# Black brush algae in a planted tank.



## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

Well after a couple of hours of research I have narrowed it down that my tank has black brush algae on the plants. I did a couple cuts last night to remove the leaves that were covered in it, in hopes to slow it down.

I currently dose with Flourish Excel daily and Flourish twice a week. 

Now with the research I have learned that BBA survives in a tank with high PH and Phosphates. My PH is slightly high (7.8) even with driftwood and almond leaves in the tank. Could the Flourish be the cause of high Phosphates? 

I have also read mixed reviews of adding more CO2 to the tank to increase the plant growth there for stopping the growth of the BBA , as well it lowers the PH. 

I have a 35 gal tank with a 36'. 44watt T5 Coralife fixture. Would adding CO2 be useless with a low light tank? 

I also have two SAE to try and control the algae but they don't seem to eat it.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

I found that BBA takes off if/when I skip a few doses and my nitrates drop too low.

Increasing (or at least keeping up with) N dosing along with water changes and trimming off badly infested leaves and maybe some spot treating w Excel or H2O2 seems to get it under control for me.


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

I have been told that my AquaClear 50 would not work well with a DIY CO2 system as there would be too much water movement at the surface, and the CO2 would be wasted. If I used a bubble latter or a glass diffuser would this help?


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## Philip.Chan.92 (Apr 25, 2010)

I am not sure but I had an algae breakout and it was all over my tank and my plants, and got a regular pleco and he cleaned it all up in a few days. Pleco, snails and Siamese Algae Eaters should eat it, especially snails.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Nothing that I know of will touch BBA.

In my experience, BBA comes with low, or incorrect, nutrient dosing. This includes co2 fluctuations.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

*Now with the research I have learned that BBA survives in a tank with high PH and Phosphates. *

I have successfully grown great fields of BBA in 6.8-7.0, no plant food dosing, very frequent water changes, remineralized R/O (no phosphate buffers though), relatively high end food..


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

I have also grown BBA in my pressurized CO2 injected tanks as well, so pH is not likely to affect BBA growth.


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## Big Jim (Jan 7, 2010)

I had a small outbreak of BBA mostly on my Anubias. I spot treated it with peroxide followed by a water change a few hours later and the algae died off after a couple of days.


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

How do you spot treat?


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## Big Jim (Jan 7, 2010)

I use a 10ml syringe full of peroxide and point and squirt little bit at a time on the plants.


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## Jung (Mar 17, 2009)

how old are your SAEs? I find the really young ones will eat bba readily, but the large older ones don't bother with it, but instead wait for feeding time along with the other fish. That's why I trade in my old SAEs and get new young ones


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## fishclubgirl (Mar 4, 2010)

I had a problem with BBA in one tank that had a coralife light. Put legs on the top and voila, problem solved!!


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

I tested my water the other day and I found that my nitrates are lower then they once were, they are now sitting at a 5-10 range.

I use Flourish twice a week (as directed on the bottle) Would increasing the dosage help combat this stuff? 

I have also tried to removed most of the leaves affected by it , but I don't want to cut the plant down to 2 or 3 stocks 

I may try the spot treatment today and see if that helps


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

This is a pic that looks like the algae I have, I am pretty sure that it is BBA.
Although its not like the fuzzy BBA I have seen in some pics


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

BBA looks more like this:










That looks like a mix of various types of algae, but I don't think it is predominantly BBA. I would suggest that seeing algae like that on your plants is a good indication that there is a lack of nutrients - whether it be nitrates, phosphates, potassium, co2, etc. etc.

Without being able to see the rest of your tank, I will also throw out another possibility: biogenic decalcification. I ran a little experiment a couple years back with some crypts and it was quite interesting. Again, I'm not sure what plant species are in your tank or which plants are affected. Just a possibility


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

Thanks for the input Chris

I will take a bunch of pics tonight and post them up, but basicly everything that I have is starting be be covered with it. 

The plants are as follows, Java Fern, Italian Vals, Green Wendti Crypt, Water Wisteria, Ludwigia Peruensis, Cardamine (I think) and a small patch of Asian Ambrulia which I am trying to grow back after my fish decided to snack on it while I was away on vacation. 

I have DIY C02 although not 30ppm yet, its around 11.5ppm, I need to add another 2L bottle. 

I use to dose with Excel everyday (1/2 capfull or a little more) and I switched from Kent's Pro Plant to Flourish, a while back and thats when I started to notice the algae starting to take over, I am wondering if I should switch back to Kent's.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

So, well, maybe we can get to the bottom of problem here.

Let me see if I understand this correctly:

1. DIY co2
2. Dosing Excel

Are you dosing anything else?
What sort of lighting do you have (and lighting schedule)?
What sort of substrate do you have?
Tank size?

Sorry if you mentioned any of this previously, too lazy to read up =D


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

Chris S said:


> So, well, maybe we can get to the bottom of problem here.
> 
> Let me see if I understand this correctly:
> 
> ...


Ahaha not a prob,

I have DIY CO2 now, I use to dose with Excel daily before I started up the DIY CO2.

I do dose with Flourish, (1/2 cap every week when I do a water change)

Here are some pics of my tank and the algae that's in it


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Well, I would by any means say that you have a lot of algae, what is there is likely there because of a lack of macro nutrients.

Flourish is a trace, so it doses mainly your trace minerals etc., but does not dose the main macro nutrients (at least not properly), which are nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. In essence, you aren't really fertilizing the plants at all.

Keep in mind, regular pruning (or lack thereof) can often be a root cause for algae. Especially with water sprite - you probably have to trim that once a week to keep it healthy looking.

In the lower photo, the plant right in front of the flower pot grows via a rhizome. That means burying the roots will often lead to eventual death. You can attach it the same as people do with anubias, with thread or even an elastic band until it attaches itself.


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## Big Jim (Jan 7, 2010)

destructo said:


> Ahaha not a prob,
> 
> I have DIY CO2 now, I use to dose with Excel daily before I started up the DIY CO2.
> 
> ...


1/2 cap once a week isnt enough. I basically have the same size tank as you and I dose 5 caps a week, roughly 1 capful a day along with Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium. I dosed very lean in the beginning, now with the larger dosing I see much better growth. 
I'm actually seeing my anubia pearling heavy right now. One I dont see do that very often.


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

Chris S said:


> Well, I would by any means say that you have a lot of algae, what is there is likely there because of a lack of macro nutrients.
> 
> Flourish is a trace, so it doses mainly your trace minerals etc., but does not dose the main macro nutrients (at least not properly), which are nitrogen, phosphate and potassium. In essence, you aren't really fertilizing the plants at all.
> 
> ...


Tank is 35 gal, lighting is Coralife 36" T5 NO light, on for 12 hours a day

Wow I thought Flourish would be the full deal but thanks for that info, I recently got a care package from Seachem that has Flourish Iron in it, would that help? I just thinking because of that red sort of plant I have on the far left may benefit from it.

Would using Kent's Plant Pro be a good choice for ferts?

What is the plant in the bottom pic? I know it sounds dumb that I don't know but its been awhile since I bought it and forgot what it was. Where would you recommend that I grow it in the tank?

Thank you all for your help


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

It is called Phillipine fern, but I have no idea what the scientific name of it is. You can attach it to anything - driftwood, rock etc., even the flower-pot if you like.

I would cut back your lighting to 8-10 hours. Your algae problems are very slight, and that might be all you need to cull them.

Kent's pro plant and flourish are basically the same thing. Dosing Iron isn't necessary really, but it can't hurt (and may help) to dose once a week. 

Your whole setup is low-tech, which can work quite well. Once you start dosing lots of nutrients and/or adding lots of co2 and light, the work and maintenance will start gearing up.

Half the fun of having a planted tank is learning by trial and error. If you think something might help, give it a go. If you want to try something new that everyone says won't work - try it anyway!

Hope this helps some. Your tank looks good though, aside from the blue gravel


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## destructo (Aug 12, 2009)

Chris S said:


> It is called Phillipine fern, but I have no idea what the scientific name of it is. You can attach it to anything - driftwood, rock etc., even the flower-pot if you like.
> 
> I would cut back your lighting to 8-10 hours. Your algae problems are very slight, and that might be all you need to cull them.
> 
> ...


Ya that true, if it doesn't work then do do it. I really enjoy this hobby there is always something to learn and there is always a challenge at some point.

LOL ya I am with ya on the gravel, I hope to change one day, if I can.

Thanks for all your help


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Anytime


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Awee I am so sorry you got BBA on your fern, I always had issues with that as well since they are so slow growing and too might light seems to burn them out. D: 

I did end up trimming mine back which drove me nuts b/c of how long I had waited for all of that growth. lol Mine did seem to enjoy being by a powerhead if that helps any.


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