Black Bearded Nightmare

[happygirl65]

Well I am visiting my MIL and doing tank mainentance which she has gotten behind on with the planting season...and she has a BAD outbreak of Black Beard Algae.

It's a 10 gallon tank, river gravel and sand substrate, rocks are pretty much covered in BBA.

Tank is in a green house so right off I know that too much light is a likely culprit.
I was able to clean the tank...turn over the rocks that are completely covered, stir things around to try and cover the other rocks, took some out completely....the plants are pretty much java ferns at this point, not much else.
I have done an excel overdose 3 times dosage and it does seem to be dying off a bit but I am not sure if it will tryly get rid of it.
The only thing in the tank now is a dwarf frog...she says there is a chinese algae eater but I haven't seen it.
Any suggestions to get rid of the algae and keep it low tech? I was thinking a 3 day blackout...just not sure if there is really a solution that wouldn't involve taking the tank out of the greenhouse.

 

[happygirl65]

***oh yeah....and I already did a peroxide dip which did nothing. not sure why.

 

[BigJim]

You could paint the back and the sides of the tank to prevent natural light from getting into the tank. BBA is a royal pain. A steady supply of CO2 is the best way to control BBA.

 

[happygirl65]

That's a good idea I will have to suggest it to her

 

[littlefish]

Another methos is to introduce in the aquarium some SAE (siamese algae eater) , they are good eaters of BBA.

 

[JustOneMore20]

10g is a bit small for SAE long term though...and after they were taken out of the tank, the BBA might return. Its better to fix the problem IMO so that it won't return.

I would do a blackout...but it too might be at temporary fix. Painting the sides and back could help though. I would give that a shot and then if it doesn't help, maybe she would consider moving the tank inside.

 

[Smitty]

I wish I could tell you what to do but I've been fighting BBA in my tank for 2 years... and I am using CO2. I've tried black outs (up to 5 days), I have CO2 on and I'm balancing ferts out but still no luck. Using excell helped once but when I stopped using it they bounced right back. If you figure it out, let me know

 

[Slagator]

I have heard that steady co2 helps fight it as well, but even with that I still have the BBA. I have been fighting it for a while in a 10g planted and it is winning. I remove as much as i can by hand from the glass, filters, plants, and gravel but it does come back. It is slowed drastically by frequent water changes though. I have read that it feeds on some part of fish waste, like nitrates or phosphates and does not photosynthesize. I also read somewhere that the co2 is just feeding the plants which in turn use up more of whatever the BBA is using as food, so I am trying faster growing plants, co2, 3 watts per gallon, high water flow, and frequent water changes. The BBA is not nearly as bad now as it has been in the past.

 

[Smitty]

Hydrogen peroxide placed directly onto the BBA will kill it very fast. I have to pour it right on the BBA though, not while it is under water.

Recently I ran out of CO2. I've lowered my ferts but have kept my lights on. Surprisingly the BBA hasn't run out of control yet...

 

[Slagator]

I also have driftwood that had BBA on it and I put it in boiling water which killed it with no chemicals. I was worried that it would absorb anything that I used.

Its funny that you mentioned hydrogen peroxide because I just finished using it to clean corrosion off of one of my ballasts.

 

[randy0319]

If this helps...My sources have told me that BBA is caused by an overdose of iron in the water column. Here in SLC utah our water is mineral rich and that can be a problem. I deal with it as well, but I have heard (wild rumours) that reverse Osmosis water has no innate nutirents in it and you have to re-add the necessary nutrients,minerals etc into the R.O. water column. This might help since- at least for us in Salt lake valley- even the local fish shops have to contend with BBA so maybe try R.O. water in your tanks and then dose with the appropriate amounts of macro and micro nutirents...and maybe go cold turkey on the iron supplements. I guess it is a "one a day for women" thing..not for us fish folk. I hope that helps and best of luck...I am in the same boat and have just started R.O. water.---R