# Is it a variety of BBA?



## smackpixi (Oct 15, 2008)

I guess it classifies as a "Red Algae" as it's not green.



















The descriptions I read of red algae focuses on the black beard/brush type that they all specify that it's hairy to varying degrees. This is more a crust. Feels bumpy/rough to the touch. Slimy too, though most everything in the tank feels somewhat slimy. Does not scrape off plants well.

It grows on just about anything, in high light and low light areas, high flow and low flow areas. It doesn't really grow on the glass...there's the standard green stuff there which I scrape off. I don't scrape the back glass and this stuff does grow there...but really is growing on top of the regular green stuff which was taken over by this stuff.

It comes off the glass and hardscape by rubbing a filter sponge on it (my standard cleaning material).

Swordtails and a Rainbow Shark eat at it.

What is it? How do I get rid of it? If it's a variety of the oft mentioned black beard stuff, there's a wealth of information on dealing with it I can probably figure out myself. Any method best suited to this type?

Tank is 55g fairly heavily planted. 1.85 WPG of flourescent strip (2 cheap daylight bulbs and one All Glass factory bulb). Fairly heavy fish load...but Nitrates and Phosphates are at very minimal levels. I probably should, but don't fertilize at all...other than feeding the fish and their poop. PH and KH are probably high...using old 5 in one test strips for them, so likely not very accurate but 7.8 ph and top end KH. I've got a 4 bottle DIY CO2 thing going...but since I'm not denting the PH, likely still need to work on that.

any thoughts?


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## The old man (Apr 12, 2008)

The BBA I've had is always black and is in small tufts and not long and wavy. Very hard to remove and my fish don't touch it unless it is dying from excel squirting, then my mollies and swordtails pick at it.
However, the long term cure seems to be just removing all infected plants, driftwood, etc and spraying everything with a mild solution of bleach or excel full stenghth. Excel may work on the algae you have and I would try it.


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## bsmith (Dec 13, 2006)

The actual long term cure of BBA is to have higher consistant co2 levels or less light or photoperiod. Bleach away but if the root cause is still there all of that work is for nothing as it will come back.

OP- I have no idea what that is you have but check out this algea guide.


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

smack,

I hate to say this but I don't know what it is either. I have this stuff growing on some of my plants too. It is imposiible to remove other than cutting off the leaves of the plants. I don't have any BBA right now, the tufty kind. I have in the past but it is all gone now. The only thing that I have done in the past three weeks is to really get military style about my ferts and water changes (EI dosing, 50% water changes weekly, 3.5wpg for 8 hours and good CO2 levels) and I can see it slowly getting better. It is actually disappearing on my big anubias emerald heart. The only fish that actually makes a dent in it is a common pleco that I have in my tank. The good thing is that it doesn't spread very fast like thread algae.

I wonder if CavanAllen is as good at identifying algae as he is at IDing plants.


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## namauqa (Jun 10, 2009)

I too have this growing (slowly) on some of my gravel. It does not fit the typical BBA description, and I've been trying to find out what it is for a while now. 

Excel does not seem to have any observable effect on it (I tried taking some of the affected gravel and soaking it in excel ovenight - didn't look any different), but H2O2 does (a few minutes soaking in H2O2 made it turn grey the next day). 

I hope someone can ID this and/or tell us of a way to get rid of it.... as far as I can tell most of the "standard" treatments for BBA (excel, consistently high CO2) have no effect.


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