Black beard algae

[Vilardz3190]

Hey guys I have black beard algae in my tank. Starting to grow on rocks and drift wood but it's defiantly at its early stages. It's not full blown craziness. I scrap the glass everyday. It's starting to grow on my plants. I'm not a happy camper. Willing to try anything but I would not want to decommission the tank bc I have nowhere to put everyone. I do have some ferts from green leaf aquariums. Willing to do anything!


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[Hoplo]

Dosing CO2 will kill it, and black line flying foxes will eat the young stuff, that is my experience at least.
So I would start with dosing sechem flourish excel, depending on what your stocking is like I would dose somewhere between1.5-2, but it is dangerous dosing that high so you have to watch your fish carefully for stress.

 

[jstehman]

Decreasing your lighting intensity/duration should be step 1.

Co2 will not."kill" this algae.. it provides carbon for your plants to use for growth.

Are you doing regular water changes? Beard algae loves built up organics. Also having better oxygen exchange at the surface is important. A slight ripple or a bubbler to break up surface tension.



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[Hoplo]

I disagree with you saying that it won't kill it. When I dosed excel about 1.5X to my tank when it had a bad outbreak with in 2 days the algae had changed colour to purplish and was dead. The simese algae eater has stopped it ever coming back.

 

[jstehman]

Hydrogen peroxide will kill it though.

Turn off your filter/powerhead.

Draw it up in a syringe and squirt directly on the algae and let it bubble for a few minutes. Restart your filters.

Dont go crazy though.. do daily treatments with water changes and the algae will turn red and die within a few days.

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[jstehman]

Excel is not co2. Its glutaraldehyde. Which is an antiseptic.

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[Vilardz3190]

Will any type of fertilizers kill them? I have tons of dry ferts.


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[jstehman]

Ferts wont kill it. But they will help your plants to grow, which in turn outcompetes the algae.

The only way to destroy it is take out all hardscape items and bleach them or hydrogen peroxide them. Rinse thoroughly!

Excel can be costly if you can't fix the conditions that lead to bba.. it will just keep coming back. I've been keeping mine at bay for a while now with pressurized co2 and decreased lighting with ferts and regular 50% water changes.


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[Aquaticfan]

I disagree with you saying that it won't kill it. When I dosed excel about 1.5X to my tank when it had a bad outbreak with in 2 days the algae had changed colour to purplish and was dead. The simese algae eater has stopped it ever coming back.

Co2 and excel are 2 totally different things. Excel is a chemical. Its real name is glutaraldehyde. Its a sterilization agent actually used in the medical field. I buy it in gallon jugs and make my own excel compound. Glutaraldehyde, does have some chemical properties that feed plants a "form" of carbon. Not to be confused with co2. Read on seachem's website and they even tell you its not Co2.

The reason why it kills bba is the same reason it can kill other things. Its a chemical compound above all for sterilization.



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[Aquaticfan]

Decreasing your lighting intensity/duration should be step 1.

Co2 will not."kill" this algae.. it provides carbon for your plants to use for growth.

Are you doing regular water changes? Beard algae loves built up organics. Also having better oxygen exchange at the surface is important. A slight ripple or a bubbler to break up surface tension.



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Totally agree 100% with both your posts.

The biggest thing to do is correct the issues that cause the problem. The number 1 being light. Intensity and duration. Next is water quality. Next is in a planted tank balance with not having deficiency of nutrients vs light vs real co2

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