Black Beard Algae (again)

[BadHairDay]

Hi,
I have a tank which has a black beard algae problem. I can physically remove the clumps when they get big enough, but it seems to be thriving.
It's a Ciano Aqua 60 (58 litres), Nitrates are < 10mg/l and nitrites zero. Substrate is blank sand. The tank population is one adult Anomalochromis thomasi, a dozen ruby tetras, and a couple of Amano shrimp.
The tank is in a north-facing room, no direct sunlight (not a lot of light at all at this time of the year in the UK!), and the single LED strip has been on for about 5 hours in the evening.
I added two root tabs about three months ago, but the BBA was already present at that time.
I admit that I'm not too disciplined with water changes, typically I'll do a 40-50% every two or three weeks, hoovering any debris off the sand, but even in that time the nitrates don't increase to a point where they register on a dip test strip.
I've just reduced the lighting to 3 hours a day, but will that affect either the algae or the health of the existing plants?
Photo attached. It's not the most aesthetic of setup-ups, having been originally set up as a short-term home for some fry, but I'd dearly love to get the algae in check.
Any advice?

 

[gimme30]

Hydrogen peroxide is the generally recommended fix, meaning you'd have to pull each affected plant for a approx. 3 minute dip. I've read claims that you can dose the entire tank safely with 10ml per 15 gallons but I wouldn't want to risk any livestock. If you can rehome them temporarily then it'd be worth a shot.
5 hours doesn't seem like an excessively long time but maybe the intensity is too high? From the pic your tank looks very bright, with mostly slow growing low-light plants. Can you dim it at all?
There are commercial remedies available like APT Fix that may be worth trying. Personally I'd add more amano, they seem to be the only critter that eats the stuff.

 

[BadHairDay]

Hydrogen peroxide is the generally recommended fix, meaning you'd have to pull each affected plant for a approx. 3 minute dip. I've read claims that you can dose the entire tank safely with 10ml per 15 gallons but I wouldn't want to risk any livestock. If you can rehome them temporarily then it'd be worth a shot.
5 hours doesn't seem like an excessively long time but maybe the intensity is too high? From the pic your tank looks very bright, with mostly slow growing low-light plants. Can you dim it at all?
There are commercial remedies available like APT Fix that may be worth trying. Personally I'd add more amano, they seem to be the only critter that eats the stuff.

Thanks, the light is bright, but not dimmable unfortunately (it's an off the shelf all-in-one tank), and I've had no luck with floating plants.
I agree, I wouldn't like to dose a whole tank with HP, dipping would be a possibility, but it's also growing on the filter unit, so that would have to come out too.
You note that the plants are slow-growing varieties, would adding something more vigorous help use up the nutrients? Could the root tabs have given the algae a boost?
I hadn't heard of APT fix, but a very quick Google suggests it could be a solution (no pun intended), so a big thank you for the heads-up on that.

 

[GaryE]

I've had a couple of tanks look like yours, and the fix has been gradual, but effective. I scrape all black beard on the glass before each water change. I do the same with the leaves of slow growing plants, and discard sections of fast growing plants (quick growers solve nothing) that get covered. As I siphon out water, I chase the free floating clumps down. It takes about ten minutes a week on top of my regular water change routine, and it has tipped the balance of the affected tanks away from bba. In several tanks, I see none now.
I run my lights for 10-12 hours, on timers.

I have one 36 inch tank which is now having issues, but between my thumb on leaves, a razor blade on glass and weekly water changes, I expect the bba to be gone shortly.

Black beard algae isn't one 'thing'. There are different forms. You have the clumpy one (very scientific naming here!) and it behaves differently from the one that actually looks like hair. It's not algae at all. It's bacterial. It likes high phosphate water. It thrives if you take too long between water changes, and here, if I get lazy about cleaning filters. I've read it doesn't like filter flow, but here it loves the outflow of dirty filters. I take it as an indicator of the need to clean media.

I have a bad habit of leaving foul filter media for way too long. Taking it out of the filter and squeezing it out doesn't take long. It's just thinking about needing to do it that's the issue for most people.

The bacteria are well protected against (to them) unwanted chemicals, and resist chlorine. The API products have been discussed here a bit. My concern is that the ingredients are a trade secret, and I dislike putting mystery potions in tanks, especially ones formulated to kill things. If you have the ingredients, you can look at them one by one and see how they work, but secret ones mean you have to trust the seller, and the list of aquarium remedies I've seen discarded along my decades with fish as hazards is very long.

You can take a syringe and shoot it with peroxide. That works, but scraping it does too. I'd just as soon siphon it out, as water quality management gets at the root of the problem. Chemical treatments are just cosmetic fixes, and if you don't solve the problem, it returns soon enough.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

BBA is not a bacteria.

Audouinella, also known as black algae,[1] is a widespread genus of red algae, found in marine and freshwater environments.[2]

The form known as "black brush algae" (or "black beard algae", BBA for short) is a particular nuisance in aquaria, since most algae eater fish and invertebrates avoid it.

I have had to battle this form of algae multiple times over the years. I am currently fighting a nasty outbreak in my 125 gal. tank. There are a variety of ways to battle it. However, the longer term solution is to correct the issues that are allowing it to thrive. The Google AI is pretty accurate in what it states.


AI Overview

Black Beard Algae (BBA) is a stubborn, dark-colored red algae that appears as fuzzy tufts on aquarium plants, hardscape, and equipment, often caused by nutrient imbalances, excess light, low CO2, or poor water quality, but can be controlled by improving water flow, adjusting lighting/CO2, increasing water changes, manual removal, spot-treating with hydrogen peroxide, or using algae-eating invertebrates. It indicates an imbalance, thriving on decaying organic matter, and while unsightly, it's not harmful to fish but can smother plants.

Common Causes

• Nutrient Imbalance: High levels of phosphates/nitrates or decaying organic waste from dead leaves/detritus.
• CO2 Issues: Fluctuating or insufficient CO2 levels, especially in heavily planted tanks.
• Lighting: Too much intensity or duration of light.
• Water Flow: Areas of low circulation or strong flow can be affected.
• Poor Maintenance: Infrequent filter cleaning or water changes.

I have had BBA issues in tanks with only slower growing plants like anubias and Java ferns. I have had a nasty outbreak in my now defunct high tech pressurized CO2 added tank. In the latter case it was caused by the failure of of one of the power compact lights on the tank. This taught me always to have spare replacement bulbs on hand. How I got rid of it was a solution that worked for me because I had what I needed on hand.

First, I ordered replacement bulbs, Then I collected all the SAEs (Siamese Algae Eeaters) from the few tanks where I had them and put them into the affected tank. I also stopped feeding that tank. It was a relatively new tank for me and it took me a bit of time to get the CO2 flow rate to a proper level for the tank. Because I had a carpet of dwarf hairgrass in the foreground that had a bunch of the BBA in it and the rest of the plants were rooted, I could not pull them to dip for BBA killing. It took a little time but the SAE ate all the BBA and the changing of the CO2 flow rate stopped the BBA from returning.

I do not use peroxide, algaecides or Flourish Excel for killing algae. I remove plants which are not rooted in substrate, only those attached to rocks, wood or other removable items. I then use a 19 to 1 one (water to bleach) solution and dip them in that. For anubias It is a 2 minute dip for ferns a 90 second. I rinse them uner my tap. We have our own well and there is no chlorine/chloramine in the water. I do not use dechlor in tanks. However, I have it for other needs and one is to dip the plants in a strong dechlor solution after I rinse them.

Most of my planted tanks are pretty much jungles. This means it is a lot easier to have the plants out compete the algae. I also find algae eating shrimp and fish help to keep algae in check as long as I am not doing things that encourage algae to thrive. Floating plants often help. Which ones can matter however, I do not allow duckweed in my tanks. last Sept. I got some Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium Laevigatum) which I have had in the past but not for many years. I spread it around a number of planted tanks. I grows fast. AN I have had to sell 4 big bags of it at ny fish club;s monthly auctions. I will also be taking a whole lot of it to the club's public auction in Carmel NY on the Jan. 10.

Frigbit is not pricey and it uses up excess nutritents well. This means they work to starve alage.

I think you likely need to add some more plants to your, to start doing more frequent water changes and to make sure you are nbot creating more nutrients from over feeding the tank or not removing organic wastes which when they dissolve make nutrients for plants and algae. Bear in mind that faster growing plants like stem plants use up nutrients faster.

 

[GaryE]

I see where I went astray - cyano is sometimes called black algae. I was a beard short. My apologies for missing that.

 

[BadHairDay]

BBA is not a bacteria.



I have had to battle this form of algae multiple times over the years. I am currently fighting a nasty outbreak in my 125 gal. tank. There are a variety of ways to battle it. However, the longer term solution is to correct the issues that are allowing it to thrive. The Google AI is pretty accurate in what it states.


AI Overview

Black Beard Algae (BBA) is a stubborn, dark-colored red algae that appears as fuzzy tufts on aquarium plants, hardscape, and equipment, often caused by nutrient imbalances, excess light, low CO2, or poor water quality, but can be controlled by improving water flow, adjusting lighting/CO2, increasing water changes, manual removal, spot-treating with hydrogen peroxide, or using algae-eating invertebrates. It indicates an imbalance, thriving on decaying organic matter, and while unsightly, it's not harmful to fish but can smother plants.

Common Causes

• Nutrient Imbalance: High levels of phosphates/nitrates or decaying organic waste from dead leaves/detritus.
• CO2 Issues: Fluctuating or insufficient CO2 levels, especially in heavily planted tanks.
• Lighting: Too much intensity or duration of light.
• Water Flow: Areas of low circulation or strong flow can be affected.
• Poor Maintenance: Infrequent filter cleaning or water changes.

I have had BBA issues in tanks with only slower growing plants like anubias and Java ferns. I have had a nasty outbreak in my now defunct high tech pressurized CO2 added tank. In the latter case it was caused by the failure of of one of the power compact lights on the tank. This taught me always to have spare replacement bulbs on hand. How I got rid of it was a solution that worked for me because I had what I needed on hand.

First, I ordered replacement bulbs, Then I collected all the SAEs (Siamese Algae Eeaters) from the few tanks where I had them and put them into the affected tank. I also stopped feeding that tank. It was a relatively new tank for me and it took me a bit of time to get the CO2 flow rate to a proper level for the tank. Because I had a carpet of dwarf hairgrass in the foreground that had a bunch of the BBA in it and the rest of the plants were rooted, I could not pull them to dip for BBA killing. It took a little time but the SAE ate all the BBA and the changing of the CO2 flow rate stopped the BBA from returning.

I do not use peroxide, algaecides or Flourish Excel for killing algae. I remove plants which are not rooted in substrate, only those attached to rocks, wood or other removable items. I then use a 19 to 1 one (water to bleach) solution and dip them in that. For anubias It is a 2 minute dip for ferns a 90 second. I rinse them uner my tap. We have our own well and there is no chlorine/chloramine in the water. I do not use dechlor in tanks. However, I have it for other needs and one is to dip the plants in a strong dechlor solution after I rinse them.

Most of my planted tanks are pretty much jungles. This means it is a lot easier to have the plants out compete the algae. I also find algae eating shrimp and fish help to keep algae in check as long as I am not doing things that encourage algae to thrive. Floating plants often help. Which ones can matter however, I do not allow duckweed in my tanks. last Sept. I got some Amazon Frogbit (Limnobium Laevigatum) which I have had in the past but not for many years. I spread it around a number of planted tanks. I grows fast. AN I have had to sell 4 big bags of it at ny fish club;s monthly auctions. I will also be taking a whole lot of it to the club's public auction in Carmel NY on the Jan. 10.

Frigbit is not pricey and it uses up excess nutritents well. This means they work to starve alage.

I think you likely need to add some more plants to your, to start doing more frequent water changes and to make sure you are nbot creating more nutrients from over feeding the tank or not removing organic wastes which when they dissolve make nutrients for plants and algae. Bear in mind that faster growing plants like stem plants use up nutrients faster.

Thank you for that detailed response, are you saying that you think your outbreak was triggered by a decrease in light levels, or was it a change in the colour spectrum?
I will certainly step up water changes and substrate cleaning, and will test for phosphates.
I have tried frogbit, but it died quickly, I don't know if this was due to the water surface disturbance or it being too close to the led strip in the hood, I will look at adding some other plant(s) that might (a) use up nutrients and (b) provide more cover.
Thanks again.