# help with black hair algae



## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

Hey there .I have a huge problem with BBA not really
Sure how to deal with it I have tried removing all pieces of 
Driftwood and plants and cleaning with hydrogen 
Peroxide have scrubbed and picked and can't seem to
Shake this
My water patrameters are
A - 0
No3 - 0
No2 - 0
Ph - 7.4 with test kit
Ph with milwakee meter is 6.6 

55 gal tank
2 aquaclear 70 
1 eheim 2215
2 36 in ho light 4 6500 bulbs
Pressurized co2 system 6 bps
Eco complete substrate 
Many plants , several large pieces of driftwood

4 discuss
2 kribs
6 cardinals
6 cory cats

Water change weekly , there are some times when I do 
Miss vthe reg fri cleaning and the tank may go a week and a half
For the cleaning usually 30 percent but latlely have been 
Doing 50 percent.
Lights are usually on 6 hours
What I'd like to know is what's the best way to deal with
This I'm at the point where I want to start over
As I can't stand the look of it anymore I'm ready to bleach
Everything is therev anything I can do before I go to that step
Please help thanks
Tom


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

I've done with this with my dad's 75g that was starting to get overtaken with BBA - double dose with excel. Some sensitive plants will melt too and die down, but I found this the most effective method in removing BBA. It'll turn pink, then critters that eat it (SAEs, Amano shrimp) will just pick it clean. 

Then just keep up on maintenance and it should stay at bay. My dad's tank has stayed clean despite the overfeeding thanks to routine canister filter maintenance and WCs of 60 - 70% every two to three weeks.

I've also done this with a 20g tank - it works great, and most things are compatible with it. The only plant I've had melt so far are a big stand of vallisneria americana, but it's grown back already.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*bba*

Will I have to remove my fish.and how often should I continue 
With the treatmentv 
Thanks for the quick response


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Nope, the fish are fine. One dose should be enough. After a day or two the BBA should turn bright pink - that's how you know it's dead (kind of like the colour mildew turns when you put bleach on it). After 3 - 4 days, if it's not dead, I'd recommend doing as large a water change as possible, then repeating the treatment.

The key is also to have something (fish, shrimp) that will eat the dead algae - I've found that if there's nothing to pull it off the surfaces, it kind of sits there till it decomposes or just ends up lingering forever.


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

+1 on this. i used to have bba in my tank as well but instead i dose the normal amount of excel everyday. after a week it was gone. i do have amanos and ottos in there. as for maintenance, if you want to keep most of the algae off, you can also dose excel everyday.

I've also had an instance where just the sheer number of amanos was enough to clean off a BBA infestation (10-15 amanos in a 4g)


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*bba treatment*

Well got out to big als today and purchased a bottle of
Flourish excel treated with a double dose . Tommorow I will
Do a water change should I spray the driftwood with the 
Excell when the water level is down
Thanks again 
Tom


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Won't hurt, but make sure you don't dose after that, since unless you keep track of how much you're adding, you may seriously OD the tank.

Good luck, let us know how it goes


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*bba update*

ok i have done the treatment with exxcel and teh black hair algae has subsided ,there is still patches of algae that have not been eaten by the fish 
the cory cats are going wild on it ,the plecos like it ,and even the kribs are going at it , but there is a patch here and there that is still in the tank 
any ideas should i continue with treatment again let me know that woiuld be great 
thanks 
tom


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Yeah, just repeat the tx. I think it took about three dosages to kill everything in a heavily infested 75g.

Make sure to keep up on water changes, vacuum substrate and get any high phosphate/nitrates in order. Also if your lightbulbs are old you might want to consider replacing them as a shift in spectrum could be encouraging algae growth over plant growth.

Good to hear that it's working out!


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## Scotmando (Jul 10, 2011)

How are CRS and other shrimp with Flourish Excel?


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Scotmando said:


> How are CRS and other shrimp with Flourish Excel?


i wouldnt try using excel with shrimps because I've heard it could kill them or decrease their fertility, breeding etc. (a shrimp lfs owner told me that and he never uses excel in tanks with any shrimps in them)

HOWEVER, i myself daily dose excel with yamatos and cherries, since they're pretty hardiest ones. i wouldnt recommend that with CRS/CBS


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Scotmando said:


> How are CRS and other shrimp with Flourish Excel?


Not sure with CRS, but the 75g that I OD'd on Excel had and still has a thriving population of RCS in it.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*shrimp*

i have one large shrimp i think its a mountain shrimp ,dont know the exact name of him but hes the size of maybe a pinky finger and hes eating the algae , and still kicking so i dont think the excel has done any harm to him 
the only thing i notive with the tank is the water is a little cloudy 
cheers 
tom


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## thea2003 (Mar 21, 2011)

I have been double dosing with Excel for about 5 days now and my BBA is not turning colour...Do i continue to double dose with excel? I need to grab some more water conditioner to do another water change as well. I had trouble with high nitrates so i have been diligent with water changes and need to re-test my water. Could the nitrates be the issue?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Did you do a big water change before hand?

Also, the initial dose is bigger than the maintenance dose (from what I remember). Are you sure you're measuring accurately? This method has always worked for me, so perhaps there's something missing from your process?

How big's your tank? Are you taking into account the volume the filters add too?


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## nixx (Nov 10, 2010)

I came across a comment by someone on other forum saying that turning off the light for 2-3h during the day will prevent alage too cuz algae cant take the stress of light being on and off too frequent. Any comment on this?


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

nixx said:


> I came across a comment by someone on other forum saying that turning off the light for 2-3h during the day will prevent alage too cuz algae cant take the stress of light being on and off too frequent. Any comment on this?


Black Beard Algae really isn't affected by light. It's usualy a symptom of low or fluctuating co2.

Here is a great resource: http://rexgrigg.com/Algae1.html


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*algae*

my algae is 98 percent all gone and the plants have never looked any better 
i found the heavy stuff turned the reddish brown colour but the rest didnt turn colours so id say continue doing your treatment and the water changes .
be patient i was almost ready to give up .


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*algae gone*

ok now that my algae is gone i have a few questions hope someone can help

while i was treating for teh algae i had my co2 bottle shut off , i want to turn it back on as i just got it filled with co2 , what should i run my co2 bubble rate at for a 55 gal planted tank.

should i contiinue with just the two lamps or should i start using all four lamps

since i am dry dosing should i contiue using the excel with the rec dosing or just use the dry dosing

would appreciate any advice 
thanks 
tom


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Before I say anthing, I'll say i don't have compressed co2. But I'll say that bubble rate means very little, instead the ppm level in your tank is the best measurement for co2, by using a drop checker.

Bubble count is akin to a lights wattage, where the co2 ppm measurement is akin to the lumen output.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

or rather, I should say, Lumen measurement.

Also, I made a video to share: HOW TO DIY CO2 For Planted Aquariums


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## iBetta (Jun 19, 2011)

Will said:


> Also, I made a video to share: HOW TO DIY CO2 For Planted Aquariums


nice video man! i love the music ! ahhhh i just changed my bottle yesterday night and i forgot to proof it again! damnit! i fail .


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