Black hair algae? How do i get rid of it?

[Impulse09]

My tank recently has had a bad outbreak of black hair algae.
My tank is a 29 gallon with 2 sets of marineland double bright lights. I keep one on only, lately because of the algae. My levels are good my nitrates are about 40 ppm. Plants are 2 rotula, hornwort, and a sword. My stock list is

6 peppered cities
Bn pleco
6 diamond tetras
2 dwarf neon rainbow fish
2 platys
7 neon tetras
1bolivian ram
1dwarf yellow honey guorami

I want to upgrade my lighting to a t5 fixture from corallife because with one set of lights on I feel the tank looks dark. I think this light would not help with the algae problem. My tank does not have co2.

 

[Impulse09]

Coralife Aqualight High Output FRESHWATER T5 Aquarium Lighting Fixture 2X39W 36 inch Coralife T5 HO

Is this a good light for my tank? 39 watts ok?

 

[revchristinejday]

Dear Impulse09,

My deepest sympathy with the black beard algae. It's tough. Usually it is the result of too much light and too little CO2. If it is only a slight infestation one might be able to get rid of it with scraping off all the BBA one can and then a 2-3 blackout. Then when it's gone try reducing the hours of light or put a blackout period in the middle of the day. It interrupts the photosnythesis cycle.

If you have more BBA, once again scrape off the BBA from the plants. Put them (probably not the hortwort, the Excel might melt it) in a tub with a cover--black out--and Flourish Excel. Flourish Excel is a source of carbon for the plants and if used in a high dose acts as an algaecide. Check after three days. If not gone, 3 more days of dosing...

I did this with my 125 gallon tank and plants. It took a week. I have continued using Excel per the bottle's directions and the BBA has not come back!!

The only algae eater that eats BBA is a siamese algae eater...
Good luck,
Chris