Black beard algae
- Thread starter Yayo32
- Start date
Honestly blackbeard will grow in any tank since algal spores are everywhere. Best bet would be to cut infected parts off then soak in a weak bleach solution (I use baby bottle sterilizer) but make sure it is unscented. Leave them for 15-30 minutes then rinse well before adding to your tanks. Hope this helps!
You'll always get algae. I also used bristlenose plecos, snails, shrimp, and otocinclus catfish to get rid of algae, but they'll also produce their own waste you have to take care of. You could also get a uv sterilizer, but I don't know much about those other than they can help prevent algae.
A UV clarifier is all you need for algae, but to kill pathogens etc, then you need a decent UV sterilizer...
Neither are really necessary though, especially on smaller setups unless you are extremely fussy about your water or you have some very expensive / sensitive fish prone to diseases....
Late reply.
UV will only help with free floating algae once it is attached to a surface UV will do nothing.
The easiest way to control adding things on plants would be to kill the pest before you add the plants.
You can make a weak bleach solution and soak the plants in it for a few minutes.
Another way to kill BB algae is to pat the plant dry and spray the BB with hydrogen peroxide.
With either treatment you should rinse well with fresh water before you add to your tank.
I will add that peroxide is quite a bit safer and can be used in the tank.
You lower the water level below the BB algae and spray it with HP wait a few minutes and fill the tank.
The HP will just break down into it’s main components, Hydrogen and Oxygen =water
You should always be able to control algae by limiting lights on time, not overfeeding and keeping up on water changes.
In terms of keeping glass, hard and softscape clean, the best critters I've kept that do that are BN plecos. Just gotta make sure to not keep males and females or you'll eventually have more than you want. You have to feed them sinking veggies and pellets too of course and like all plecos, they are poop machines.
In terms of keeping glass, hard and softscape clean, the best critters I've kept that do that are BN plecos. Just gotta make sure to not keep males and females or you'll eventually have more than you want. You have to feed them sinking veggies and pellets too of course and like all plecos, they are poop machines.
Algae spores are always there, and there is no way you can eliminate them. What you need is to provide is a balanced environment for plants that out compete algae. Spray the infected plants with 3% peroxide to kill existing bba, which will turn red and algae eaters will consume it. If bba comes back, dose Seachem excel daily to control bba while you have to improve environment for healthy plant growth.
Depending on the size of the tank, I'd say get some Siamese Algae Eaters (SAEs). I've got a small crew of SAEs that take care of any BBA that comes into the tank. They do such a good job that they also like to jump into my overflows and sump to keep up anything that slips down there.
What about green string algae. I’ve got dozens of algae eaters that keep everything spotless except for green string algae. I have no signs of anything else except the day after a trim/waterchange as the plants seem to take a day to get started again. It just tangles up my mosses and I can’t physically remove it. Had to remove the mosses eventually because they were a reserve.