What is this?

[bubbles10]

This has been growing in my tank for a while now, but I'm not sure what it is? It doesn't wipe off - I have even tried using a toothbrush to scrape it off, but that doesn't work either.. it's almost like whatever it is, it is gripping onto everything. It is definitely multiplying and is now starting to grow onto my plants, decorations, and air tubing. It looks very similar to the common "moss ball" but I don't have one of those in my tank, so I'm not sure where it would have come from.

I figured it wasn't a type of algae since it doesn't wipe off - what is it? Will it harm the fish? I would assume not since it's been in the tank for a while and my fish are still alive.....

 

[stingrays4]

Hi looks like 'Black Beard Algae' A tough one to get rid off Hopefully some one will be able to help you on that one

 

[bubbles10]

Hmm, I looked that up and it does seem to look like that.. I read something about overdosing with Flourish Excel but that can harm the fish so I would rather find another solution

 

[stingrays4]

Hi that does sound a little drastic!! If only certain leaves are effected I would maybe remove them and then maybe cut down on the feeding a little and see if that helps? Also have the lights on for less time? Cut down on any fertiliser you are using? Really its just trying to elimante the cause taking it one step at a time. Good luck.

 

[Rivercats]

It is BBA. What kind of lights do you have and how long do you run them. BBA can safely be spot treated with Excel or H2O2 (hydrogen peroxide). You can cut off any infected leaves and or spot treat. For Excel you can safely pull up the normal dose for your tank in a syringe and directly squirt on the BBA. If there is alot you can do this over the course of days until you get all the affect plants. You know the BBA is dying when it begins turning white/pink/red. This is perfectly safe for your fish. I have a high light tank and use 1 ml per 5 gallons of water daily, have for a long long time and it is safe for the fish, snails, and shrimp. I use it instead of CO2 not for algae control but it works for that just fine. I don't use H2O2 in the tank but many do. You can read up on how to use it and at what amount. But you still need to address the underlying issue. Also know that stopping ferts can cause issues as it deny's the plants the nutrients they need to help outcompete the algae. What do you dose for ferts? And besides the light questions do you use liquid carbon or CO2?

 

[bubbles10]

It is a full spectrum fluorescent bulb (whatever came with the hood - I had a better bulb at one point but it died). I will cut the infected leaves off, but how should I treat the decorations in the tank? (I have a rock cave in there and also a tall plastic bamboo decoration). I've never really used any fertilizers - sometimes I put in a dose of Flourish plant fertilizer but my plants grow like crazy without it so I tend to forget to use it on a regular basis.

What could be causing the BBA in the first place? Could it be due to over-feeding?

 

[Rivercats]

You can remove the fake decorations in the tank and clean them by hand. Your problem can be several issues. Leaving lights on too long, do you have adequate flow/water movement throughout the tank, imbalance of ferts, no CO2 or liquid carbon to help plants use the nutrients in the water. Basically your tank is out of balance. It helps to know how much nitrates and phosphates are in your water. Over feeding can cause an excess of nutrient buildup in the water so feeding lightly is the thing to do regardless of algae issues or not. Do you have alot of plants or only a few? What is your WC schedule and how much do you change each time? These are all reasons that could be causing and or attributing to the BBA issue.

 

[bubbles10]

I have attached a photo of my tank so you can see how many plants are in there - not too many.. just the big bunch on the right side of the tank, and then the banana plant in the front. Everything else is fake. As you can see, I also have a bubbler in the middle of the tank to help with water flow. I'm also using a filter for a 30 gal tank (my tank is only 10 gal).

I just tested my nitrates and it's probably right around 5 or 6 ppm. I don't have anything on hand to test the phosphates.

I usually change about half the water in the tank once a month.. and I add water to the tank about every 4 days or so, as it evaporates pretty quickly.

I think I do probably overfeed the fish though, so that doesn't help. Should I start regularly adding plant fertilizer and liquid CO2?

 

[Rivercats]

Actually the more plants you have the more excess nutrients they absorb and will help out compete algae. Try cutting down on the amount of food. I feed about 1/8 of a teaspoon of food daily to the fish in my 220g if that gives you an idea. Another thing I can't tell but how much algae is actually on the live plants? What I'd do fist is spot treat your BBA and scrub it off any fake plants/decorations. Do weekly WC's of at least a minimum of 25% but 50% is better to remove excess nutrients in the water. I'd add a liquid fert with WC's since you have few plants and I would use Excel or API CO2 booster daily at the recommended dose to help plants use the ferts in the water. Leave lights on no more than 8 hours and see how the tank does.

 

[bubbles10]

There's actually not much algae on the live plants themselves, it's mostly overtaking the fake bamboo plant and the rock cave at this point. So I guess that's good news because hopefully that means it will take less time to clear this all up. When I scrub the decorations with a toothbrush it doesn't help any, so I may need to scrape it off with a knife or something.. I wonder if pouring boiling water over it will help any?

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful advice, it is much appreciated! I will definitely start doing more WC's and I will head to the store sometime in the next couple of days to pick up those products and see how it goes from there.

I guess the good thing about algae is that it's not harmful to the fish, just annoying to look at..

 

[Rivercats]

I think you could rinse them off with either hydogren peroxide or Excel and then put them back in the tank (don't rinse it off). This should retart any new growth until you get the problem figured out.

 

[bubbles10]

I cleaned everything off as best I could and then spot treated the fake decorations before I put them back into the tank. Since then, I have been adding the Excel to the tank daily. Question about that - can using too much of that be harmful to the live plants in the tank? For some reason, the leaves of the plants are becoming see-through and the pink color of the leaves is fading away. The bottle of Excel says to use it daily so I would imagine it wouldn't be due to that.. ?

 

[Rivercats]

What amount are you using and what plant seems to be melting. Some plants are sensitive to Excel. Jungle Val, anarcharas, and eloda are known to be sensitive. You can find out more plants that are sensitive on-line. I use a high dosage of Glutaraldehyde, which is the same as Excel, and I have alot of different plants and have never expierenced any melting. So depending on the plant, yes it could be Excel, but it could also be from a nutrient deficiency.

 

[bubbles10]

I got the plant from a friend's tank about 6 months ago so since I didn't purchase them myself, I'm not too positive what type of plant it is? But it looks like some sort of ludwigia maybe? It's the plants on the right side of the tank when you're looking at the photo I posted. (sorry, I know I'm not being very helpful). The first day, I does the tank with a full capful and since then, I have been putting about 3mL each day. Something tells me that may be too much.

 

[Rivercats]

Had to go back and read until I found that you have a 10g tank, correct? If so the recommonded dose on the bottle of Excel is 1ml per 20 gallons so you are way overdosing. You need to be dosing 1/2ml daily. Your top dose would be 1ml per 10 gallons of water. You need to be exact with your measuring. Try getting a 10ml dosing syringe (without the needle) so you can pull up the exact amount of Excel you need for your tank. Try the proper dosing and give your plants time to recover.