Black Brush algie ?? - Aquarium Algae Control & Specific Problems

LIONHEAD · 05-08-2008, 05:49 PM

I'm having a problem with a algie that I was told was Black Brush Algie. I have seen it in my local fish shop (a real problem in there tank). I'm just seeing it a little in my tank, on the edges of a sword plant, and on my java fern. I pick it off just as soon as I can get a hold of it. os far I have been able to control it. Any ideas of control or prevention. 75 gallon tank, 130 watts of lighting, ph 7.0 ammonia o ppm, nitrite o ppm, 30% water change weekly, temp 80 degrees...Thanks for your help..again.....

**Tex Gal** · 05-08-2008, 06:04 PM

You can spot treat it with Exell. This works well. You need to find out what is causing it. You water temp seems pretty high. Can you lower it some? Do you have your lights on too long? Do you use CO2 or fertilizers?

hoppycalif · 05-10-2008, 09:14 AM

BBA seems to pop up when we have high light with inadequate CO2 for the plants. The CO2 problem can be either too little added to the tank or poor water circulation that prevents all areas of the tank from getting that CO2. Like all algae, light is the most significant factor.

davemonkey · 05-10-2008, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hoppycalif

BBA seems to pop up when we have high light with inadequate CO2 for the plants.

I found that to be true even with what is still lower light levels. As soon as I put my new fixture on (which effectively doubled the lighting that came with the tank, but still is low-medium) I noticed a severe outbreak of BBA. I added fish to eat it (SAE and Black Mollies) and it got better, but it didn't go completely away until I started supplementing a carbon source (Flourish excel).

jazzlvr123 · 05-10-2008, 10:33 AM

Excel is a good way to go to spot treat however unstable Co2 levels is the leading cause of BBA either too much or too little or erratic amounts being supplemented through out the day A stable Co2 level is the best thing to keep it form coming back and spot treating with excel is the best thing to rid of the stuff that is already there

LIONHEAD · 05-14-2008, 08:50 PM

The cause of my tank inbalance and cause of BBA, was a dirty canister filter. A filter change, a good 50% waterchange, an i cut back on the hours I have the lights on. A good dose of EXCEL also helped..Thanks for your help. A new day a new challenge........

jazzlvr123 · 05-14-2008, 09:37 PM

glad you were able to eradicate it thats always a great feeling to see an algae free tank

Bk828 · 05-21-2008, 06:50 AM

Hey lion by how many hours did you cut back on the photoperiod?
I also have bba but its not on any of the plants, instead its on the stones i used for the scape.

LindaC · 05-21-2008, 07:44 AM

I've been dealing with this problem for a long time now and it seems no matter what I do, I can't stop it. I'm constantly picking little pieces off my subtrate, leaves of my plants, drift wood and lots of other things in my tank.

I wonder if my subtrate is too old, I've had this current subtrate (flourite) in my tank now for 3 years, if I changed it and added new flourite, would this help. I'm only running 65 watts of light over my 29 gallon tank, so that's not too much light. My CO2 is at a contant stream, it's not up and down.

This all started happening (the BBA) since I moved to a new city where the water is different. At my old house, I never had a problem with BBA.

**houseofcards** · 05-21-2008, 09:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LIONHEAD

The cause of my tank inbalance and cause of BBA, was a dirty canister filter. A filter change, a good 50% waterchange, an i cut back on the hours I have the lights on. A good dose of EXCEL also helped..Thanks for your help. A new day a new challenge........

I'm not sure if a week is longer enough to know for sure what's causing BBA to appear in your tank, but I do agree it could be the filter. Once the organic content in the water becomes too high it's my belief that BBA will start to appear on hardscape and slow growing plants. Many get lazy (Including me) on cleaning out cansister filters because of manuf. statements that you don't have to clean for 6 months sometimes. I'm sure the longer we wait to clean the filter the more organic content is being moved through the water. When combined with high light especially we get elevated BBA growth. I don't necessarily agree that co2 and/or flow is a major contributing factor. I have seen BBA grow in very stag areas, but also directly in the flow of the output as well as inside a ceramic diffusor, where I would assume co2 content is quite high. The best thing you could do when you start to see a turf appear here and there is to increase filtration for organics, by adding some purigen or other organic remover and reducing light duration a bit. My opinion of course.