black beard algae help

[Loginthesand]

i know this might be a bit of a silly question but i have been having one crap time with black beard in my 240gal ive got large predatory fish in there including an ornate bichir and a silver arowana, so Siamese algae eaters just get swallowed. anyone got ideas/suggestions.

 

[Loginthesand]

not a great photo but you can see it all over the wood next to my severum.

 

[bbortko]

Lots of water changes and new lamps usually do the trick for me. My usually wc is 50% weekly, when I have hair algae I do 25% a day for a week or two. It is also a sign my lights aren't as strong as they used to be so my plants aren't consuming as many nutrients which opens the door for algae.

 

[Loginthesand]

thanks ill look into some better lamps. whats the idea behind so many water change, is there excess nutrient in my tank? im currently doing 25% weekly.

 

[bbortko]

your plants consume nutrients in the water. When the tank is in perfect harmony there is just enough nutrients for the plants to consume, extra nutrients lead to algae. It like how your burn x amounts of calories a day if you stop being as active but take in the same calories you get fat, algae is the tanks fat.

 

[Loginthesand]

great thanks, ill start uping my water changes