Black Beard Algae Poll (Again)

[jarrod0987]

I have been reading about BBA in my Phycology book. It has very little to say about it

It does claim BBA needs bright light and can't live in low light conditions.

I wondered what your experiences have been.

 

[sinibotia]

I had it in a 26 gallon with a regular 15 watt fluorescent tube. I would say that's pretty low light.

 

[aclark]

I had a bit in my 75 gallon with a Finnex Stingray 48". Pretty low light; however it was just on the tips of some Val, right near the top. At least I think it was BBA.

 

[coralbandit]

I have been carried away with lighting for too.
Had 250 MHs on my 180 fw before I even knew a thing about plants.
Am I the only one with 2 almost brand new MH fixtures in the fish attick?
Still have BBA with my LEDS...

 

[Autumnsky]

Have seen BBA on tanks, especially with old fluorescent lights, which are left on for a long/continuous photo period, thrive. Whether or not it has low or medium light.

Also see more BBA on the top areas where are most near the brightest light. (of course).

 

[Delapool]

Voted

Seen mostly in high light tanks but pretty sure in low light tanks as well (definitely not as often). Might be a combination of factors here though.

How about light wavelength? It's said to be an issue if unsuited to aquarium plants but I've never seen a proper study.

 

[ImACoolguy]

When I had BBA it always showed up in the areas of most intensity. It's favorite was the tips of my Amazon sword that come near the surface.

Tank specs for informational purposes:

75g
48inch Finnex Planted+
Daily PPS PRO ferts
I dosed Metricide at the time at full dosage of 7.5mL(basically a double dose)


Caleb

 

[jarrod0987]

Anyone tried 3 days of darkness on it? I also found out what pigments are in it. Going to look up the chemical structure and see when ions it needs. Maybe it grows on water that has a high amount of something. The book says this algae is found near the surface due to the light issue and will not be found in turbid water. It also says it has massive blooms in the spring when light intensity is increasing, also a smaller bloom in the fall which seems odd to me. Will get back to you if I find anything cool. Thanks for the feedback about the light situation. I may try turning my LED's down 10% to see if the trace I have vanishes. Might play with wavelength, not sure.

 

[Caliban07]

Have we considered that we may have attributed to the favouring conditions of BBA by other means of intervention. For example, we originally begin with another type of algae that we add algae eaters in to combat. We then scrub the glass clean of GSA and BGA and use h202 of peroxide or glut on GHA destroying the BBA algae's competition and so that begins to thrive. There are other less documented theories that once algae's are established they begin to release chemicals to destroy or suppress other forms of algae and you end up with one prevalent nuisance type of algae which the light, flow and nutrients continue to favour.

There is a small section in 'ecology of the planted aquarium' that discusses the possibilities and theories of allelopathy.

Just a thought.

I had BBA in my tank with T8 tubes.


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[KristaButler]

Ugh. I hate the stuff. I have a lot of it.


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[jarrod0987]

Ugh. I hate the stuff. I have a lot of it.


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Would you please tell us what size tank, how many inches deep, and what type of light and amount of light? I am really interested in the cases of "A lot" those would be optimal conditions for this algae. I wish to crack the code. BTW Seachem makes a product Called Flourish Excel which seems to help kill BBA reasonably well.

 

[KristaButler]

It's a standard 55 gallon with finnex planted plus led. On for 3 hrs, off for 3 hrs, on for 3 hrs. Glute dosing daily. Recently increased to 15 ml a day.


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[jarrod0987]

It's a standard 55 gallon with finnex planted plus led. On for 3 hrs, off for 3 hrs, on for 3 hrs. Glute dosing daily. Recently increased to 15 ml a day.


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Please let us know if the Glut increases help

 

[Coursair]

I'm told it's often from lack of water changes or too many Ferts ( or fish poop) and to squirt 3x reg dose of Excel/Metricide directly on it. That it often starts in areas of high flow...like filter outlet.

This was discussed at San Francisco Aquarium Society meeting tonight. The speaker is a long time member of my plant club. These are the instructions that work for him.


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[jarrod0987]

I'm told it's often from lack of water changes or too many Ferts ( or fish poop) and to squirt 3x reg dose of Excel/Metricide directly on it. That it often starts in areas of high flow...like filter outlet.

This was discussed at San Francisco Aquarium Society meeting tonight. The speaker is a long time member of my plant club. These are the instructions that work for him.


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Thanks for your input. I have had good luck with killing BBA with spot treatment but it also sometimes burns a hole in my leaf. Obviously would work better if not on a leaf. I am thinking about ways to maybe make a diluted solution of it that would be safe to wipe on the spot with a swab but not kill the leaf etc. In my case I actually did see a mild decrease when I lowered overall flow in the tank like your member suggested. Mind you it is just spots here and there. Not a massive outbreak.

 

[jarrod0987]

I just read in my Phycology book (Again) that this algae (BBA) is called Lemanea. It says it is heterotropic. I did not quite catch in the first read but doesn't that mean in needs organic carbon instead of inorganic carbon like autotropes do?

I know there are some serious water changers out there that still get BBA but I wonder if they get less? I wonder if AC will help? I used to run AC and had no BBA come to think of it. It came a while after I stopped using it. I think I will put it back and see what happens

EDIT: So I noticed the last month or 2, since I removed my fine mechanical filtration and activated carbon, my hoses have started collecting a brown junk that the fine filtration used to do a great job getting rid off. I did not think of it at the time but now I wonder if this is the organic carbon source the BBA is eating. Seems to be a high flow area phenomena just like BBA. Isn't that interesting I added activated carbon back in but I did not add any fine mechanical filter yet. I want to see if the AC gets rid of it on it's own or if the particles are too big (vs dissolved organics).

Edit: OOPS...I read it again. It does NOT say heterotropic. It says Heteromorphic life cycle. It also says it has spores and also a pigment phycocyanin to go with the chlorophyll A.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phycocyanin

Looks like Bicarbonate is part of it's structure unlike Chlorophyll A.

 

[Fresh2o]

It appears that many factors come into play with the appearance and growth of BBA. I discussed this with a member of a local fish club and observed this myself that slacking on regular water changes (whatever the routine is) led to outbreaks of BBA. I've observed that it appears closer to the light source, in high and low flow areas and on the substrate at the front of the tank (less shading from plants). Yes, I spot treat with H2O2 as needed.


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[Fresh2o]

At the moment I am sitting in a fish club meeting and one of the discussions of the causes of BBA. Primary cause mentioned is excess organic waste. Sources:
Dead leaves
Dirty substrate/filter media
High fish load
Excessive feeding
Regular water changes, spot treatment with H2O2 or Excel, and regular filter maintenance were listed as means for control. Siamese algae eaters were not recommended because they tend to become less reliable as they get older.


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[Caliban07]

At the moment I am sitting in a fish club meeting and one of the discussions of the causes of BBA. Primary cause mentioned is excess organic waste. Sources:
Dead leaves
Dirty substrate/filter media
High fish load
Excessive feeding
Regular water changes, spot treatment with H2O2 or Excel, and regular filter maintenance were listed as means for control. Siamese algae eaters were not recommended because they tend to become less reliable as they get older.


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My outbreak of BBA does remain constant with lack of water changes + lots of organic. I went walstad without soil in my 46 because I was planning to switch substrates sooner. I did get BBA and I'm sure it was after I did less water changes.

Edit:

When I say outbreak it was really only bits on my driftwood but it also attached itself to bits of Java moss that had weaved in to the gravel


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[Delapool]

At the moment I am sitting in a fish club meeting and one of the discussions of the causes of BBA. Primary cause mentioned is excess organic waste. Sources:
Dead leaves
Dirty substrate/filter media
High fish load
Excessive feeding
Regular water changes, spot treatment with H2O2 or Excel, and regular filter maintenance were listed as means for control. Siamese algae eaters were not recommended because they tend to become less reliable as they get older.


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Is that suggesting a high nutrient load of something? Wondering if the items above are an issue or what they break down into are more the issue I guess.