Black Hair Algae

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bkiggy

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Have this THICK, BBA, on my driftwood. Will boiling it Kill it ??


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Have this THICK, BBA, on my driftwood. Will boiling it Kill it ??


Sent from my iPad using Aquarium Advice


Yes, boiling will kill it. I've found that when you return it to the tank, it will gradually turn gray or white and slough off.
If you choose to leave the DW in the tank, spot treating with hydrogen peroxide will also kill it


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I just used piping hot water out of my tap. I scrubbed it off with a dish scrubber, let it dry and put it back.

Just BE SURE to check for any of your precious snails..... RIP my first assassin snail
 
I completely took apart my tank , scrubbed off all bba, boiled it, scrubbed it again, month later - grow in back. FML!
I have excel, flourish advanced, co2 tablets.
HELP
 
I completely took apart my tank , scrubbed off all bba, boiled it, scrubbed it again, month later - grow in back. FML!
I have excel, flourish advanced, co2 tablets.
HELP

Algae is always driven by excess light. What model? Tank size? How long are they on?

Are you dosing excel daily as per recommended?

Flourish Advance doesn't have much in it..... Plants will likely need more than what you are dosing.
 
Algae is always driven by excess light. What model? Tank size? How long are they on?

Are you dosing excel daily as per recommended?

Flourish Advance doesn't have much in it..... Plants will likely need more than what you are dosing.
The plants are doing great!!!! The BBA is a pain..... I have a 30 gallon Cube it's 18 in deep I have 15 live plants I cannot gravel vac because I use aquavitro plant substrate like a mud the light fixture is a finnex 24/7 CC SE, I have it specially program for Me. so it is not on 24/7 it is on currently from 9 to 6ish. it was on from 6 to 6 and I cut it back in half cuz the Black Beard algae starting to grow from 9 a.m. to 12, it is on red light only 12 to 3 it is on from white & Green, and from 3 to 6 it is purple. the light fixtures specific RGB. What plants need to grow.
Excel, flourish, flourish advanced, co2 tablets from Japan.
I did a lot of research on what plants need to grow strong roots to grow strong vibrant leaves there's a fine balance between grow the plants/ grow the algae.
Fluval 206 is the filter to canister I have extreme multiparticle sponges made by blue sea? I have phosphate reducing material in it I have a tray of Bio media a tray of chemical media and a tray of purigen
 
The plants are doing great!!!! The BBA is a pain..... I have a 30 gallon Cube it's 18 in deep I have 15 live plants I cannot gravel vac because I use aquavitro plant substrate like a mud the light fixture is a finnex 24/7 CC SE, I have it specially program for Me. so it is not on 24/7 it is on currently from 9 to 6ish. it was on from 6 to 6 and I cut it back in half cuz the Black Beard algae starting to grow from 9 a.m. to 12, it is on red light only 12 to 3 it is on from white & Green, and from 3 to 6 it is purple. the light fixtures specific RGB. What plants need to grow.
Excel, flourish, flourish advanced, co2 tablets from Japan.
I did a lot of research on what plants need to grow strong roots to grow strong vibrant leaves there's a fine balance between grow the plants/ grow the algae.
Fluval 206 is the filter to canister I have extreme multiparticle sponges made by blue sea? I have phosphate reducing material in it I have a tray of Bio media a tray of chemical media and a tray of purigen

I think the inconsistent CO2 and inconsistent fertilizers may be triggering the algae growth. You'll want to keep PO4 around or slightly higher than 0.5ppm, so with your PO4 removal media is likely at 0ppm.

If it were my tank, I would cut the light back to just 6 hours a day at 50% intensity for a while, all colors on. I would remove the PO4 media and look into keeping NO3 around 10-20ppm, PO4 at 0.5-1.0ppm and ensure potassium and micros are available as well. I would stop using the CO2 tablets, I'm not sure they do too much unfortunately, and spot treat with H2O2 and Excel/remove as much as possible (including badly infested leaves). I would dose Excel at the recommended rate daily (if not up to 1.5 x the recommended rate).

I would then place some root tabs under sword/crypt/crinum/other "root feeders" to give them a boost.

I would also clean that filter every week or every other week at most because that extreme multi particle sponge is trapping a lot of organic waste that will sit and rot away in the filter... Better to remove it and get those organics out of the water, algae loves decomposing organic waste.

What chemical media are you using? You stated PO4 reducer and Purigen, what else is in the filter?
 
I think the inconsistent CO2 and inconsistent fertilizers may be triggering the algae growth. You'll want to keep PO4 around or slightly higher than 0.5ppm, so with your PO4 removal media is likely at 0ppm.

If it were my tank, I would cut the light back to just 6 hours a day at 50% intensity for a while, all colors on. I would remove the PO4 media and look into keeping NO3 around 10-20ppm, PO4 at 0.5-1.0ppm and ensure potassium and micros are available as well. I would stop using the CO2 tablets, I'm not sure they do too much unfortunately, and spot treat with H2O2 and Excel/remove as much as possible (including badly infested leaves). I would dose Excel at the recommended rate daily (if not up to 1.5 x the recommended rate).

I would then place some root tabs under sword/crypt/crinum/other "root feeders" to give them a boost.

I would also clean that filter every week or every other week at most because that extreme multi particle sponge is trapping a lot of organic waste that will sit and rot away in the filter... Better to remove it and get those organics out of the water, algae loves decomposing organic waste.

What chemical media are you using? You stated PO4 reducer and Purigen, what else is in the filter?
OMG. I clean the canister every other month!!!! Water changes 50% every week .
Ammonia remover, clearblue? Carbon replaced every 3 months, zeocarb
 
OMG. I clean the canister every other month!!!! Water changes 50% every week .
Ammonia remover, clearblue? Carbon replaced every 3 months, zeocarb


Any specific reason for the carbon, ammonia remover and zeocarb?


First two things anyway is to turn down the lights and remove as much organics from the tank as possible.

You can also get some floating plants to help with nutrient uptake and light reduction.
 
Any specific reason for the carbon, ammonia remover and zeocarb?


First two things anyway is to turn down the lights and remove as much organics from the tank as possible.

You can also get some floating plants to help with nutrient uptake and light reduction.
I like ammonia removers. And carbons. ..... what floating plants? I've never had good luck with floaters
 
red root floaters, dwarf water lettuce, frog bit, salvinia are all good floating plants. Best bet is to remove organics before they have a change to decompose, but the floating plants should help.

Tools in the algae fighting tool box:
Reduce light (intensity and photoperiod)
More water changes
Clean filters regularily
Remove mulm / detritus from tank
Manual removal + spot treat with H2O2 / Excel
Increase plant mass
Get on a good fertilizing program for plants
Dose Seachem Excel / glut
Pick up a shrimp + oto crew (or plec / SAE)
 
red root floaters, dwarf water lettuce, frog bit, salvinia are all good floating plants. Best bet is to remove organics before they have a change to decompose, but the floating plants should help.

Tools in the algae fighting tool box:
Reduce light (intensity and photoperiod)
More water changes
Clean filters regularily
Remove mulm / detritus from tank
Manual removal + spot treat with H2O2 / Excel
Increase plant mass
Get on a good fertilizing program for plants
Dose Seachem Excel / glut
Pick up a shrimp + oto crew (or plec / SAE)
I have a pleco, snails, and shrimp
 
Spot treat [target] one particular area for three days with the excel or H202.
It will turn red then die before your eyes.
Keep filter running during treatments.
1ml per G of hydrogen peroxide [US 3 %] should work out fine .You can try 1/2 dose and see if it works first .H202 last less then 24 hours.
As an algae killer[edit | edit source]
Concentrations of around 60ml of 3% H2O2 (30ml of 6%, 15ml of 9%) in a 250 Litres (66US G.) tank directly applied (usually via a syringe) slowly over 5 minutes onto a clump of algae will kill it and then rapidly be diluted and converted into harmless oxygen and water. Observe the results and wait 48 hours before applying any more. Plants may be effected.
Over dosing will kill snails, shrimps, frogs, and fish!
Taken from ;
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...gen_peroxide&usg=AOvVaw05tMFJKBpmAijPL-t27nuX
I use without fear but have no shrimp..
6 hours on light I agree with also..

Crypts don't like H202 at all....
 
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