# Black Hair Algae



## proud2bcanadian (Nov 13, 2006)

I'm just getting rid of everything in my tank today. It was infested with black hair algae after introducing some new plants a few months ago.
I am changing the gravel and removing all of the water.
I want to prevent any of this algae from coming back again so I am wondering what you guys can suggest for me to do in terms of cleaning the tank, filters, and any accessories that I have had in the tank.
I have an Eheim 2026 and it's a 55g long tank. I really don't want this to come back again, I'm running low on time to maintain the tank, that's why I'm changing everything over from a planted setup to just a simple south american setup.

Thanks,


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Nuke it. Clean the tank and decorations with straight undiluted chlorine without the lemon perfume on a cleaning sponge. Wear gloves if necessary. Of course keep fabric and clothing away from the chlorine bleach. I don't have canister filters so I am not sure if they are okay to nuke. If they are then you will probably have to take the canister all apart and nuke the parts individually. Replace filter sponges for new ones as I would not trust a nuked filter sponge. Make sure you rinse well. This will produce a new tank syndrome.


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## proud2bcanadian (Nov 13, 2006)

Would the acidity of the chlorine bleach not affect the silicone?


On a side note...the gravel I will be putting into the tank was used before. I would use new gravel however this certain type was discontinued by Hagen a number of years ago. It has been sitting dry for over a year now (in the garage). Is there anything I should do in order to make sure it doesn't have any black hair algae spores?

Thanks,


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

I haven't had any problems with silicone using just a chlorine soaked sponge. I would sponge then wait 20 minutes or more and then rinse with water. To detoxify the tank just add water and do a few water changes. I have had 3' tanks in the bath tub for cleaning but a 4' tank would be impossible. Algae spores can last a long time so to be 100% sure nuke the gravel in a bucket in the bath tub. 

Another way of killing off the algae albeit a tad more expensive is to remove all fish, shrimp, ... and use a 4 - 5 times overdose of excel. Keep the filter running. BBA is very susceptible to excel in larger doses. That way you don't have the labour of the intensive nuke procedure. I would try this first and if it doesn't work then nuke.


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

proud2bcanadian said:


> Would the acidity of the chlorine bleach not affect the silicone?
> 
> On a side note...the gravel I will be putting into the tank was used before. I would use new gravel however this certain type was discontinued by Hagen a number of years ago. It has been sitting dry for over a year now (in the garage). Is there anything I should do in order to make sure it doesn't have any black hair algae spores?
> 
> Thanks,


bleach is extremely alkaline not acidic but shouldn't hurt the silicone if the exposure time is short.

http://www.adbio.com/science/analysis/ph_scale.htm

It's quite possible that some bba spores will remain in the gravel if it's not sterlized. Heat will do it.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

Calmer said:


> Another way of killing off the algae albeit a tad more expensive is to remove all fish, shrimp, ... and use a 4 - 5 times overdose of excel. Keep the filter running. BBA is very susceptible to excel in larger doses. That way you don't have the labour of the intensive nuke procedure. I would try this first and if it doesn't work then nuke.


Another option, if you're going to remove the fish etc, you can accomplish this kind of a "algae sanitization" for a lot less using hydrogen peroxide from the drugstore. A $2.99 bottle would treat a 55G 2-3 times over.

Keep your lights on, keep your filters running and add 3ml / Gallon (real volume of water, not the advertised volume of a tank). This will destroy the algae and won't kill _*most*_ of your plants. Plants (most) have a more robust cellular wall that protects them from being oxidized, but algae doesn't. Everything will bubble like crazy as the H2O2 oxidizes organics and algae and you'll see that over 24-48 hours, the BBA will turn first pink, then white and then it will start to break up and fall off whatever it's growing on.

The beauty of this method is that the H2O2 breaks down really quickly when exposed to light (hence the usual opaque brown bottle), so you can start with a weaker treatment if you'd like, or even do a bunch of spot treatments where the algae is worst and then do a bigger dose or follow up dose a few hours later.

It can be used at lower doses in fish safe ways too, I even read from a US DNR or Fish and Wildlife site/article that H2O2 is used in commercial fisheries as an anti-fungal treatment for eggs in breeding tanks.


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## proud2bcanadian (Nov 13, 2006)

I think I'm going to try the hydrogen peroxide method first and then bleaching the tank. Again, it's safe to run through the filter? I just want to make sure because I don't think the Eheim warranty will cover anything.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

proud2bcanadian said:


> I think I'm going to try the hydrogen peroxide method first and then bleaching the tank. Again, it's safe to run through the filter? I just want to make sure because I don't think the Eheim warranty will cover anything.


I really can't see it (at the ~3% concentration we get from the drugstore) having any effect on any part of your filter. When it breaks down, it looses oxygen molecules (as bubbles) leaving H2O behind...that doesn't sound too scary.

I can't provide an empirically supported guarantee, but your filter is made of plastic, rubber, ceramic...nothing that I could see it having any effect on. It has never had any observable effect on the Eheim 2213 I use.


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## desjardo (Aug 30, 2008)

Great info Mr fishies.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Here's some more information on the h2o2 method. 
http://www.gpodio.com/h2o2.asp
I have never used this method before and have been contemplating on trying it for a very long time.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

I am not a fan of bleach as it can become very difficult to deal with if you don't clean it up properly. For those who use glass wears for their tanks, it's a 1:1 bleach/water solution mix to clean up the algae that grows there. But the clean up process is usually to soak it in water for a few hours and hope you got rid of all the bleach that way. Not sure how you're going to clean your tank.
Keep this in mind: left over bleach = cycle tank = high nitrate = unbalanced nutrients = algae growth bloom. Not to mention some dead fish along the way. I can understand using it to kill of some disease, but bleach is just too unfriendly to fish. I won't soak my gravel in bleach period and I wouldn't bleach my filter media either.

Hydrogen peroxide will do a good job of killing the algae, but the side effect is you will create a death tank for shrimps. I've tired dosing the entire tank with high concentration of peroxide and it did kill the algae, but 98% of the shrimps in the tank also died too. That tank remain a death tank for shrimp even 1 year after I did the peroxide dose. The plants are also stunt as well. Only new leave ever grew. You can get them cheap at some dollar stores for $1. They are shelved with the nail polish and other girlie stuff. It's a brown plastic bottle.

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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

Zebrapl3co said:


> Hydrogen peroxide will do a good job of killing the algae, but the side effect is you will create a death tank for shrimps. I've tired dosing the entire tank with high concentration of peroxide and it did kill the algae, but 98% of the shrimps in the tank also died too. That tank remain a death tank for shrimp even 1 year after I did the peroxide dose. The plants are also stunt as well. Only new leave ever grew. You can get them cheap at some dollar stores for $1. They are shelved with the nail polish and other girlie stuff. It's a brown plastic bottle.


Hydrogen peroxide breaks down in a matter of hours (2-4 depending on light intensity amongst other things) in an aquarium, into oxygen and water, so I can't see how it would have any lasting effect - especially a year later.

While I won't dispute your experiences, I have to question a blanket statement that it _will_ create a death tank for shrimps. I have some C. multidentata and had some N. denticulata that survived several spot treatment type applications and a few 2ml/Gal systemic doses and would give me cause to argue. If that were the case, why'd you keep putting shrimp in there for a year? 

Buying anything chemical or medical from a dollar store is a bit risky IMO. If phony or poison toothpaste is possible, dollar store medical supplies could be the culprit. I'd spend the extra $1 or $2 and get something from a real drug store. Hydrogen peroxide has nothing to do with nail polish removers, shouldn't even be stored in the same area.

---

*NOTE*: I am not advocating the dumping of H2O2 into tanks willy nilly. I always was and am _very_ cautious about it when I do it. If your concentrations are going to go past 1.5 ml/ Gallon - livestock should be removed. It can kill much, possibly all of your nitrifying bacteria colonies in addition to the algae. But...compared to ripping a tank apart, tossing plants, cleaning and soaking gravel in and bleaching a tank and trying to clean your filter of algae then neutralizing the bleach, rebuilding the tank...it's a much less "invasive" process.

It was presented as a cheaper option to overdosing Excel (which has it's own associated risks), and an easier option to a tear down and sanitization.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

On that h2o2 website that I linked to in my last post here does at the bottom say "_*It would seem that H2O2 is more dangerous at higher PH levels*_." .
This may be where the difference may be between both of your experiences with h2o2.


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