Black Algae...

[julielynn47]

I had a terrible time with black algae. For over a year  I fought it, until I pretty much just gave up.  Finally I read, somewhere, I don't remember where I found it, somewhere online, that if you let the green algae take over it will starve out the black.  Low and behold, it worked!  I let the sun hit the end of the tank, I left the lights on longer, I did everything I could to encourage the growth of regular ole green algae.   After the green was going strong, the black started dying off, just falling off things, sometimes in sheets, other times just kinda disappearing.
 
Through it all the water in the tank stayed clear and the fish not only were fine, but they thrived, some even laid eggs.
 
Now? I see the black algae trying to come back. I see it on my plants and a couple of little decorative pieces I have in the tank.
 
Do any one you have any idea what to do to get rid of it for good? Other than completely taking the substrate out and starting completely over?   
 
I have no idea really what causes it to start, but this morning I was googling and found one site that said Phosphate in your water causes it and if you can keep the phosphate out, then you keep the black algae out.  So I found this stuff, Seachem PhosGuard, yes it is a chemical, but for goodness sake, what is a person supposed to do???  
 
Have any of you used it?  I am going to look for some way to see if I have phosphates in the water first, and if I do, then out of desperation I might try this.  
 
Seriously, I am totally desperate to get rid of this stuff without having to start completely over. I have fish in my tank that are 7 years old. If I start messing around with it in such as extreme manner I will probably lose them all.

Oh, and I tried probably just about everything anyone can come up with to get rid of it. One method was to plant a LOT of plants. So I did. I bought a bunch of them and planted them  everywhere.  The black algae got on them and killed every one of them.  Every single one of them. The only plants that made it through were the 3 plants I had before it all started. They survived.  new plants in the tank did not slow down the black algae for even a day.
 
Now I have new lights and I read that would help, because old lights can encourage algae growth. Well...new lights don't seem to be helping.  Sheesh....all I can say is black algae is some bad stuff

 

[Akasha72]

Hi, I too have battled BBA ... at one point it was so bad in my tank that I joked it would grow on my fish if they stayed still long enough. I was at a lfs moaning to a staff member about it and saying I was considering giving up on keeping fish when he suggested I got my phosphate tested. I did and it was off the scale. The test ranged from a pale blue (within the normal range) to a dark navy blue which was a dangerous level - the test on my water went black 

 
I then got myself a po4 test (by JBL) and I tested my tap water and it read very high - around 1.6ppm. It was obvious that the only way to reduce it in the tank was to remove it from my tap water and the only real way to do that was to switch to RO water... but I live in a 1st floor flat and so that wasn't an option for me. I began looking into po4 removers and I've tried a few - although not the one you mention. I discovered that po4 removers come in two different types. One is Iron based and comes as an orange coloured granual. The other is Aluminium based and this comes as a white granual. I tried the Iron based first but it did little to lower the reading. I then decided to try the Aluminium based one and I found this one to work very well. 
 
For a long time I've been using one by NTLabs and this one has been brilliant but it was working out to be expensive. Recently I found another Aluminium based one by Continuum which worked out to be more cost effective BUT ... it's not working as well for me. I will be going back the NTLabs one as soon as I've used up what I have currently.
 
There is another way to combat BBA but it does depend on the size of your tank. There is a fish that will eat it ... and they tuck into it with gusto. But they get very very big growing to around 6 or 7 inches long and very chunky in girth aswell. The fish is called a Siamese Algae Eater. They are a shoaling species so you'd need more than one and you'd need a minimum of a 4ft tank. If you want to know more about identifying these fish then let me know

 

[julielynn47]

Thanks for the response and it is good to know that I am not alone with the throwing my hands in the air and wailing pitifully...well, maybe not to that point, but I thought about it. LOL  I have wanted the 75 gallon for a years. But almost decided it wasn't worth it all because of black algae. 
 
My tank is a standard 4ft , 55 gallons rectangle tank.   
 
I have not checked my water, but as I said, when I go to town tomorrow I will get the kit. If I can't find it, I will order one.   I can't think what else it could be except the phosphates.  Green algae does not really bother me. I can pretty much control that and I don't mind the tank having a healthy supply of it, but that black stuff is just hideous.
 
I will make a note of the brands you mention. I don't know what is available in the States as opposed to the UK, but I would think it is pretty much the same.

 

[Akasha72]

it should be fairly the same. My kit is by JBL, it comes with all you need including the bottle and lid to add water to. I find it to be very accurate. I have to order it online though as none of local fish stores stock it - just the basic test kits for pH Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate... the odd availability for kH and gH sometimes but po4 isn't something most people test for ... unless they are in out situation.
 
The fish I mentioned could work in your tank. I have three in my 4ft. They are fairly lazy ... unless there's food around. My three spend a lot of time going around still nibbling any trace of BBA appearing. I still get it on plants but the SAE's take care of it fairly quickly

 

[julielynn47]

You have 3 in your tank?  I had a chinese algae eater, or so he was called. He didn't eat much algae, but he was a fun fish and I just loved him. He reminded me of a puppy really. LOL    But I couldn't put any other of his kind in my tank. He would just terrorize them into hiding all the time.  I never made that mistake again.
 
So the ones you have must be different from what I had if they cohabit with others of their kind.  Can you post a link to a picture of one please?

 

[Akasha72]

they are often mis-labelled as Flying Foxes but the Flying Fox won't eat BBA and needs to be kept alone as it's aggressive to it's own kind.
 
The true Siamese Algae Eater has some subtle differences to the similar Flying Fox. The Flying Fox has 4 barbels but the SAE only has two. Both fish have a brown/black lateral line running down the full length of the body but in the Flying Fox the line stops at the base of the tail but the SAE has the line running into the fork of the tail and it needs to taper off (there is a 3rd similar looking fish known as a false SAE and the line gets WIDER as it goes into the tail - this fish WON'T eat BBA either)
The Flying Fox also sometimes has a red tip to it's fins but the SAE has clear fins.
 
So to identify:
1. Look to the tail first: Does the line extend into the tail and does it taper off - if yes it's a SAE
2. Look to the mouth: Does it have just one pair of forward facing barbels - if yes it's a SAE
3. Look to the fins: Are they clear - if yes it's a SAE
 
Photo's. First when mine were young fish
 

 

 

 
And more recently as adults.
 

 

 
 
I also forgot to say ... if you observe potential SAE's when they are sat ... they actually sit on their fins tails down heads up. That is the natural resting state of the SAE
 
Hope all that helps. Sorry about the essay - I want to be certain you get the correct fish

 

[StevenF]

Note in the US I have not JBL products in stores or online on US web sites.  I also had phosphate problems (not due to tap water.  The Phosphate meter I have is http/hannainst.com/products/checker-colorimeters/hi717-phosphate-hr.html.  Its cost about double the regular cost of typical test kits.  And yes I did say Meter.  Its an electronic device that reads the color and displays a number (ppm). It has very good resolution and is very accurate.  The only other kit I found is an API phosphate kit but the color difference on the chart at low ranges is so subtle that you are basically just guessing.

 

[julielynn47]

I will check into that Phosphate meter. Thanks for suggesting it. I didn't know that even existed.
 
I will look for some of those SAE's. Thanks for the pictures! And I don't mind the essay, I appreciate you taking the time to write it.  I think I seen something similar to them, but I don't know if it was a SAE or the other fish you mention.  
 
I am just so tired or dealing with the black algae.

 

[StevenF]

 
 
Do any one you have any idea what to do to get rid of it for good? Other than completely taking the substrate out and starting completely over?   

The algae got into your tank when one algae cell floating in the wind landed in the water.  In order to permanently eliminate it you need to make sure no cells remain in the tank (which you can only see with a microscope)  and you put a air tight lide over the tank.  You can never eliminate algae.  All you can do is to make sure the you maintain the aquarium  chemistry and light levels in way that favors plants over algae.
 

 
 
I will check into that Phosphate meter. Thanks for suggesting it. I didn't know that even existed.

they have a lot of different tests meters available.  Unfortunately one meter only runs one tests.  They also sell PH meters and Total disolved solids meters that don't require any chemicals.

 

[julielynn47]

Got my Phosphate test kit yesterday.  I do have a lot of phosphates in the tank.  I wouldn't say I am overwhelmed but they are about mid range.  The test kit says that they should be a 0 but mine are over 1 but not yet at the 2 color.   I put the phosphate remover in the little bag and put that in my filter, as it said to do.  I am hoping that helps with the brown and black algae. Goodness knows something needs too. I don't want it making a successful comeback
 
Sure doesn't seem like 1 tablespoon of the PhosePure is enough to do anything but I will give it shot

 

[StevenF]

 
 
Got my Phosphate test kit yesterday.  I do have a lot of phosphates in the tank.  I wouldn't say I am overwhelmed but they are about mid range.  The test kit says that they should be a 0 but mine are over 1 but not yet at the 2 color. 

 
Now use your new test kit again and test your tap water straight from the faucet.  If it is high you may have to permanently use the phosphate remover.  However if your tap water has no phosphate then there are things you can do to reduce phosphates without using a remover.  
 
1)  you have not been cycling enough water in and out of the tank.  If that is the case doing a 30 to 50%water change once per week should work.
2)  You maybe overfeeding your fish.  At a minimum you should feed once per day and only apply enough food that it takes only a couple of minutes for the fish to eat it all.  
3) If you have plants in the water they will absorb the phosphate However there ability to do so my be limited by a lack of some other vital nutrient.  if that is the case you can try a complete fertilizer such as Seachem Flourish complete which will have everything the plants need.  Or you can look at your water test results.  If your nitrates are always at 10ppm or lower and you never see nitrite and ammonia there is a good chance that i the problem and a nitrogen fertilizer may be needed.

 

[Akasha72]

Good post Steven but I just wanted to add - to check any fert you are using to see if it contains phosphate. Some do, some don't. If the test is reading high - or moderate in your case - you need work out through elimination where it is coming from.
 
As Steven said - test the tap water first. Then check your foods. Then check any fertilizer you are using 

 

[julielynn47]

I checked the tap water last night as well. It was good, not coming from there.  I probably do overfeed, but I also change the water at least twice a week.  I have quite a few plants, but probably not as many as a lot of people. I use Tetra ForaPride. It says on the bottle that it does not contain Nitrates or Phosphates.   
 
It seems to be a little lower today. I checked it earlier. So maybe the phosphate remover is working and will help
 
I wonder if any of you know how long it takes for it to die off after its diet of phosphates are gone?

 

[Akasha72]

I can't help you there as mine is coming perminantly from my tap water. I'm fighting a losing battle - unless I move home and get a water supply that doesn't contain it.
As your tap is ok I'd be going through the ingredients in the food ... maybe look to switch brands once you've used up your current supply. The alternative would be to get more plants to help soak up the excess

 

[julielynn47]

The problem with getting more plants is that the black stuff kills the plants. It just seems like an expensive losing battle.  But I guess if I had enough plants to soak up it up then they would not die...maybe...