Morphine Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) So my planted tank and I have been battling beard algae for the past little while and I can't seem to get rid of it, I've removed all the affected leaves and what not but it just keeps coming back. I guess this is where my question comes in - Will a 3-4 day black out completely get rid of this algae? Also anyone have any other tips to wipe this nuisance out of my aquarium. This could be a case of brush algae as well. I think as a last resort i'm going to treat all affectted plants with a 1-19 bleach water solution. Edited January 3, 2011 by Morphine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) more co2..less light usually its caused by low or fluctuating co2 levels...so in order decrease co2 demand lower lighting or add more co2 Edited January 3, 2011 by ubr0ke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gBOYsc2 Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Along with adding CO2 I would use excel. When I had a bba problem last year I added a bunch of stem plants, upped the co2 and double dosed excel and voila... it slowly disappeared over the course of a couple weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherlock Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Here is something that I came across in my research for treating a tank without using meds, apparently it works wonders for clearing up algae. Hydrogen Peroxide :boxed: http://www.aquarticles.com/articles/plants/Podio_Algae_Hydrogen_Peroxide.html There are alot of sites and forums talking about using this method, so if you have time to do the research it may be something to consider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaykit Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 I've been having issues the last couple weeks with some algae as well. After searching up some info and trying to find out how to win the battle, i found that if you have BBA(Black beard algae) that means that your phosphates are low in your tank. I know that it takes more than a couple weeks to concern the battle and bring a tank back into balance. I'm unsure if you dose ferts, light schedule, or other details so general based suggestions are: 1. Keep on top of removing the "infected" areas, together with daily partial water changes for 4-5 days to bring your levels back even with each other. Then return to 2. Try the black out method. 3. Bleach. 4. Test and dose ferts to balance out the missing macro nutrients. 5. Algae eating fish or inverts. (amano shrimp, chinese algae eater) Try any or all of the suggestions, one may work for someone and not for another person. There is lots of other methods that people have posted online as well as a tonne of information on all types of algae if you still can't beat it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corrosionjerry Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Black Beard Algae is bad bad bad.... I had it once in a planted tank and the only way I could get rid of it was to start from scratch and pay careful attention to the balance of the tank as Jaykit mentions. In a tank with no plant it can be looked after by one of those common plecos that they sell in PS etc. they seem to love that stuff / Bristlenose dont seem to like it so much. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnytens Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 i bought a couple true siamese algae eaters and they ate the stuff like crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Spot treatment with Excel has worked for me, and as jonnytens says, SAE are great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 If low CO2 is supposed to be a cause then why does it grow directly in my co2 output flow? The only place I have BBA in my tank is on my co2 powerhead and on a piece of driftwood that receives a direct co2 mist. The 2 places that have the most co2 in my tank. I just find it weird since everything always says increase the co2 to kill BBA yet in my tank that doesn't seem to matter. I've even tried dropping my powdered KNO3 directly onto the BBA area and that did nothing too. But I agree on the SAE. Get a couple young ones and they will help keep the BBA under control. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 (edited) Val...the reason for a co2 increase is so that the plants out compete the bba to keep bba off their leaves. Your talking about bba on equiptment and thats a whole different thing...thats a lighting issue...Im willing to bet money there is some intense light on your power head and driftwood...and since your equiptment does not compete for nutrients with algae, the algae wins..spot treatments with excel are your best bet. co2 does not kill algae. Non limiting plant growth does that. By non-limiting I mean..macros, micros and carbon are at approppiate levels/ CO2 range 25-35ppmNO3 range 5-30ppm K+ range 10-30ppm PO4 range 1.0-3.0 ppm Fe 0.2-0.5ppm GH range 3 degrees ~ 50ppm or higher Edited January 3, 2011 by ubr0ke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Val...the reason for a co2 increase is so that the plants out compete the bba to keep bba off their leaves. Your talking about bba on equiptment and thats a whole different thing...thats a lighting issue...Im willing to bet money there is some intense light on your power head and driftwood...and since your equiptment does not compete for nutrients with algae, the algae wins..spot treatments with excel are your best bet. co2 does not kill algae. Non limiting plant growth does that. By non-limiting I mean..macros, micros and carbon are at approppiate levels/ Thanks, that makes more sense. I thought the BBA just didn't like higher co2 levels. Now I see why it only grows on the 2 places that don't have plants covering them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 Val...the reason for a co2 increase is so that the plants out compete the bba to keep bba off their leaves. Your talking about bba on equiptment and thats a whole different thing...thats a lighting issue...Im willing to bet money there is some intense light on your power head and driftwood...and since your equiptment does not compete for nutrients with algae, the algae wins..spot treatments with excel are your best bet. co2 does not kill algae. Non limiting plant growth does that. By non-limiting I mean..macros, micros and carbon are at approppiate levels/ Thanks, that makes more sense. I thought the BBA just didn't like higher co2 levels. Now I see why it only grows on the 2 places that don't have plants covering them. In all the research I have did for planted tanks I think too much light is the cause for most peoples algae problems..With high light you need alot of co2 in order to not limit plant growth... Just a challange to everyone who has algae isssues.. Raise your light 6 inches higher then you have it right now. In doing this your actually lowering the co2 intake needed for good plant growth. Less light=Less co2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timbruun Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 I had a bunch of algae problems in my one tank. I have a T5HO with 2 bulbs on a 90gal. All I did was take out one of the bulbs and problem solved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jewels Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 BBA is strange stuff. It is sturdy. Even if this algae is not blooming; the skeletons can remain to be seen for weeks afterwards. Every aquarium is different but , , , In my tank with extreme high light and abundant C02 the BBA can be used as an indicator. If I start to see BBA, I increase KNO3. Even with 10+ W/G this regime reliably keeps the beard @ bay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ubr0ke Posted January 3, 2011 Report Share Posted January 3, 2011 so what your saying is when kno3 is limiting you get bba in which case you do not get non limiting plant growth until you add kno3. All ferts must be non limiting before co2 even matters. Use E.I. and if you get algae its lights & co2....simple.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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