BLACK BEARD ALGAE PLEASE HELP!

[ABCGIO]

So I have been battling black beard algae for about 2-3 months now. It hasn't really gotten out of control because I have a small BN pleco and a 9-10inch pleco eating the stuff. I have had so many mixed recommendations on how to deal with it, all of which said to use flourish excel. I was first told to use it at the recommended dose but after 3 or so months, it hasn't really helped. Then I was told to use the initial dose every day which would be 9 caps per day and the algae would soon be gone but it clearly says DO NOT OVERDOSE. I really just want to find the balance and get rid of the algae naturally.

So I have a 90 gal tank with approx 160watts of light which makes just about 2wpg. I do not have a plant substrate yet (just gravel) and I stopped adding everything except excel. I used to have a DIY co2 system with 3 2Litre pop bottles but I was told to get rid of it as it would create fluctuating levels and i used to add tailored aquatics ferts once a week.

If you have any other questions please let me know. The best suggestion that kills the BBA wins 10,000 points.

[MSD]

You haven't said what it is growing on, best way to get rid of it is scrubing it off any rocks it is on from what I've read. People have boiled and/or baked the rock too. Tough stuff.

[joshvito]

You haven't said what it is growing on, best way to get rid of it is scrubing it off any rocks it is on from what I've read. People have boiled and/or baked the rock too. Tough stuff.

+1, the best way to get rid of it is manual removal. Scrub your hardscape, and trim the affected plants.
You can try spot treating (turn filters/pumps off and squirt with a eyedropper) with Hydrogen Peroxide, but you need to be careful, because too much will harm your plants.

[Williamsonfisheries]

http://milwaukeeaquariumsociety.com/forum/index.php?threads/black-beard-algae.1533/#post-7360
Check out this thread. On one of the aquarium societies I am in we had a member just go through this and he bought a fish that ate all the black beard algae in like 2 days and its in with dicus and his problem went away. 2 types of fish listed in here that are common that eat it like crazy.

Dan

[troysdiiscus]

I feel you pain went through the same issue. Man that is the nastiest of all algae that you can get!!! No matter how much you dose with Excel not going to be effective. The problem lies in how you got it. The DIY system you have does put co2 in your tank but the amounts are different from day to day, when you first charge your system, comes out strong, then fizzles out in couple of weeks. without a pressure system hard to get levels constant. So you will have to breakdown your filter supply lines fixtures and disinfect them all, cause its still present in your system. For the plants dip them for 20 secs to start in 3% peroxide h2o2 and put back in water, if bba turns white your good if not do again and add 10 secs to it. Some plants will and might melt.....you have the nucleaur bomb of algae, its nasty. Good luck..

[GrayLadyPat]

From what I have read about it, it doesn't really matter HOW you got it, it will be hard to get rid of once it's in your tank. Short of tearing it down and bleaching everything, it will always be there.

One of the things that help it grow is fluctuations in the CO2 levels. With the amount of wc's we do for Discus, it only exacerbates the problem. I have scrubbed all of my decorations, and removed the most seriously affected plants, but I still have it in my tank. It seems to be under control (in other words, not multiplying) but I still have it. There is one place in my tank that it's actually kind of pretty, waving in the current...

My plecs don't touch the stuff...lol

If it gets out of hand, I will probably end up doing a teardown some time this spring when it's not 12 degrees outside.

[ABCGIO]

Thanks for all the suggestions. If i get enough plants, will they be able to out compete the black beard? I don't think i will be able to spot treat because it is on everything, not very much but its there. Would it be easiest to just re-start the whole tank? maybe wash everything in hydrogen peroxide? or take all the fish out and dump a bottle of excel in there? I only have 2 discus and they are making it very difficult to overdose anything because they are finneky.

[chipster55]

My personal experience with BBA has been a learning experience. IMO C02 is the key. I have pressurized C02 in all my planted tanks. My errors were as follows:

1. Lack of regular maintenance. Weekly water changes will keep it in check or knock it back
2. Dose excel directly on affected areas. I have a syringe and take equipment out, dose it, let it sit for about 5 minutes and then put it back in aquarium. If they are on plants you need to prune the leaves that it has gotten on. It may take awhile to do this but once it's on a leaf it won't come off. I know of no creatures that will eat and get rid of BBA. I have not tried the critters mentioned above. I have RCS, Bristlenose and Sterbies which do not help. Be careful dosing with livestock in tank. I accidentally gassed 5 chichlids once by trying to use syringe on everything while in water. Definately overdid it.
3. Keeping a consistent level of C02 has been the biggest help for my tanks. My drop checkers are medium to light green and I have not had an outbreak since. There will always be a little bit in my tanks, mainly on driftwood, but not a problem at all.

This is the method that has worked very successfully for me. Putting more plants in tank might help some but my outbreak came in a heavily planted tank. I wouldn't think you would have to do a total tear down to get your problem fixed but I haven't seen pics of your tank. Mine was pretty bad but by taking the above steps I cured my problem without a tear down.

[Dubiadiscus]

I started to have the same problem with BBA. I continued to us excel but i also picked up 3 otto cats and 3 siamese algae eaters these guys eat the algae of the plants without harming the leaving and i must say they are eating machines. I will take some pictures and post them ASAP!!! As far as the excel make sure you use 2 cap full everyday for a week and then week 2 increase your dose too 3 cap full daily seeing that it is a 90 gallon tank. You want to make sure you increase it slowly and don't overdose like it says. I hope this Helps Good Luck.
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