Brush Algae Outbreak

[Eskielvr]

I just recently started getting some algae that's a very dark Burgandy color. I've identified it as Brush Algae. How does this type grow and how can I get rid of it? Shutting off my lights and stop fertilizing and using CO2 is out of the question since I have 2 Amazon Swords, 2 Anubias Nana, and some other plant. The Anubias Nana leaves have some coatings of brush algae on them. My driftwood, filter, and rock cave thingy also is getting an accumulation of Brush Algae.

I can't put an algaecide in because I have a Cherry Red Shrimp. How can I get rid of this? Will my Otos eat it? If they're supposed to, they're not doing a good job. I don't want to cut my Anubias leaves, esp if it'll just come back and grow on more leaves. I can take my filter out and clean it off, but I'm a little nervous about cleaning off my rock cave thing. I want to have some algae in my tank to feed my Otos, and since I normally clean the glass that would leave them with little.

I have the temp up to 80 degrees due to a sickness outbreak. Would lowering the temp help deter this type of algae? Any other advice/suggestions?

 

[Themuleous]

Easiest way to get rid of it is to get a product called flourish excel (Google it you'll find it in no time) its a form of CO2 so its not an algaecide. You just dose it a higher than the recommended rate. That normally sorts BBA out. However this doesn't sort the underlying cause.

How big is the tank and what lighting do you have?

Sam

 

[Eskielvr]

It's a 20 gallon tank, heater still set to 80 degrees due to a sickness outbreak. I have the Coralife dual strip light with 50/50 bulbs. (Blue Actintic 03 & 10,000 degree K.)

How does the Flourish Excel work? I already supplement CO2, though.

 

[BigIan]

your co2 is probably the cause of the outbreak.
Black beard/brush algae is a type of bacteria that seems to thrive in water with n unstable co2. we went away for xmas and my co2 bottle ran out in the 3 days we were away my tank became infested with it. the only thing that got rid of it was overdoseing (3x the stated amount on the bottle)
Unfortunately it killed all my shrimp but the algae is no more
I`m not 100% sure how it works but i can tell you first hand that it does

 

[Eskielvr]

Ok, I'll try dumping my CO2 solution and use a fresh batch and see how that works. (I'm using the Hagen one, where you add the sugar, yeast, and something else to it. Though someone said you can just add regular yeast to it and it works better. Can it be refrigerated though?)

I also noticed, this morning I added my weekly maintenance dosage of Stress Zyme, along with Easy Balance, and now my water is cloudy. Did that cause a beneficial bacteria bloom or algae bloom?

I went ahead and disassembled my filter and gave it a good cleaning. I was amazed to find so much red algae in it. It took me quite a deal of time to clean all the parts and get rid of it. I also cleaned off my rock cave. I hope this will help, and I hope the cloudiness in the water will go away. Any ideas of what it is?