Black beard algea starting to form - help!

Hi All,

My tanks been up and running for a few months now, but I've started to develop BBA
Its still in small patches at the edge of leaves and lava rock and a few clumps on gravel, but I'm aware this can become a bit of a nightmare to deal with if left unchecked

Tank info
-160L community tank with dwarf rainbows, bronze cory's, gupies and a pearl gourami (+ a few unintended zebra danios!)
-25 degrees with 0 ammonia and nitrite, nitrate is approx 20-30ppm (in tap water)
-PH is steady at 8.2
-Lights are 2 30w T8's (K is unknown as I can't find the info, they are intepet T8 Community Daylight For Tropical & Coldwater - 30W 36''/91cm)
-Planted with Amazon swords, java ferms, valliseria (std one from LFS) and edolea (guessing at densa)
-Lights are on for approx off for 12hrs a day and its not in direct sunlight
-I use root tabs and just started with prime flourish comprehensive
-Filter and flow should be ok as i have 2 filters (1 hob 1 power head) with way over 10x an hr. I have the power head outlet pointed up to lessen the strengthen of the flow as the fish as all under 7cm so its a bit too strong! Also have an air pump with 2 lines with airstones
-I don't use C02

I was going to start using prime excel as it suggested it good at getting rid of BBA, but I've seen very mixed opinions and it sounds like damages primitive plants (which i think all of mine are but the swords!)
What's the expert opinion on Excel and these type of plants?

I was also considering if the is there a good snail option for BBA and my water parameters

I know the cause of BBA will be an imbalance of some kind, but I very much doubt my ability to find it!
Heavy duty stripping down\bleaching is out (other than in desperation) as the fish all seem happy and settled and the plants are doing well (just planted baby ferns that grew on the ends of leaves and baby swords on the flower stalks are almost big enough to separate), again I doubt my ability to do it without harming them!

Any help greatly welcomed

First thing to understand is that problem algae like BBA is due to an imbalance of light/nutrients, nothing else. And the only way to deal with it is to restore or establish the balance. There are only two fish species that eat (or might) BBVA, and as they have specific needs this is not the way to go. One is the true Siamese Algae Eater which is a shoaling fish that needs a group of five and attains six inches in length. The other species escapes me at the moment. Snails will not have any impact when BBA is a problem. And any form of chemical treatment is foolish when fish are present [I'll come back to Excel].

Light is critical; I have had this algae increase with too much light intensity, and too long a photoperiod. I have also had it increase from too much fertilizer. Solely for illustrative purposes, I have worked out that having my tank lights on for no more than eight hours (seven on one tank) each day, and keeping the windows heavily covered during summer especially, and using no more than less than one dose of Flourish Comprehensive, works. I also use Flourish Tabs but these do not leech into the water column. I had BBA increase with a second weekly dose of Flourish Comp, I had it decrease when I cut back the dose. Same with light. BBA used to increase in summer until I worked out that the increase in daylight intensity and duration during summer was the reason. Point of all this is, that the balance is the key.

Two 36-inch T8 tubes is moderate light according to many, but this could be too much. I have a 36-inch 40 gallon breeder (I assume similar in size to your tank here) with two 24-inch T8 tubes, and with a good cover of floating plants, and eight hours of tank light, one dose of FC a week...fine. So I would reduce the photoperiod, and find some good floating plants if you don't have them now. When I bought this particular tank two years ago, it had a fixture with two T8 36-inch tubes; I knew this was going to be problematic but decided to give it a try. Ironically, the fixture gave out within a month, and as I could not get it replaced, I decided to repair it myself and I got a shop light fixture with two 24-inch tubes. I use a Life-Glo 6700K tube and a Zoomed Tropic Sun 5000K tube. Photo below is this tank; I've had no algae issues in two years. Tubes are replaced every 12 months. Zoomed don't seem to be made any longer, so when I have used my last one I will go with two Life-Glo.

Now on the Excel. This is highly dangerous stuff to put in a tank with live fish. It will kill some plants, but if overdosed it can kill everything. It contains glutaraldehyde, a strong disinfectant used in embalming fluid, hospitals, ship ballasts and anti-freeze. Anyone who thinks adding that to an aquarium with fish is just not thinking. There is no need to risk the fish to deal with a minor problem that can easily (by comparison) be resolved. BBA is the only problem algae I have had to deal with, several times; each tank is biologically unique, but the light/nutrient balance is still the key.

Thanks Byron

Excel is certainly out then!!

The bba started forming before I began using flourish comprehensive, so may imply that it is light related.

I'm going to drop the lights on period by a few hrs and see if this has any impact.

Would floating plants help, diffusing the lights to some degree (not sure if they'll work with the flow from the power head filter)?

Also what's the best option for manual removal to prevent excessive build up, just the normal scrubbing?

Andrew waterson said:

Would floating plants help, diffusing the lights to some degree (not sure if they'll work with the flow from the power head filter)?

Click to expand...

Yes. You want true floating plants like Water Sprite, Water Lettuce, or Frogbit. These are more substantial. Small floaters like duckweed don't do it. Some stem plants do well floating; Pennywort is a good one. In the photo in my last post Water Sprite is the floating plant. Once established, it grows rapidly, with daughter plants forming on alternate leaves (fronds, technically, since it is a true fern) and it is easy to keep the plants in check by removing the older and allowing the smaller to grow.

Andrew waterson said:

Also what's the best option for manual removal to prevent excessive build up, just the normal scrubbing?

Click to expand...

You cannot remove it from plant leaves, the leaf will tear in pieces. BBA is very tough. Removing it from hard objects requires scrubbing outside the tank. I never do this, it is not worth it. I have BBA on most of the wood in the tanks, some tanks anyway, and I leave it as it is attractive. I just aim to keep it off plant leaves. It will appear on leaves that are dying (swords for example), on Java Fern if kept under the overhead light (needs shade), etc.

I would reduce the light to eight hours, and use a timer so it is consistent day to day. This can help too. As can a substantial partial water change of 50-70% every week; this works by removing organics (keeping the filter clean does this too) and thus removing food for algae.

There are at least two types of BBA, photos attached. I have had both.

Hi Byron,

The water sprite does look great in your tank.
How would it do inin covered tank, I don't have a great deal of clearance between the surface and bulbs?

I'm doing 25-30% water changes with a gravel cleaner/siphon and carry the bucket to the kitchen sink (15l was about the biggest I could get).
I'll try uping it to 5 buckets, which should get me to near 50% (wish there was a less manual way to do it!)

I wash out the filter sponge and media every few weeks in tank water
The power head seems to stay quite clean (1 sponge section 1 ceramic media), but the hob (quite low power one that came in the package) seems to get quite dirty.

I've changed the timer already.
Fingers crossed it helps!

Andrew waterson said:

The water sprite does look great in your tank.
How would it do inin covered tank, I don't have a great deal of clearance between the surface and bulbs?

Click to expand...

My tanks are all covered, there is about 1.5 or 1.75 inches between water surface and the glass under the light. You can always lower the water level to this, though for appearance I like the water level at the tank frame with no space, which is what this is on this tank.

Andrew waterson said:

I'm doing 25-30% water changes with a gravel cleaner/siphon and carry the bucket to the kitchen sink (15l was about the biggest I could get).
I'll try uping it to 5 buckets, which should get me to near 50% (wish there was a less manual way to do it!)

Click to expand...

With just one tank it is not bad, but I have 8 including a 90 gallon, so buckets would never do it. A Python is the answer (photo below). I found the Aqueon brand more sturdy with the faucet adapter.

Andrew waterson said:

I wash out the filter sponge and media every few weeks in tank water
The power head seems to stay quite clean (1 sponge section 1 ceramic media), but the hob (quite low power one that came in the package) seems to get quite dirty.

Click to expand...

Do this every water change. My canister gets cleaned every couple of months, but the sponge and internal filters on the other tanks are done every weekly water change, under the tap. The brown gunk you see in filters or elsewhere are the organics.

Water sprite already ordered!!

I'm going to start clean the filters each week particularly the hob one.
I thought you couldn't wash them in tap water as the chlorine killed the nitrifying bacteria?

1 tank seems like a more manageable task now!!

Andrew waterson said:

Water sprite already ordered!!

I'm going to start clean the filters each week particularly the hob one.
I thought you couldn't wash them in tap water as the chlorine killed the nitrifying bacteria?

1 tank seems like a more manageable task now!!

Click to expand...

Another myth of the hobby exploded. Nitrifying bacteria are more resilient than we used to assume. I have washed my filters under the tap for decades. I only have chlorine to worry about, if you have chloramine added to your water it might be different, but I still wouldn't bother. There are more bacteria in the substrate than in the filter to begin with, and with plants remember they take up ammonia/ammonium rapidly so even less concern. For someone with a brand new tank and their first, being cautious is sensible, but beyond that there is no reason to be so fussy.

Assuming I find a good balance point of light time, shade from floating plants, nutrients (liquid and root tabs) and water change/maintenance.

Would the bba die off or just be under control and not growing?

I don't actually mind it on lava rocks and gravel as it actually looks quite nice!
It only the damage and unsightliness on plants that bothers me

Andrew waterson said:

Assuming I find a good balance point of light time, shade from floating plants, nutrients (liquid and root tabs) and water change/maintenance.

Would the bba die off or just be under control and not growing?

I don't actually mind it on lava rocks and gravel as it actually looks quite nice!
It only the damage and unsightliness on plants that bothers me

Click to expand...

It will not disappear (though it may die, but still be there), but it will not increase, and that is what you want. When ever I have seen BBA increasing, I fix the balance as best I can, and if it stops increasing, I know I've solved the problem.

When I had this algae suddenly appear and spreading on the leaves of my large sword plants [it was the fuzz-like form in the brush algae2 photo in post #4] in the 90g tank, I worked out that it was likely due to my second weekly dose of Flourish Comprehensive since nothing else had changed. I went back to just under one dose, and over the next couple of weeks I noticed that the algae did not appear on any new leaves. I pruned off the older leaves as new leaves developed, to the point where I had swords with no algae. A couple months later, I decided to experiment and see if I had read it correctly, so I went back to the two weekly doses, and within a week or so the algae again appeared on the leaves, so I decreased the fertilizer with the same result as previously. Proof that the increase in fertilizer was adding more nutrients and the BBA benefited.

In another tank, BBA increased every summer, and I worked out that it was due to the increase in duration and intensity of the daylight entering the fish room. I covered the windows the next summer (and every summer since), and the BBA never returned. In this case, the increased light triggered it, as it off-set the balance. I have had a similar result with duration of the tank lighting, which is how I got down to the present 8-hour day (7-hour on one tank) and BBA has not been a problem since.

Thanks Byron you been a great help.

Hopefully I'll get it under control and avoid a big breakout

Water sprite has just arrived, but in little pots and they are quite tall (I know they can be planted in the substrate as well as floating)
I've taken them out of the pots, freed the roots and soaked/cleaned them

They float but looks like I've put a bag of salad in the tank, certainly not what yours look like Byron!!!

I'm guessing as the roots grow down into the water column the will stand up (currently on their sides) as the weight pulls down.
Is that about right or do I need to prune back the height?

Andrew waterson said:

Water sprite has just arrived, but in little pots and they are quite tall (I know they can be planted in the substrate as well as floating)
I've taken them out of the pots, freed the roots and soaked/cleaned them

They float but looks like I've put a bag of salad in the tank, certainly not what yours look like Byron!!!

I'm guessing as the roots grow down into the water column the will stand up (currently on their sides) as the weight pulls down.
Is that about right or do I need to prune back the height?

Click to expand...

Just leave them floating. You can very gently separate the fronds perhaps, but they do break easily so it might be best not to try. They will change course on their own to become floaters. The best species for floating is Ceratopteris cornuta, but so far as I know the others will also develop nice floating.

The leaves, or more correctly fronds, since this is a true fern, can be somewhat variable in shape due to light, nutrients and water parameters. This makes identification of this species difficult, and it is often encountered in the literature under the names Ceratopteris pteridioides and C. thalictroides, although both these are now accepted distinct species. C. pteridioides has blunt-lobed fronds (leaves), while C. thalictroides has fronds that are deeply pinate with tips more slender than C. cornuta. There is some uncertainty over the taxonomy and distribution of Ceratopteris thalictroides and C. cornuta with some botanists considering these as one single species. There are currently (2018) five recognized distinct species in the genus Ceratopteris. The five species recognized as accepted by The Plant List are: Ceratopteris cornuta, C. pteridoides, C. richardii, C. succulenta, and C. thalictroides. Six other species names are synonymous with one of these, and there are three unresolved species names.