every 2 week water changes on the non CO2 tank(a bad idea). 

Regards, 
Tom Barr


----------



## mpodolan

I thought we were working under the assumption that it may have been the semi-frequent water changes (thus fluctuating co2 levels) that led to the BBA. So, if she kills the bba with excel and then reduces water changes to have a more stable low tech/non-co2 tank, wouldn't that help prevent the bba from coming back?

I guess I was conceptualizing it in a similar way as higher tech tanks. You can use the excel to get rid of the algae, and then get things (ferts, co2, lighting) in order to fix the root of the problem. Is this an incorrect assumption in this case, Tom?


----------



## RachPreach

yes im going to reduce the water changes. I have considered getting sae's but they are hard to find in atlanta suprisingly.


----------



## HankB

plantbrain said:


> Add an SAE.
> They chow this stuff unlike any other critter.


That's why I was excited to find SAEs at my LFS and bought 4 for my 55g tank last night. Today I noticed a large patch of BBA had been cleaned from an ornament. And that's while the SAEs are still in quarantine. Apparently at least one of my clown plecs has developed a taste for BBA. Tonight he cleared off another couple square inches. I caught him in the act by shining a flash light in the tank after dark. At this rate there may not be much left for the SAEs by the time they get out of quarantine. (There's other stuff for them to eat - noobs and their planted tanks being what they are.  )

I was just curious if this was isolated behavior or if it is possible that clown plecs are an overlooked tool to control BBA. This looks like it is up to 1/2" long so I was surprised he could eat so much.

-hank


----------



## RachPreach

how much did you pay for your sae?


----------



## mistergreen

I'm surprise they don't have SAEs in atlanta. They are hard to find here too but I do see them once in a while. You might want to check out the online stores.

They range from $5-$10 each.

Doing little water changes sure help out in Atlanta huh?
I have 2 low tech tanks and I change 10-20% whenever I feel like it.. Maybe once a month or 2... Lots of top offs.


----------



## @[email protected]

plantbrain said:


> Oddly, throughout this entire thread, one of the best solutions has never been mentioned for either a non CO2 nor a CO2 enriched tank with BBA.
> Add an SAE.
> They chow this stuff unlike any other critter.
> Why use herbicides when you can use biocontrols?
> 
> If you add Excel, you are no longer doing a non CO2/carbon enriched system.........may as well do water changes and dose Excel from then on........or address CO2.
> 
> And even if you kill the BBA in a non CO2 tank with Excel, once you stop adding it, it'll come back. Especially if you like doing weekly or once every 2 week water changes on the non CO2 tank(a bad idea).
> 
> Regards,
> Tom Barr


SAE dont like BBA. they may (emphasis on "may") eat BBA out of extreme hunger. otherwise they will just nibble on it between feedings. they are best for hair algea, thread algae, and other green soft algae.


----------



## Homer_Simpson

When I had all types of algae in my 40 gallon, including a bad case of black brush algae. I threw in a SAE and he totally destroyed it and the other algae.


----------



## @[email protected]

did he actively eat it? or did he just take a bite of bba, eat other algae for a few min, take another bite of bba...? 
if thats what they did then they did help get rid of it, but mostly by aiding the plants then hurting the bba (the get rid of other algae=healtheir plants=less algae in general).


----------



## Homer_Simpson

@[email protected] said:


> did he actively eat it? or did he just take a bite of bba, eat other algae for a few min, take another bite of bba...?
> if thats what they did then they did help get rid of it, but mostly by aiding the plants then hurting the bba (the get rid of other algae=healtheir plants=less algae in general).


From what I observed, s/he "grazed" on the BBA in much the same way that my otocat grazes on diatom algae.


----------



## iverson387

2morrow morning im turning the lights back on and uncovering the tank. Im gonna hope for the best. Will do a thorough cleaning also.


----------



## spinycheek

I have worked with marine and freshwater aquariums as well as lakes, all of which have algae. The main thing you should probably understand is that there will always be algae. You have to pick which kind you like best. 

Slight fluctuations in water chemistry will change the dominant species of algae. I had black beard algae and dropping the pH .2 points got rid of it. In return the short green fuzzy stuff came up on rocks (which I thought looked kind of like moss so I was happy).

When I do algae counts on lake water, small fluctuations such as pH and temperature completely change the dominant genus of algae and often the division going from chysophyte to diatom, or diatom to chlorophyte. It's all about fulfilling the niche.

In the case of planted tanks with high light and CO2, you are catering to the large plants which, because they are photosynthetic, compete with the algae and the plants fill the niche that the algae would have. 

So, play around a little with the water parameters and see what happens, it's a lot less invasive than dosing chemicals and it attacks the root cause.


----------



## plantbrain

@[email protected] said:


> did he actively eat it? or did he just take a bite of bba, eat other algae for a few min, take another bite of bba...?
> if thats what they did then they did help get rid of it, but mostly by aiding the plants then hurting the bba (the get rid of other algae=healtheir plants=less algae in general).


Having long watched SAE's over 15 + years now, they definitely eat BBA and make it tough for it to establish. I've seen it many times. This is hardly a new report, folks have long known this back before the Web even existed.
And with respect to non CO2 methods, this fish fits very well into the scheme of the approach.

I've seen them yank and pull BBA apart, they went after it.
Young fish work well, the older lage ones are lazy.
Are you sure you have a True SAE?

Most algae grows much slower in non CO2 plant tanks.
BBA should not grow either if you refrain from water changes(A common trait amongst non CO2 BBA sufferers).

Stop the water changes and add the fish.
Give it a few weeks/days.

Stabilize CO2=> no BBA.
So have enough if you add CO2 gas, or do not do water changes weekly etc in non CO2 tanks.

The hybrid method is Excel treatment and then taper off, you can do water changes routinely then(say if you have too many fish/not enough plants).

So there's 3 options for each and the SAE will do a good job in any of the systems.


----------



## waterfaller1

For me I have found manual removal works. As soon as I see a little tuft, I pull it. The last time I saw a ball of it, it was a much lighter color than previous ones. Does this say it's giving up the fight?


----------



## @[email protected]

it may be. it turns pale and falls of when bleached (at least IME).


----------



## RachPreach

well im still treating mine with h2o2 every other day. It is pretty white, i guess that means its dying?


----------



## hani

i have 29 g tank, been running for 2 years, last month balck algae came, i do have 2 SAE, so far nothing worked, 
i trimed as much as i can, co2 up to maximum, 3 power head plus filter.
method #1: excel x4 reomende does daily for 1 week, absloutly nothing happened, few of the hygro leafes died. but the plant came back, of coure with some bba
method#2, i did this for few plants, h2o2 path 1:10 nothing happened, did that for 3 days in raw. got so mad i tried it with 100% h2co2 will, the plant did not suffer , and the bba turned pale , did that for 3 days , then stoped, few days later the same spots of algae are back
method #3 tried some bleach 2:10 nothing.
today i did another water change, got so forestrated, i emptyied 100cc of h2o2 in the tank fish seems ok so far.
i don know what else to do.........
i gave up.


----------



## @[email protected]

here is my method. it took forever to see results, and it it was a year before i got fully rid of it, but i never came back in any of my tanks (and i propagated from the once infected tank to all the others at some point since then). 

it was in my eclipse 6 with 32 watts retrofitted in the hood. i was using a hagen CO2 system, eco complete substrate, and seachem fertz. what i did was get pressurized CO2, and bump the lighting a little bit. i kept the CO2 at 30 ppm. i then spot dosed excel and put in a total of 2 times the dose i should put in the whole tank. with so much lighting, carbon, and nutrients, the plants grew like mad. so did the BBA, but not as fast. so as my crypt grew a new leaf, i would trim off an infected one. i cut the stems, pulled out the bottoms, and replanted the tops. i got a baby SAE to help too. some shrimp also. basically, the BBA was slowly pulled out of the tank.


----------



## Saraja87

I killed some on my anubias completely by accident when I rescaped my tank. After I took all my plants out and put them in little dishes of water, I got called into work. I ended up getting home late so most of the plants didn't make it back into the tank till the next day. That night, I was looking at my anubias, and all the leaves that had been out of water had bright red bba! Two days later, it was gone. My guess is it really doesn't like dry conditions and if you take the plants out and leave them in a bit of water overnight, the algae dies off.


----------



## @[email protected]

yes. drying works. algae is aquatic, not marginal like "aquatic" plants. it drys out much faster. but the the leaf surfaces must be totally dry for a while (few hours at least, depends on the alga really). its fine for anubias, since anubias grow the same kind of foilage for emmersed and submersed; but many stems would probably dry up about as fast as the algae if they were growing in submerssed form. rossettes and rhizomes would be the most likely to survive.


----------



## plantbrain

If you keep good CO2 levels, you do not get BBA.
If you use moderate light, this makes keeping CO2 levels more stable, easier to to hit the target.

If you keep Anubias with high light, then you are asking for it, plant the Anubias in the darker areas where they are shaded if you have high light.

Adding Excel for 2-3 weeks can clear off what is there.
But you still need to learn the CO2 correctly.
If you claim otherwise, you need to go back and reconsider CO2 till you get it right.

The cause/cure has been known for a decade now.
You can fiddle with peroxide, spot treatments, bleach etc.

But unless you address the real issue, it's not going to get better and you can keep suffering for months, years with BBA instead of focusing more on growth of plants. It might take 2-4 weeks to see results in some cases, but you should see results.

For all the carrying on about NO3 testing, PO4 test etc, few measure CO2 with the same zeel even though it's 90-95% of all algae related issues.

Never once have I ever been able to induce BBA with anything other than reduced CO2. and after having done it many times, and each time I've seen it in folks I've helped, it must be in the range of *100+ aquariums* over 10+ years, many light/tank set ups........ every time without fail, it was CO2 related.

Every time.
Those are serious statistics.

Why would I lie about this?
Why don't I have BBA?
I know BBA is one of the more frustrating issues for folks, but I suffered for 2 years like all of you till I figured out how to use CO2 correctly. No issues since.


Regards, 
Tom Barr


----------



## flanders

I recently started seeing BBA in my 55 gal when I increased the lights from 1 to 2 watts/gal, without changing (enough) CO2. I got a drop checker, cranked the CO2 up, a lot more than I would have without the drop checker, and in 4 days started seeing decreases in BBA and for that matter GSA. 

I think plants just out compete algae if CO2 is not the limiting nutrient.


----------



## @[email protected]

exactly. my 20l had fish problems (parasites) and cyano the past few monthes. i stopped dosing and trimming and everything. my plant grew like mad. my nitrates are 0. i havent changed the water in ages, and that is what gets more P into my tank. i didnt dose and K in ages. not to mention micros. but my CO2 is on a ph controller, and dig this, my cyano went away. plants need the right light and CO2, and if you give them the right range of those 2, they have a huge range for the rest in which they will defeat algae.


----------

