# dark furry algae



## TheLoachGuy (Oct 17, 2006)

It infests the older leaves on my anubias and some of the roots of the java fern. How do i get rid of it short of scrubbing it off the plant leaves? The anubias is pretty well planted and attached to driftwood.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

Sounds like black brush algae. You can actually use a 1 in 20 bleach/water solution to kill it on anubias and driftwood. Just soak it in the solution for a couple of minutes maximum, rinse well, dip in a dechlor/water bath and return to the tank. The algae turns white, showing that it is dead, and then the fish and shrimp begin snacking on it. Then it is a good idea to make sure you have adequate CO2 ppm in the tank to try to avoid it returning, plus don't go overboard with light.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

I've only done a bleach dip (1:20) on Anubias berteri once and I did not have very good results. I soaked the leaves for about 20-30 seconds and it did work at removing the BBA. However, the leaves that were dipped began to decay very shortly after and became a magnet for Hair and other types of Algae as they died off. I know some people have had similar results using Excel on Anubias but I have only had acceptable (at least to me) results with Excel. 

If it is not too many leaves effected, simply trim them off. If it is a lot of leaves you can try a very quick dip in 100% Excel...by quick I mean just long enough to wet the BBA and then put the plant it back in the tank. My BBA turned red within a day or so and eventually died off. There was some minor damage to the leaves but I am not sure if this was due to the Excel or just the fact that the BBA had not allowed light to get penetrate to the leaves themselves.


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## CincyCichlids (Oct 14, 2005)

Excel works...but note:
"Do not walk away and do water changes and remember 15 min later that the anubias and java fern are soaking in a 75% solution of Excel" The BBA goes away and so does most of your leaves... plants seem better now.. a month later


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Haha, good advice


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## JRJ (Feb 9, 2005)

Get some true Siamese Algae Eaters. End of story.

-Russ


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## endlerman (Jun 30, 2005)

I've had some success with young ancistrus eating the algae, and also with a quick dip in peroxide.
Wayne


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## Troy McClure (Aug 3, 2005)

BBA is a strange thing to me. I'm not sure if anybody actually understands why is grows. I know the commonly accepted cause is low CO2, but the places I see it in my tank are around the holes of my spray bar and on a few leaf tips just inches away from the spray bar. Now, it seems to me that these areas would be the highest in CO2 saturation since the water is coming right from the reactor and has not had a chance to outgas. So why would BBA grow there? 

I've seen it be very prolific in at least a couple member's tanks (names withheld) and I know for a fact their CO2 levels are adequate. The "commonly accepted" cause isn't adequate enough or even correct enough of an explanation for my liking. Maybe it's because of the observations I've made from my tanks, but there is just something too elementary and too unfounded about it.


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## allen (Jan 12, 2006)

If you don't want to remove the plants to dip them in excel,try using a pipette to dose a small area every day.

I was dosing excel 5ml daily and it took about a week to treat all the algae and I didn't remove a single plant.Within a day the algae I treated turned white and the fish would clean it up from there.

After I got all my ferts at the right level the algae never came back.If I remember right the kh2po4 was way low.


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## TheLoachGuy (Oct 17, 2006)

Will cherry shrimp eat the algae even if its not dead? This crap is taking over that tank. I do water changes of 30-40% weekly. DIY C02 doseage is about a bubble every 2 seconds. No ferts.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

TheLoachGuy said:


> Will cherry shrimp eat the algae even if its not dead? This crap is taking over that tank. I do water changes of 30-40% weekly. DIY C02 doseage is about a bubble every 2 seconds. No ferts.


Light is the primary driver of a planted tank. High light means the plants need lots of fertilizers, including CO2. Low light means you don't need nearly as much fertilizer, and possibly the fish poop will provide enough for a healthy tank. So, our choice is to limit the amount of light we provide or be ready to provide adequate fertilizing for the high light.

CO2 dosage of a bubble every two seconds is very low unless it is a nano tank. And no ferts only works if the light level is below 2 watts per gallon on a regular size tank. The latest word I have seen on BBA vs CO2 is that it is stable CO2 ppm in the water that will inhibit BBA, not just high CO2. Stable means that every day when the lights come on the CO2 is at an adequate level, and that level remains virtually the same all day in all parts of the tank. Thats a hard thing to accomplish, something I am still working on.


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