Beard Algae

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nicklfire

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Ok i'm frustrated,
been battling this stuff for about 2 months pretty harsh, took over my var nana plant and my dwarf hairgrass looks like crap, and the stuff constantly spreads all over my flora base.

Now this beard algae is a co2 deficientcy problem.. understandable.. so i cranked up my tank from 30ppm to 40ppm... co2 drop checker reading soft yellow....

noticed my timer was messed up so i took it down to about 11 hours..... And that was about a week ago... the stuff still seems to be growing on the substrate.. not so much.. the plants AS MUCH but a bit... the dwarf hairgrass is growing awesome now lol.. but the beard algae gettin to it so i gotta keep clippin them.....

How the heck does someone get rid of this stuff.. i've never had algae before, i think i screwed up my bioload when i did major cleaning and trimming and got a rid of TONS of plants.. after my cat... cause me problems with my tank.. anyways.. lol

55 gallon, 2x65 coralife, pressurized co2, Ei dosing... (if i dont forget)

I aint new to the hobby but i just cant beat this stuff, and dont feel like tearing the whole thing apart... but i kinda feel like i must..... replace the florabase with ADA stuff.
 
WOOoooooooooooo don't go ADA just yet, go out and buy a syringe and a bottle of excel, go home turn of the filter and spray raw excel onto the bba leave for 5-10 mins and repeat each day for say, 3 days and see what happens.
 
8-9 hours light and use flourish excel, using a syringe directly on the affected areas. I would lower your CO2 whilst dosing the flourish excel. Dont want to kill your fish! The 11 hours is not helping it. Also when dosing it, turn off anything that promotes circulation in your tank, eg airline, filter, so the CO2 can stay there for a bit. Then turn it on after 5-10 mins.

I used to get bearded algae all the time. Now when it appears, i follow ^ those instructions.
 
hmm ... excel and RCS good mix??? that's what i was worried about.

and also.. you want me to spray excell underwater on these affected plants.. like the dwarf hairgrass and the substrate??? it it going ot melt the beard algae or what.. ?? How many ml would you do max a treatment in a 55 gallon?
 
With shrimp in the tank do not overdose the Excel. They should be fine with the suggested dosage on the bottle.

It won't need your CO2 turning down as it is a carbon source and not CO2. (Otherwise when you opened the bottle lid you would lose some each time. lol)

Therefore no need to turn your CO2 down unless the plants start using less of your injected.

Andy
 
To get rid of BBA, Tom Barr suggests dosing the initial/water change dose rate as per the instructions, but dosing this daily and not reducing it.

I.e. I think the initial/water change dose on the bottle is 5ml per 40lt aquarium water. The tank is about 200lt, so you need to dose 25ml (200/40 = 5, 5x5 = 25ml) But instead of reducing this dose rate the next day, add another 25ml, and every day until the BBA has gone.

Unlike the often suggest method whereby you triple dose, Tom's method means you dont risk burning the fish gills by triple dosing the tank. Presumably, seachem have tested the dose rate they suggest on the bottle to make sure its fish safe.

Sam
 
So basically dosing excell will make the bba.. stop or make it dispappear?

and yes i'll reduce lighting
 
It'll kill it outright. After a week or so it'll turn red and slowly disintegrate away.

Sam
 
I.e. I think the initial/water change dose on the bottle is 5ml per 40lt aquarium water. The tank is about 200lt, so you need to dose 25ml (200/40 = 5, 5x5 = 25ml) But instead of reducing this dose rate the next day, add another 25ml, and every day until the BBA has gone.

Ok so to get this strait....

I do a water change then after i do it, i spot treat... 25 ml of excell...

Day2 : I'll spot treat 25 ml again... no water changes?
Day3: spot treat 25 ml again.. no water changes..

Day 4: do i just stop.... dosing...

When do i do another water change... thanks..
 
Just do it for a week and then see if it has done the trick.

Don't overdose it with shrimp. Just follow the label instructions.

Costly stuff so unless your budget allows then I wouldn't keep doing it.

Andy
 

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