# My battle against Black Beard Algae Evilness



## medic8ted (Jan 26, 2012)

Well I've been reading a lot on here and other sites in the last week about BBA and initiated my attack against it today. A few weeks ago I thought I had picked up some dog hair off the floor and it got tangled in my anacharis so I cut the ends off. No big deal. Then more. Damn dog hair. Cut it off. Then more. Now on the swords. Uh oh. This is my first bout with it so I'm going to document my progress (or lack thereof). I've read of H2O2 and bleach dips and H2O2 tank treatments so initially I'm going with a 2 pronged attack. I'll try to update weekly but it may be more or less as conditions warrant.

Today hit entire tank with H2O2 (3% off the shelf stuff), 3ml/gal for 30 min, then did 50% water change. Removed all affected plants, trimmed heavily affected leaves from swords and trimmed anacharis way back,and dipped them along with other swords and anubias in 50% water/H2O2 solution for 4-5 min each, rinsed in tank water. Vals and another sword did not appear affected so they only got exposed to the batch treatment not the dip. Refilled tank with normal water, now tank is at approximately 1.5 ml/gal H2O2 concentration. SAE and black molly are munching away at it but not able to keep up. Fish are all acting as they were prior to H2O2 treatment. I will try to do 30% water changes every few days, reducing the H2O2 slowly.

I believe overfeeding (by my wife - "they look HUNGRY") and overlighting is the root cause but we'll see. Food will be cut back, less flakes, less frozen, and 1 algae wafer every 2-3 days instead of 2/day, and light (2 bulb T5 -not HO) was raised by 3" and will be cut back to maybe 8 hrs a day instead of 12. (I don't believe in plug in timers, I'm a fireman and have seen more than a couple houses burn from them. They may say UL listed on them but they're cheap and malfunction ALOT.)

So thus begins my battle, stay tuned for the gory details.....


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello medic...

Algae isn't a bad thing. It's a good supplement to your fishes' diet and means you have a healthy tank. So, I wouldn't fret over it. If you want to control it, then I wouldn't use chemicals. The "algae destroyers" with Gluteraldehyde, will kill algae quickly, but then it floats around in the tank so that's more food for the next algae bloom. Chemicals generally stress fish. 

You're cutting back on the food, that's good. Large, weekly water changes will help too. Cutting back on the time the tank lights are on is helpful.

A while back, I had a problem with algae and was told to get some "Ramshorn" snails from the pet store. Best thing I ever did. They'll eat all forms of algae and any decayed plant and fish material. I thought they'd eat my healthy plants, but they just clean them. My tanks are free of visible algae.

B


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## dirtydutch4x (Jun 16, 2009)

When I had a major outbreak I stopped feeding for 2 day with no light and covered the tank to keep it as dark as possible, it cleared up pretty fast. Maybe add some more plants to compete for nutrients, since I have added more plants I have not yet had an outbreak(knock on wood).


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## inkmaker (Jun 10, 2009)

I am on the edge of my seat waiting on results of the Peroxide treatment! It has worked for me in the past but it also will kill several soft leaf plants. I would suggest a deeper water change sooner. Don't leave the Peroxide in the tank forever.

Charles H


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Did you shut down your filters? H2O2 in your tank will kill your beneficial bacteria so you do need to be very careful with it. 

Nutrient control, adding plants, killing the light...none of that works for BBA. Plants don't compete with algae for nutrients. Adding plants can always help, just not for BBA. You can kill the light for 4-5 days if you want....you will still likely have the BBA when you turn it back on. It is one of the toughest forms to get rid of and killing lights usually doesn't work.....killing lights should be an extreme case of algae. It should never get to the point of needing that extreme of a need.

If I get it I use flourish Excel, it is more like a fertilizer, not a chemical. It kills the algae and it eventually disappears and does not start floating around the tank or create a mess.

What light do you have? How long do you leave it on for? Algae control is all about light control....nothing else really matters or makes a significant difference, IMO.


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## medic8ted (Jan 26, 2012)

Update and answers to a few questions



> When I had a major outbreak I stopped feeding for 2 day with no light and covered the tank to keep it as dark as possible, it cleared up pretty fast. Maybe add some more plants to compete for nutrients, since I have added more plants I have not yet had


Had a week long blackout with no result. It only got worse. No more room for more plants, driftwood and cave take up remaining space.



> Did you shut down your filters? H2O2 in your tank will kill your beneficial bacteria so you do need to be very careful with it.


I left the filter on for the initial 30 min and on ever since. The filter was full of algae as well. I will have to cycle out filters and media (Fluval U3).



> What light do you have? How long do you leave it on for?


Lighting is 2 T5 (non-HO) bright white lights, I don't remember color in K but I'm thinking 6500-10000K. Plants greatly appreciated the new brighter light when I put it in. No algae issues in last 3 months and no changes to lighting schedule or lights in last 3 months. Read original post for lighting details.



> I am on the edge of my seat waiting on results of the Peroxide treatment! It has worked for me in the past but it also will kill several soft leaf plants. I would suggest a deeper water change sooner. Don't leave the Peroxide in the tank forever.


And the moment we've all been waiting for.
Today is day 4, and the 1st chance I've had to change water. As I said, I'm a full time firefighter and I have already worked 68 hours since Saturday morning. And its only Wednesday. Anyhow, I just did another 50% water change, thus reducing the H2O2 concentration to about 0.75 ml/gal. Visible BBA initially turned white, then reddish/pink on swords and anacharis. Anacharis susequently withered and has been removed since it was obviously dying and polluting the tank. NO FISH CASUALTIES thus far and no obvious stress, they act the same as they did prior to the treatment. Swords and java ferns appear to be ok, no wilting or browning leaves. Vals are visibly stressed but I'm hoping they make it. Had to add 2nd HOB filter I had extra to help remove decayed plant matter from anacharis. Will probably do another 25-35% water change tomorrow to help remove more H2O2 and decaying anacharis. Green spot algae present before has not been obviously affected, its still on the rocks in non-intrusive quantities. More updates to follow.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would test for ammonia for a little while. One of the biggest dangers with treating the whole tank with peroxide is it can kill your beneficial bacteria. If the BBA turned pink, its dead and will start to fall off.


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## medic8ted (Jan 26, 2012)

Its been a while since I've updated this so I guess its time. BBA has NOT been eradicated but is somewhat controlled. Now it is only attaching to my java ferns, swords, and top of the cave. Not on the driftwood or the golden pothos. When the sword leaves look furry around the edges I trim them off. Apparently raising the light and cutting back the food helped quite a bit. I am considering trying the peroxide again to get it off the java ferns since they are bushy and awesome looking. Cave was removed and driftwood rearranged to allow hiding spots for everyone. The moss balls didn't do too well, it bleached the edges and 1 fell apart and the other still looks wilted. Vals and anacharis all died off and have not been replaced. I added golden pothos (see this thread http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/golden-pothos-39292.html#post195328), its doing well and BBA doesn't attach to it yet and its been about 2 months.


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