Weird black algae

[DancingBetta]

What is this stuff?

 

[AilyNC]

Is it that start of black beard?

 

[Fishiemang]

Food for a.hungry pleco...

 

[Colin_T]

Blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria). It comes in heaps of different colours ranging from green, blue, purple, red, brown and black.

 

[AilyNC]

Blue green algae (Cyanobacter bacteria). It comes in heaps of different colours ranging from green, blue, purple, red, brown and black.

Is it bad?

 

[Utar]

Yeah you don't want algae to get this bad.



I have read here and other places about how to control algae, saying it is a imbalance between lighting, fertilizers, feeding, and on an on. Jeez trying to figure all this out takes a lot of time and effort.

Here is on video on youtube were he had Siamese Algae Eaters, and Amano Shrimp to eat the algae in his tank.

The tank in the picture above, I fought this stuff for over a year, gave up let it grow for science and threw everything in the tank out except the fish. In my new 55 gallon tank this stuff started to show up, some reason it loves plants and will cover them, I cut the the tops of my Moneyworts off to help get rid of it. I have two BN plecos in this tank that are fat, they eat it but not really fast enough to stop it. But one of the things that I might have discovered (the verdict is still out on this one) is florescent lighting feeds this algae like fertilizer. When I changed the florescent lighting out with LED lights, it seems to have slowed down in growth. I don't know, but if this stuff keeps taking over my tanks, I will probably just give up altogether on aquariums, take it all down and sale it all off.

 

[raylove]

I had this once and it drove mad. One day I saw medicine in a shop that was supposed to cure it - ordinary algaecide won't do it, you need one for blue green algae which as mentioned by ColinT is actually a bacteria. It worked!
I also cut down on lighting and ferts, reduced feeding and upped water changes. I removed every trace I occasionally saw over the next few weeks and whilst I still occasionally see a tiny amount, it's never again become a major issue. I think I was a little slow to get on top of it when I first saw it as I didn't know it was going to be a big problem.
I haven't seen that cure in the shop since but I believe I have seen alternatives so see if you can find something. It's the only way you are likely to beat it unfortunately.

 

[Utar]

I had this once and it drove mad. One day I saw medicine in a shop that was supposed to cure it - ordinary algaecide won't do it, you need one for blue green algae which as mentioned by ColinT is actually a bacteria. It worked!
I also cut down on lighting and ferts, reduced feeding and upped water changes. I removed every trace I occasionally saw over the next few weeks and whilst I still occasionally see a tiny amount, it's never again become a major issue. I think I was a little slow to get on top of it when I first saw it as I didn't know it was going to be a big problem.
I haven't seen that cure in the shop since but I believe I have seen alternatives so see if you can find something. It's the only way you are likely to beat it unfortunately.

I tried finding this but could not. Maybe it has to do with where you live and I live being the difference. But I did find only this one in my online search.
It is expensive but well worth it if it works.
COLOMBO Cerpofor Aerocol

 

[raylove]

Yeah, as I said I haven't seen it since I bought it and that was some years ago now. Luckily I haven't needed it again! I'm sure I have seen alternatives on the shelves from time to time so hopefully you will find something even though it doesn't seem to be a particularly common remedy. When I was searching for a solution I found lots of suggestions online but nobody seemed to be aware of a proprietary remedy and it was a surprise when I spotted it.
From memory it had a dramatic effect over the first few days. However, there was so much of it that it didn't just disappear completely. I had to carry on cleaning it manually for a while the remedy had definitely stopped it in its tracks and allowed me to eradicate it.

 

[Sir Guppy]

Try this website: https://aquanswers.com/how-to-get-rid-of-black-algae-in-aquarium-permanently/

 

[Stan510]

Nobody likes when I say,that a heap of algae problems that I got down to minor but never ending,was cured- so far- by erythromycin. In fact its changed the way I look at cyanobacteria in general. Because,I know I was doing all the right things...water changes, Ancistrus,Garra,low phosphate foods..etc. But once BGA got introduced it was forever someplace. When it started to grow faster on my Java moss that's when I used the generic antibiotic of Maracyn2.
To my great surprise? It killed the BGA, the BBA and the brown that was unscrapable on my Bolbitis fern. It seems to have cured a disease...the tanks disease of cyano algaes. People dont mind using antibiotics for a $ 3.00 fish...but were aghast to hear I used it on a tank with hundreds in fish and plants.
Just add aeration,dont make water changes for a couple of weeks or more to make sure you REALLY cleaned things out and watch...plants will flourish as if you had fertilized. The whole tank looks healthier.
The only algae now is that healthy one that's grass green and the Ancistrus and Garra leave tooth marks in -lol...edible.
I think most you know when you NEED to use it(things are getting out of hand) and when you don't. If you do,don't guilt trip,use it. It works wonders.