the beard of death

[livefishguy124]

so i have black beard algae growing all over my planted tank, i have 1 sae and he isn't doing much, help. its killing my vallisenarea.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

1. Your lights are probably no for to long

2. What size tank?

3. More info about your ferts and stuff please...

4. get a q-tip or a seringe and spot treat with Glut/Excel

 

[Mattfinn]

Yeah as mentioned cutting light time is the most likely cause. I had BBA in a 5g that I had running on the same timer as my main tank. I placed it on a separate timer for an two hours less and It went in a week.

 

[livefishguy124]

ok, my lights are on for a long time (17 hr) going to cut it to 14. its a 29 gallon hevily planted, no fertaliser or co2 yet going to get some on the 7th of march.
do you think i should get more sae or what else will help?

 

[Mattfinn]

14hrs!?! Cut it to 8 with a two hour interval. Mine are only on for 7.5 hours a day and that's where I have my balance at.

 

[TheresaM]

I got a lot of good advice on my thread if you want to check it out.

 

[Angela1108]

I would cut it waaaay back! That's double the amount of light needed! I would almost say cut it to 6-7 hours


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[livefishguy124]

can plants live with that? can plants get to much light?

 

[Angela1108]

Yup they can. Plants only really use 6-8 hours worth of light- and a few days with less isn't going to kill them. Anything over the 6-8 hours you are just growing algae


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[livefishguy124]

Yup they can. Plants only really use 6-8 hours worth of light- and a few days with less isn't going to kill them. Anything over the 6-8 hours you are just growing algae


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im shortining to 12 hr a day see if it helps

 

[Angela1108]

You can try but that's still a really long time and probably won't help much unless you shorten it more


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[GlennJ]

beard of death

Yes, shorten the lighting duration. Had the same problem, go to 7-8 hours. Split it into 2 periods of 3.5-4.0 with 4 or 5 hours of darkness in between. Helped a lot.

 

[ScaryFatKidGT]

It depends on the brightness, plants only get direct sunlight for 8 hours a day the rest of the day its blocked by trees or land or the river bank. I'm going to have a ramp timer or something so I can have like 4 hours of dim light followed by 6 hours of high light and then another 4 houres of dim

 

[F.Sam]

Heed this advice.. I don't know what gave you the thought of putting on the lights 17h straight, must be stressful for the fish as well.


Sent per three-eyed raven..

 

[pittbully13]

Like everyone has stated already, cutting you light back will help you fight your algae problem. I have a 29g heavily planted tank and I run my lights for six hrs with great results. I would also recommend cutting older leaves/stems/plants to get rid most of the BBA manually. To try to keep it under control until your co2 arrives , which will help control as well, you could spot treat with hydrogen peroxide or glut ( Glutaraldehyde) or seachem excel which is liquid carbon source and works as an algaecide.

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[keegster803]

+1 for the spot treating with hydrogen peroxide


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[livefishguy124]

so this is making me curios how dose fertilizers/liquid co2 help plants and kill algae it seams so wrong science the both are basically living of the same stuff. is valisanaria OK with ferts/co2 what plants can't live with co2/ferts?

 

[Sk3lly]

so this is making me curios how dose fertilizers/liquid co2 help plants and kill algae it seams so wrong science the both are basically living of the same stuff. is valisanaria OK with ferts/co2 what plants can't live with co2/ferts?

All plants live with co2 and ferts! They are essential to healthy plant growth.

Your current tank water will contain co2 which is replenished through water changes/surface agitation. The level of co2 is very very low though.

When plants are given lots of light they will also require more co2 and nutrients. If these are not available then the plant will become unhealthy. Unhealthy plant tissue will degrade/rot, releasing ammonia and other nutrients. Algae will attach to these damaged plant tissues and feed off the leaching ammonia. This ammonia is at such a small level it will not register on your test kit.

Your tank will not improve until you lower your lighting level to balance with the co2 and nutrient levels available in your tank.

In my opinion you have a lot of research to do, not only on planted tanks but also basic plant science


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[ScotJudd]

Liquid Carbon sources such as Glut and Excel contain a mild algaecide. Turn off your filter/bubbler and aim Glut/Excel at the BB algae using a pipette. Turn on filters etc after about 5 minutes. The BB will turn red after 24 hrs and the dissolve away. This is in addition to reducing light etc etc.


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[livefishguy124]

well i have done research on stuff, i don't take high school biology till next year. but i can get liguid co2 on sat for $3 for 12 oz, is that a good price. will root tabs help in the same way? are liquid co2 and liquid ferts the same thing?