Beating Back Black Algae

[@freyafoxmusic]

I have this issue with my Fluval stratum but I have an insane amount of plants fast and slow growing , and also it’s been there for 12 months now Lots of nerite snails and pelcos Removed all phosphate still it’s there

[@brendalemay8384]

I think it was all of those things that helped you get rid of the algae. I live in Arizona and we have some of the hardest water, high in phosphates and I have this nasty hair algae that I can’t seem to get rid of. I have 10 tanks and some of my tanks are completely free of it and others really bad. I’m trying the Seachem phosphate remover media in the filters and hoping that will make a difference. I’m so tired of removing it manually. It grows faster than I can keep up with it.

[@BenOchart]

Nasty stuff. I’ve heard SAE’s and Flag Fish will eat it. Try adding some fast growing floating plants that will out compete for nutrients, like hornwort, sprite or duckweed.

[@brendalemay8384]

@@BenOchart I have several species of floating plants in all my tanks. I also have fast growing stem plants and co2 injection in three of my larger tanks. One has the hair algae, the other two don’t. I’m at my wits end with this stuff. I might try some Amano Shrimp next or the Siamese Algae eaters if I can find any around here. I have never seen a flag fish in any of my LFS. Thanks for the advice. Maybe some on here can chime in and tell us how they beat it. It seems to be the only algae I have which is unusual.

[@tetraguytx1705]

I agree that the manual removal of affected leaves together with the addition of new plant mass were important to your success (and for the reason you cited). A lot of healthy plants are key to keeping algae at background levels. To help with the prevention of future outbreaks -- and I know everyone in our hobby has their opinions, so I offer this only as thought to ponder, and not as dictum or dogma -- I would consider lowering the tank's temperature. It appears the tank is running at about 79 degrees. Think about cutting that to 73. It appears the tank has tetras and an electric blue acara, yes? One of my planted tanks has the very same fish composition, and its temperature -- I just checked again right how -- is 72.9, as it has been for months and months. The fish are healthy and happy. Warmer water fosters the growth of algae. A lower tank temperature is one of several potential tools in the struggle against our common nemesis.

[@BenOchart]

Good point. Have you ever had an ich outbreak at that lower temp?

[@tetraguytx1705]

@@BenOchart I have not had an ich outbreak at this temperature, no. I was originally persuaded that 73 degrees is okay for most fish by the guys at Green Aqua. They keep their tanks at 73 (to inhibit algae growth) and they swore the fish were just fine. That's been my experience, too. I did it by discontinuing the heater and allowing the tank's temperature to decline slowly to ambient temperature.

[@jeremymoore450]

Ben, I think the reason the black beard algae is gone is because you removed the leaves that had a lot of it and the addition of more plants. I was told the way to beat algae naturally is by adding more plants to be honest. The water changes may have helped. I know hydrogen peroxide works great against black beard algae. I would have thrown a Siamese algae eater in the tank and left him go to town. Appreciate the video.

[@BenOchart]

That was a big part of it. I have a SAE in a 29 QT tank but I’ve heard they can be nippy so I didn’t add him to the 55.

[@georgewilliamssr5230]

I to have this issue. But all my plants are artificial, and old. The fish keep tearing them apart. So I'm going to have to get rid of them. And that's where most of my black algae is growing. On the ends of those plants.

[@BenOchart]

Leave overnight in a bucket with a couple tablespoons of plain bleach. In 24 hours rinse, scrub and leave in water with conditioner 24 hours. Rinse and they should look a lot better. Also add a phosphate pad to your filter.

[@georgewilliamssr5230]

@@BenOchart I think for this go around. I'm just going to bite the cost and replace them. My fish has chewed, tugged and pulled them all apart. Most are floating because they've been ripped off their bases. But the ones that are salvageable. I'll try that bleach trick

[@HalfManHalfCichlid]

My BBA was cured through rapid and robust plant growth and Siamese Algae eaters. Robust plant growth will consume nutrients which would otherwise fuel algae growth. I have been following your plant growth and it appears your anubias are growing much more slowly than mine which would suggest they need more light and/or nutrients. I use DIY fertilizers and phosphates are a critical macro nutrient for robust growth. Your campaign to remove phisphates may be limiting your plant growth. Hope this helps. If that aquarium has CO2 your plants are definitely not growing as fast as they should be.

[@BenOchart]

No CO2. At some point I’ll pull out the phosphate pads and we’ll see what happens.

[@Awsimilate]

It went away because the tank aged.

[@BenOchart]

Certainly has something to do with it, asking with more plants consuming the nutrients.

[@Awsimilate]

@@BenOchart plants helped for sure, I find BBA is just a stage ,tends to just pass.

[@StefanL66]

In my opinion there was too much nutrients for the plants, which the plants couldn’t keep up with. That made an environment for algae and black algae to prosper. The actions you made by taking out plants affected by black algae helped, but I do believe that the water changes has given the aquarium a better balance in water parameters. People often use fertilisers and add things to enhance the growth of plants but forget about the balance. You need a variation of plants…fast growing alongside slowly growing. If you add plant nutrients you first need to know that the nutrients are on the low side.

[@BenOchart]

Great point!