Black Beard Algae problems

[EdgarMedina1010]

In my 10 gal. ive started to notice BBA on many of the leaves of my plants....is there anything i can about it?...i have 7 neons ,3 ottos, cherry shrimp, MTS, ramhorn snails and some common pond snails....thanks in advance.

[JDogg]

ok here is the info i need

How much light do you have? what kind of bulbs and wattage...

Do you dose ferts?
What ones and how much?

Ammonia Level?
Nitrite Level?
Nitrate Level?
Phosphate Level?
PH?
GH?
KH?

How much if any CO2 do you have? ppm?

depending on how bad it is, i would try to prune out as much of the affected leaves you can without killing your plants...

if it is on the substrate, like mine was i would recommend trying to bury it as much as possible...

BBA is usually related to CO2 depending on how much light you are running and if all you ferts are at the right level.

post a picture if you can as well so we can see the extent of the coverage.

depending on your answers to the above there are a few options, the battle can be won!

[Blackwood]

Quick easy answer, put a single small Scat in there. It'll eat every bit of BBA in the tank inside a week. I had a bad problem in my 125 gallon tank, put 2 in there and it was all gone inside a week.

Get a small one, dump it when the problem is solved and you have the root nutrient issue resolved.

I've heard that SAE (Siamese Algae Eaters, NOT flying foxes) do well with BBA, but have no experience with it.

My two Scats:

[JDogg]

Originally Posted by Blackwood

Quick easy answer, put a single small Scat in there. It'll eat every bit of BBA in the tank inside a week. I had a bad problem in my 125 gallon tank, put 2 in there and it was all gone inside a week.

Get a small one, dump it when the problem is solved and you have the root nutrient issue resolved.

I've heard that SAE (Siamese Algae Eaters, NOT flying foxes) do well with BBA, but have no experience with it.

My two Scats:

you are just treating the symtoms without curing the problem...

that is like giving a person asprine to treat the headach without removing the brain tumor 8O

[Blackwood]

Get a small one, dump it when the problem is solved and you have the root nutrient issue resolved.

Part of that statement is dump the Scat WHEN the problem is solved AND you have the root nutrient issue resolved.

Scats are a great way to get rid of the ugly BBA WHILE you treat the root nutrient issue. Scats are not a cure at all, they just remove the BBA from tank, which can be a huge job in itself.

[EdgarMedina1010]

Originally Posted by JDogg

ok here is the info i need

How much light do you have? what kind of bulbs and wattage...

Do you dose ferts?
What ones and how much?

Ammonia Level?
Nitrite Level?
Nitrate Level?
Phosphate Level?
PH?
GH?
KH?

How much if any CO2 do you have? ppm?

depending on how bad it is, i would try to prune out as much of the affected leaves you can without killing your plants...

if it is on the substrate, like mine was i would recommend trying to bury it as much as possible...

BBA is usually related to CO2 depending on how much light you are running and if all you ferts are at the right level.

post a picture if you can as well so we can see the extent of the coverage.

depending on your answers to the above there are a few options, the battle can be won!

its not very high wattage i have 2 10 watt PC light bulbs, i dont dose ferts..ammonia is at 0, nitrite at 0, nitrate at 10,ph at 7.0 .....as of phosphate,GH, and KH i have no idea...Also dont use Co2, i would it isnt very bad but its spreding quick...

[JDogg]

Part of that statement is dump the Scat WHEN the problem is solved AND you have the root nutrient issue resolved.

i hope by "dump" you meant returning to the LFS...

ignoring the fact that Scat are brackish fish, i do not recommend buying fish just to "solve a problem", but if you do go that route i belive that siamese algae eaters will also eat BBA and do not need the brackish conditions. you could go this route, but i is not the way i would go..

its not very high wattage i have 2 10 watt PC light bulbs, i dont dose ferts..ammonia is at 0, nitrite at 0, nitrate at 10,ph at 7.0 .....as of phosphate,GH, and KH i have no idea...Also dont use Co2, i would it isnt very bad but its spreding quick...

ok well...
you are at a pretty low light so your probably do not need CO2, though if you wanted to dose Excel, i do not think it would hurt, probably would help slow down the spread of the bba, you can usually dose 2x the recommended dose safely, for short periods of time, i would not exceed 3 days like this, if you choose to try it.

ok test results...
NO3, is a little low, but at the light level some is better then nothing. unfortunately, hobby grade test kits are very inaccurate, and the "real" level may in fact be 0 ppm. if you are not already using a drop into a test tube style test kit i would recommend getting one, also if you can i would suggest taking a sample into you LFS and see if you can get a second opinion. if it is in fact 0 you will need to start dosing NO3.

PO4 is another nutrient essential for plants. you do not have a test kit, so i would highly recommend picking one up next time your at the LFS (soon if possibly) you should have some PO4 (like 0.5-1.5 ppm is good) if you have 0ppm you will need to dose.

i would also suggest you pick up a KH/GH test kit and try to give use those #s.

if you end up starting to dose NO3 and PO4 (this depends totaly one your tests) you may need to start dosing K, since K helps in the uptake of NO3 and PO4 and is also needed by the plants.

at the least i would suggest starting to dose a basic trace mix, like Flourish Comprehensive, with your PWC.

i think if we can trace down what is out of wack we can stop the BBA in its track and make sure it never comes back

HTH

[EdgarMedina1010]

Originally Posted by JDogg

i hope by "dump" you meant returning to the LFS...

ignoring the fact that Scat are brackish fish, i do not recommend buying fish just to "solve a problem", but if you do go that route i belive that siamese algae eaters will also eat BBA and do not need the brackish conditions. you could go this route, but i is not the way i would go..

ok well...
you are at a pretty low light so your probably do not need CO2, though if you wanted to dose Excel, i do not think it would hurt, probably would help slow down the spread of the bba, you can usually dose 2x the recommended dose safely, for short periods of time, i would not exceed 3 days like this, if you choose to try it.

ok test results...
NO3, is a little low, but at the light level some is better then nothing. unfortunately, hobby grade test kits are very inaccurate, and the "real" level may in fact be 0 ppm. if you are not already using a drop into a test tube style test kit i would recommend getting one, also if you can i would suggest taking a sample into you LFS and see if you can get a second opinion. if it is in fact 0 you will need to start dosing NO3.

PO4 is another nutrient essential for plants. you do not have a test kit, so i would highly recommend picking one up next time your at the LFS (soon if possibly) you should have some PO4 (like 0.5-1.5 ppm is good) if you have 0ppm you will need to dose.

i would also suggest you pick up a KH/GH test kit and try to give use those #s.

if you end up starting to dose NO3 and PO4 (this depends totaly one your tests) you may need to start dosing K, since K helps in the uptake of NO3 and PO4 and is also needed by the plants.

at the least i would suggest starting to dose a basic trace mix, like Flourish Comprehensive, with your PWC.

i think if we can trace down what is out of wack we can stop the BBA in its track and make sure it never comes back

HTH

I am using a drop into a test tube style test kit....And ive also taken the water to my LFS to test....ok i will try to buy those test kits on sunday thanks for the help...Also can anyone make a list of the things to buy....sorry for the inconvenience...

[JDogg]

I am using a drop into a test tube style test kit....And ive also taken the water to my LFS to test....

and both test came back 10 ppm NO3? well if that is the case you can either believe that you test is right, believe as i do that there is an off chance that your NO3 is actually 0 ppm. you will know for sure if you start to get cyno bacteria as this usually suggests you are bottoming out on NO3. if i was in your shoes...i might start dosing a little NO3 just to get the level to read on your test ~20 ppm, this is still safe for your fish, and you will be able to be a little more confident that a NO3 deficiency is not happening. you have a couple of options for this...
you could order from gregwatson.com some KNO3 powder, it is bulk and cheap and with your small tank should last a long time. or you could also pick up a bottle of liquid, Kent makes one, but i feel that the Seachem version, Flourish Nitrogen is better. the premixed should last you quite a long time for a 10 gallon.

ok i will try to buy those test kits on sunday thanks for the help...Also can anyone make a list of the things to buy....sorry for the inconvenience...

list of things to buy for this issue?

i would pick up...
Phosphate test kit
KH/GH test kit
Flourish Comprehensive (or similar trace fert) but i suggest flourish as the best IMO
Maybe a bottle of Flourish Excel if you want to start dosing it to slow down the spread of the BBA

[EdgarMedina1010]

I went to the store and bought this package is this ok?.... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113221 i bought the Enhancer Kit

[JDogg]

Originally Posted by EdgarMedina1010

I went to the store and bought this package is this ok?.... http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Produc...&N=2004+113221 i bought the Enhancer Kit

so you are going to dose NO3, PO4 and K (did you ever get the test results to see you need them?) those are fine i guess, but at your light level the fundamentals kit is more what i would have gone with...

[EdgarMedina1010]

well i havent really bought the things yet, and im gonna buy the test kits tommorrrow i will post the results tommorrow....and then you guys can tell me what to really buy...thanks

[Lonewolfblue]

If talking about fish that eat BBA, I do believe the American Flag Fish also eats BBA. But like mentioned above, this is only temporary. The problem still has to be fixed.

[EdgarMedina1010]

i've been having some trouble finding the kh/gh and phosphate test kits ,but so far I got a KH test kit and I need help figuring out how it works....Can any one help?

[EdgarMedina1010]

Sorry I took a long time in getting the results. Ammonia Level-0
Nitrite Level-0
Nitrate Level-10-15
Phosphate Level-?
PH- 7.0
GH-?
KH-17.9 ppm

[Fishyfanatic]

He is running a 20W CF fixture on a 10 gal tank. That puts him at 2.7 WPG. Being over 2 WPG, isn't CO2 required to keep algae at bay?

[EdgarMedina1010]

Originally Posted by Fishyfanatic

He is running a 20W CF fixture on a 10 gal tank. That puts him at 2.7 WPG. Being over 2 WPG, isn't CO2 required to keep algae at bay?

Thanks....

[Purrbox]

Nope. The WPG "rule" breaks down on small tanks, plus the shape of the bulb causes some loss to restrike. It will end up being closer to Low to Medium Low light, which doesn't require CO2. It'd be beneficial and easy on that size tank if you want to give it a try, but not required.

[Fishyfanatic]

Thanks again Joy. I didn't realize the difference in light between the 55 gal and 10 gal.

[EdgarMedina1010]

thanks for the info....