Algae help

[Chefman99]

Hey so I have a planted 40 gallon breeder and its been up and running for a while and I recently switched to a cansiter filter about 2 months ago and I started to notice a hair algae problem so I stopped dosing iron and co2 for a bit and it got worse ive done a couple of water changes and cleaned the filter nothing. Any help?

 

[ImACoolguy]

Looks like BBA.

Do H2O2 spot treatments to help kill it.

And remove affected leaves.

Keep the co2 going it helps prevent algae growth.


Caleb

 

[Chefman99]

Sorry but how exactly do I do that?

 

[ImACoolguy]

Sorry but how exactly do I do that?

If a leaf has that black algae on it, cut the leaf off and remove it from the tank. This is the fastest and one of the only ways to effectively get rid of BBA.

Out of curiosity how long are your lights on every day?


Caleb

 

[Mebbid]

What light fixture do you have?
How large is your tank?
How long do your lights run?
What ferts do you use?
Are you using any carbon source at all now? What did you use previously?

 

[IllusionX]

Looks like BBA.

Do H2O2 spot treatments to help kill it.

And remove affected leaves.

Keep the co2 going it helps prevent algae growth.


Caleb

x2 keeping CO2 going.

I've also had good success using flourish excel to get rid of BBA. I was suggested doing spot treatment, but ended up just dosing bottle's recommendation and it worked very well.

Cutting infected leaves will help while doing the treatment.

Also, turn off filter when doing spot treatments..

 

[Chefman99]

It is a 40b I have a marineland light and a current satellite light as well. I am running a sunsun 402 canister filter, have aqua soil brand substrate with root tabs and I dose iron and co2 from dustinsfishtanks.com also I switch out the iron every couple of days with seachem flourish excel. The lights are on for about 8 hours. I turned them off today as I read it helps to blackout the tank for a day or few. When I noticed the problem I stopped dosing the ferts for a week or so. I guess that didnt help
Also sorry but what does BBA stand for?

 

[IllusionX]

I've taken the light from 12 to just 5-6hours a day in mine, and started flourish excel everyday until the bottle was done. The bottle lasted about 2 weeks... By week 4, BBA has disappeared completely.

BBA stand for black beard algae. It's not really an algae, but more of a bacteria. It dies off with Co2, or less nutrients for the plants. It happens when something is not balanced in the tank. From my experience, it seems too much fert and light combo will do that.

 

[Chefman99]

Okay cool thanks ill do that. I just took it down from 12 to 8 hours ill take it down more.

 

[Mebbid]

BBA is called black brush / beard algae. It is actually an algae (Cyanobacteria / Blue Greeen Algae is the algae like stuff that's actually a bacteria)

With the current USA and marineland fixture you will likey need to increase your fertilizers in the tank. I would suggest either Estimative Index (EI) or PPS Pro. You can buy the dry ferts here.

Aquarium Plant Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums

 

[Chefman99]

Is dosing dry ferts the same as liquid?

BBA is called black brush / beard algae. It is actually an algae (Cyanobacteria / Blue Greeen Algae is the algae like stuff that's actually a bacteria)

With the current USA and marineland fixture you will likey need to increase your fertilizers in the tank. I would suggest either Estimative Index (EI) or PPS Pro. You can buy the dry ferts here.

Aquarium Plant Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums

 

[ImACoolguy]

The one Mebbid is recommending comes dry and you can mix them into a liquid yourself with the bottles provided. I'm still on my first bottle after 6 months and using it on 2 tanks.


Caleb

 

[tiger terror]

Seems as if the majority of the plants are heavy rootfeeders,if you haven't yet purchase some quality root tabs & place them near the base of the plantsv(replacing as recommended usually between 2-3 months)...also reducing your photoperiod to 6 hrs should help..
I'm not convinced that the increase in daily ferts is necessarily the best route..
The plants the op currently have don't require alot of liqiud/dry ferts in the water column to feed from..(root tabs)
Excess light & ferts are sure to cause an issue..
You've got to be able to find the balance within your tank by paying attention to your plants requirements ...too much of a good thing can often end in a mess for you to deal with..
Add root tabs to increase the plants ability to out compete algae,adjust your ferts for what is needed,maintain steady co2and shorten your photoperiod..
Consistentcy is key...

Sent from my HTC Desire 610 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[tiger terror]

Edited


sit in silence...

 

[tiger terror]

Sorry but how exactly do I do that?

To spot treat with h2o2(hydrogen peroxide) you'll need this
http://i.imgur.com/eTYH6Nm.jpg
Draw up 10 ml's,using your hand place in take & gently squirt the h2o2 directly onto the algae in a few spots around the tank(with filters off to increase contact time between the algae&h2o2 up to 15 mins)..
You should shortly after begin to see bubbles erupting off of the algae..repeat on problem areas&within days it will begin to die off,(you'll notice a color change in the algae)once dead manually remove as much as you can..Remove leaves which are overly burdened by the algae..Chip Chop Chap!

Sent from my HTC Desire 610 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[tiger terror]

Also forgot to add to keep a strict weekly water change regimen in place of anywhere between 25%-50%.

sit in silence...