Black Hair Algae

[dave_oddballs]

hi, in my 240 litre tank i have got quite a bit of black hair algae, i have removed a lot of the plants that had it, i have turned my lights own so they are only on 8 hours now.
i got some algae stuff from the lfs called' hobby algen-killer'
doesn't seem to have done much although it says to remove carbon from the filter which i didn't do!
there must be something i can buy that will kill it off completely.
i have probably a couple of hundred pounds worth of plants, plante rock and planted bogwoo so it isn't exactly a viable option just to throw all my plants out an start again.
i have already thrown away quite a few of the affected plants, but its plants like my 3 huge anubias on a rock that are quite badly affected, this cost me a fair wack so i aint about to throw it out.
there must be something that kills this algae, i just need to know what to get!
im not bothered how much it might cost so please any suggestions or solutions will be massively appreciated!
thanks

Dave

 

[indigoj]

I know someone who used Seachem Excel on it and then does a weekly dose to keep it away.

 

[trojannemo]

my local club had a speaker give a presentation on plants and he also mentioned using excel to kill BBA.
he showed a video of how he did it...he put excel in a spray bottle, grabbed the plant that was infected with it and held it outside of the tank, and spritzed the heck out of it with the excel. put it back in the tank and then within a couple of weeks it was gone.

excel is a liquid form of carbon, which the plants can use. if you take the plant out, spritz it, put it back in, and continue to do that daily, i dont see how it would affect the plant negatively.
so try that and hopefully you'll see the algae go away!

don't take the shortcut and put a lot of excel into the tank...i'm sure a high enough concentration in the water can have adverse effects on the fish...so take the plant out and spritz it outside of the water.

good luck

 

[keenonfish]

I had the stuff it was nasty looking - always clung to the edge of plant leaves and is the most unsightly of all the algaes IMO.

proper CO2 with good flow (extra power head above CO2 diffuser) was all that was required for me.

Hasn't got rid of BBA but I don't mind this and it is great as micro food for babies etc..

 

[RadaR]

BBA caused by low/fluctuating levels of CO2. In other words your lighting is too much for your current CO2 levels.
There is no quick fix solution but addressing the underlying cause will see it go with time combined with strict pruning. Liquid carbon additives like Excel and Easycarbo will partly help address the problem by supplying a form of carbon to the plants. It is said to contain a slight algaecide but predominately it's the carbon that is helping you out. Never overdose these types of products though. Just dose more frequently.

 

[dave_oddballs]

so i shoud find some excel or easy-carbo and just dose at the rate indicated on the product?
should i turn my lights down again?
there is 2 40w bulbs on the 55g so almost 1.5w per gallon.
its full of plants already and all seem to be doing excellently apart from the hair algae.
it is mostly on my java fern mother plant which i dont intend on throwing out, but i do keep cutting off affected leaves as new ones grow to make up for them, and my anubias, i have 3 big plants on a rock and 3 smaller ones dotted around, i would reluctantly dispose of the smaller anubias plants but not the big ones as the whole thing was quite expensive.
is it right that even if i removed all the leaves from the anubias just leaving the stem thing it would regenerate new leaves and carry on living?

so...... i need the liquid carbon which i shall purchase asap, do i need to turn my lights down more or eave them at 8 hour on and 16 off?

Dave

 

[baron von bubba]

so i shoud find some excel or easy-carbo and just dose at the rate indicated on the product?
should i turn my lights down again?
there is 2 40w bulbs on the 55g so almost 1.5w per gallon.
its full of plants already and all seem to be doing excellently apart from the hair algae.
it is mostly on my java fern mother plant which i dont intend on throwing out, but i do keep cutting off affected leaves as new ones grow to make up for them, and my anubias, i have 3 big plants on a rock and 3 smaller ones dotted around, i would reluctantly dispose of the smaller anubias plants but not the big ones as the whole thing was quite expensive.
is it right that even if i removed all the leaves from the anubias just leaving the stem thing it would regenerate new leaves and carry on living?

so...... i need the liquid carbon which i shall purchase asap, do i need to turn my lights down more or eave them at 8 hour on and 16 off?

Dave

as stated excel or easy carbo.
dose the recommended amount but use a dropper to dose bdirectly to the affected areas.


do you add co2 at all?
what's your water change routine?

i'm guessing you dont add co2 but do regular water changes?

if this is the case then, this is what could be causing your problems. tap water can contain surprisingly high levels of co2.
to test this, measure ph straight from the tap and then leave the water in a glass for 24-48 hours and measure again, the ph will probably rise in this time.
this will be because of the co2 gassing off.
to counter this you can fill a water but with the tap water and leave over night with an airstone or similar to gas off the co2, then when you do a W/C co2 levels will be more stable.

if the above was an incorrect assumption then you could consider a lighting break, lights on for 4/5hours off for 4hours then on for 4/5hours.
this will give the tank a chance to replenish the residual co2 levels in the break.

 

[dave_oddballs]

thanks alot for that, very interesting!
erm my lights come on at 12 noon and go off at 8pm, does on at 10am-off at 2pm, on at 6pm and off at 10pm??

yeah i dont have co2 on this tank, it was never planned to keep lots of plants, it just happened. as the tank matured i saw which plants did well and added more, its full of plants now, dont know all the scientific names but to name what i can i have, java fern, anubias afzelii, anubius nana, anubias barteri, cryptocoryne wendtii, myriophyllum heterophyllum(fox tail), hc cuba, microsorum pteropus 'windelov', rotala rotundifolia, a couple of lacey bulb plants, vallis and a couple of others i don't know the name of.
i do just add water from the tap, mixed with boiled water to bring upto tank temperature and dechlorinated.
i don't know if i have any containers big enough to store aerated water in and f i used a water butt outside here it would be full of bugs and stuff by the end of the day!
co2 s out of the question as for a 55 gallon only a pressurised system would be enough and im not willing to pay a couple of hundred pounds just to stop hair algae!
i shall take the 1st steps, i.e. have a break of loight during the day and buy some liquid carbon in the form of excel or easy-carbo.

thanks very much for your help, and any other suggestions will be most welcome!!

Dave

 

[baron von bubba]

thanks alot for that, very interesting!
erm my lights come on at 12 noon and go off at 8pm, does on at 10am-off at 2pm, on at 6pm and off at 10pm??

yeah i dont have co2 on this tank, it was never planned to keep lots of plants, it just happened. as the tank matured i saw which plants did well and added more, its full of plants now, dont know all the scientific names but to name what i can i have, java fern, anubias afzelii, anubius nana, anubias barteri, cryptocoryne wendtii, myriophyllum heterophyllum(fox tail), hc cuba, microsorum pteropus 'windelov', rotala rotundifolia, a couple of lacey bulb plants, vallis and a couple of others i don't know the name of.
i do just add water from the tap, mixed with boiled water to bring upto tank temperature and dechlorinated.
i don't know if i have any containers big enough to store aerated water in and f i used a water butt outside here it would be full of bugs and stuff by the end of the day!
co2 s out of the question as for a 55 gallon only a pressurised system would be enough and im not willing to pay a couple of hundred pounds just to stop hair algae!
i shall take the 1st steps, i.e. have a break of loight during the day and buy some liquid carbon in the form of excel or easy-carbo.

thanks very much for your help, and any other suggestions will be most welcome!!

Dave

as long as the tank isn't too heavily stocked with fish and you dont chuck excessive amounts of ferts in then you can get away with doing water changes very infrequently!!
i guess maybe if you could do the W/C after lights out or leave lights off for a day after the W/C then the effects of uneven co2 levels would be negated somewhat.
you may want to consider keeping up the liquid carbon dosing after you have taken care of the BBA, (this will prob cost you a fair bit tho, maybe 60-70 quid a year!) if not, you may want to leave the lights off for a few days while you spot dose the liquid carbon. That way you wont create more problems with uneven co2 levels.

altho looking back thro the posts, its only assumed this is the actual algae type you have and not been confirmed!

<a href="http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm" target="_blank">http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm</a>
check out this link for good algae info and to give a definite I.D

you have HC in there?? are you sure?? i thought this plant pretty much needs decent co2 levels to grow properly.

Also worth noting the vallis may not enjoy the liquid carbon much!

 

[dave_oddballs]

erm well according to that link, i have; staghorn, oedogonium, hair/thread/fuzz algae and black brush algae.
i do feed alot of messy foods (lance fish, cockles, prawn, frozen bloodworm and brineshrimp etc) but i can't stop this as my fish are big and predatory. it is heavily stocked, but it is very highly fltered with about 12x turnover per hour.
80 watt of light, 55 gallons of water (well, probably less as has 3 inch of silica sand and a massive piece of bogwood.
it has good circulation as the outlet of the fluval fx5 chucks water out, already have a powerhead for extra circulation, will try and find another and maybe add t to the other end!
it is packed full of plants, planted wood and 1 big planted rock.
i can have a break of light during the day as you suggested, i will(very reluctantly) remove the more badly affected plants, f i trim off the worse of the anubias leaves will it come back strong? the 3 giant anubias are about a foot high and about 8 inch across! i will try and find some flourish excel or easy-carbo this week or on the weekend.
i dont get, if it is that when i do water changes there is too much co2 in the water, why it is going to benefit the tank putting in liquid co2?
surely if its too much co2 in the water, then adding co2 isn't going to help! thats the only bit i dont get!

cheers, Dave

 

[baron von bubba]

i dont get, if it is that when i do water changes there is too much co2 in the water, why it is going to benefit the tank putting in liquid co2?
surely if its too much co2 in the water, then adding co2 isn't going to help! thats the only bit i dont get!

cheers, Dave

Thats why i suggested havin a few days of no lights when spot doesing the liquid co2. That way the plants wont be using the extra co2, while the algacide does its stuff on the bba.
Not sure if it was said but, Use a dropper to apply directly to the affected areas.

Just green spot to go for and you'll have the whole set then? Hehe.

Ok seems you have the flow/turnover pretty much covered!
What ferts do you use? You may well have said already, but i'm on my phone and there forums are a pain to use?

 

[dave_oddballs]

i havent used any ferts in this tank for months now. i used to use 'nutrafin plant gro'.
all of the bba is on the edge's of the anubias and on the java fern but i am taking affected leaves off the java fern as new ones grow as not to take too many!
i tried scrubbing the leaves of the anubias but its just brutal what you have to do just to get anywere with it.
and the green stringy stuff is just one one of my plants, the fox tail stuff, this plant goes all the way to the top of the water and about 2 foot across the tank so at least 3 foot long, the algae is just where the plant hits the surface, its like a carpet ontop of the plant now, the plant looks tatty now and was inexpensive so will be taking it out, which will to my eye sight eliminate this algae. the fuzz algae stuff seems to just be on the vallis, again, an inexpensive plant that i will just throw, this will, to my knowledge, eliminate 2 of the algae's!
when you say use a dropper to apply directly to the affected areas, what do you meen? take the plant out and drop either excel or easy-carbo straight onto the algae? or just get a pippette and drop it in the water straight onto the algae?
its just gonna be pretty hard as the big anubias is on a rock, firmly rooted on and the massive bogwood goes over it!
i obviously didn't take into consideration an algae bloom when i was scaping!

Dave

 

[doresy]

Bloomin 'orrid stuff.

I had it in a small tank and eventually got rid of it (the tank that is)

Something that may interest you though.........in that tank was a small fake log with Java attached that regulaily got covered in the stuff. When I got rid of the tank I took out that log, cleaned it a bit then (stupidly) popped it in my main tank. WELL!, my 5 Amano Shrimps were on it in a flash and never left it for about 3 days!

Me thinks they love BHA

 

[baron von bubba]

i havent used any ferts in this tank for months now. i used to use 'nutrafin plant gro'.
all of the bba is on the edge's of the anubias and on the java fern but i am taking affected leaves off the java fern as new ones grow as not to take too many!
i tried scrubbing the leaves of the anubias but its just brutal what you have to do just to get anywere with it.
and the green stringy stuff is just one one of my plants, the fox tail stuff, this plant goes all the way to the top of the water and about 2 foot across the tank so at least 3 foot long, the algae is just where the plant hits the surface, its like a carpet ontop of the plant now, the plant looks tatty now and was inexpensive so will be taking it out, which will to my eye sight eliminate this algae. the fuzz algae stuff seems to just be on the vallis, again, an inexpensive plant that i will just throw, this will, to my knowledge, eliminate 2 of the algae's!
when you say use a dropper to apply directly to the affected areas, what do you meen? take the plant out and drop either excel or easy-carbo straight onto the algae? or just get a pippette and drop it in the water straight onto the algae?
its just gonna be pretty hard as the big anubias is on a rock, firmly rooted on and the massive bogwood goes over it!
i obviously didn't take into consideration an algae bloom when i was scaping!

Dave

ah.........
no ferts for months?
i would suggest you start adding some dude.
removing "infected" plants may physically remove some algae but if you don't sort out the cause of it, it'll just be back!

i believe some ppl remove plants and use a brush to paint the excell/easycarbo on affected areas.
some use a pipette or dropper to spot dose direct in situ in the tank.
i guess it depends on the plant and situation.

 

[baron von bubba]

i will try and find some flourish excel or easy-carbo this week or on the weekend.
i dont get, if it is that when i do water changes there is too much co2 in the water, why it is going to benefit the tank putting in liquid co2?
surely if its too much co2 in the water, then adding co2 isn't going to help! thats the only bit i dont get!

cheers, Dave

this is what some clever guy on another forum said to pretty much the same question. :0)

"Liquid carbon products are, in effect CO2, or it's more accurate to say that they are converted to CO2 internally, therefore, inconsistent addition to the tank is less than ideal, however, since the product also has algecidal properties the effect is mitigated. Spot dosing is probably the best alternative for a non-CO2 tank while the water level is low. Remove and return the same water, or combine spot dosing with a blackout. That way the instability issue is rendered moot."