# Black Hair Algae



## Sophie and Mom

I've got black hair algae invading my dwarf hairgrass and one of my amazon swords.

I've reduced the light over the affected parts of the tank, but is there anything else I need to do? Do I need to physically remove it, or will it just die off and vanish like the other algae usually do?


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## Tex Gal

You need to try to kill it. You can use Excel directly spot treated with medicine dropper onto the affected areas. BBA actually can get down into the leaf tissues. If you can kill it then it will help your plants continue to grow. With hair grass it's pretty hard to pluck off affected leaves. With your amazon sword you can pull off affected leaves or spot treat.


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## Sophie and Mom

I wound up totally removing one clump of hairgrass, and many blades of another. I may still have to remove the other clump, depending on what I missed the first time. 

Excel is Excel Flourish, is this right?


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## Sophie and Mom

I may just have to treat the whole tank. It has spread further than I thought initially. I've removed anything with clumps of it, but it is sprouting up all over the place.

Can I do that with Excel Flourish?

ETA:
I just read most of the stickied thread on flourish excel, and one of the last posts was about using H2o2 instead, with great results. Has anybody done this recently? It was a whole-tank dosing of 100 mL per day for a week in a 58 gallon tank (mine is a 55).


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## Sophie and Mom

Oh, 100 mL is approx a half cup, is this correct?


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

I responded to your post in another thread where I asked about your water quality; specifically ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. If you don't have the ability to test your water possibly your LFS does.

Along with dosing Seachem Flourish Excel (which works on most hair algae) and using SAE you could also try doing water changes. I find that most hair algae, being a lower form of plant life, cannot adjust to changing water conditions as well as higher plant forms (stem / rooted types).

Cladophora is a different animal (algae). It looks like a simple hair type algae but is closer to the higher level plants on the evolutionary scale and does not respond to water changes, Excel, or SAE. Physical removal is the only method that worked for me, or in total frustration a complete teardown and restart being careful not to reinfect the clean tank by using old plants.

Hope this helps!
-Roy

Cladophora


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## Sophie and Mom

Thank you for your replies. Our water quality is good. Ammonia is zero with a liquid kit, and nitrates/nitrites are at "ideal" on a set of test strips. The water looks a bit tawny due to the mopani wood, but is otherwise in good shape. We do small water changes about once per month even though the readings are all good. Mostly it's for reducing the tannins for aesthetics. 

What we have looks nothing like the attached photo. It is black, and all tangly, like something that got pulled out of a hairbrush.


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## Sophie and Mom

I want to add that we recently reduced our photo active time from 13 hours to 10, with a three hour siesta in the middle of the day. Some run of the mill algae was beginning to show up before I noticed the hair, and was taking steps to remedy the regular stuff when the hair algae showed up.


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

My experience has been that the 'test strips' can be highly inaccurate; I would encourage having it tested at your LFS.

To combat hair algae I did 50% water changes 3X per week and saw visible results. Adding Siamese (not Chinese) Algae Eater (SAE) and dosing Excel also helped.

Cladophora can be green to almost black in color and has a very tough consistency; unlike hair algae which breaks apart easily.


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## Sophie and Mom

This is what is currently growing on my amazon sword:









It is beginning to show up in other areas as well. On the hairgrass it was long and tangled like a snarl of hair.

I'll have to see if I can find an SAE!


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

Good news it's not clado; it looks like just plain hair algae to me or possibly the beginning of Black Brush Algae (BBA). Either way water changes in conjuction with, Seachem Excel, and a good cleaning crew of 2-3 SAE and 2-3 Otocinclus should get you cleared up.

No ferts or co2 is fine but how much light are you running on your 55 gallon?


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## Sophie and Mom

10 hours total with a three hour siesta in the middle. (5 on, 3 off, 5 on)

I was doing a two hour siesta until the nasty black crap appeared, then increased it to three.


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

Sorry, maybe I wasn't clear....how many watts total do you have in the light over your aquarium?


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## Sophie and Mom

Oops, sorry!

We have four CFL, 5000 kelvin, 14 watts each. 56 watts total, or 1.1 watts per gallon.


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

It doesn't seem like you have too much wattage. 

Are the bulbs over a year old? If so the color spectrum may have shifted more to the red that might be part of the problem. After a year it is a good idea to change them and put in new bulbs. You can still use the bulbs for other applications light a table lamp or ceiling fixture.

Let us know how it it goes.


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## Sophie and Mom

Thanks, Roy. I've had them since February, when I set up the tank. They still have at least a good six months left.


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

Possibly just the longer daylight hours then. Keep us posted!


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## Sophie and Mom

I decided to try the peroxide method first. It just seems much less risky overall. 

I started it this morning, and even though I'm not seeing much fizz, I am seeing a difference in the color of the algae. It has gone from jet black to brownish reddish blackish. I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow!

I'll also be picking up an oto cat tomorrow to see if he'll eat anything.


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) will kill BBA quite well. I get the best results if I wait until my light has been on for an hour or more before I dose so the photosynthesis is at maximum. Shortly before dosing I turn off my filters and wait until the water is still. I 'paint' the BBA with the H2O2 using a oral syringe from the pharmacy. I wait about 20 minutes until the fizzing stops and restart my filter. I never dose more than 2ml of H2O2 per treatment session (i.e. for a 10 gallon no more than 20ml per day).

If the BBA has changed color chances are it is dead, unfortunately it doesn't fall off it just sits there. I like SAE because they will eat the dead BBA when I treat with Excel or H2O2.

Good luck!
-Roy


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## Sophie and Mom

Bought two otos this evening. They seem to be settling in just fine.


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## Newt

Looks like BBA. Typically two parameters are out of whack when this algae appears. Keep nitrates around 10 to 20 ppm, lower iron, keep CO2 steady and close to 30ppm as possible. Its also a good idea to reduce the photoperiod as Roy suggested.

I've never known Otos to eat BBA and only juvie SAEs will continually go after it. Best bet are on RCS and Amano shrimp.


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## Sophie and Mom

My nitries/ates are good, I don't use co2 or ferts, just conditioned tap water and a filter. I would love to get some shrimp, but I have shrimp-eating fish, and the ship has sailed with the otos. They're already in residence!

Thanks for the suggestions, though.


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## Sophie and Mom

Hmmm...seems the peroxide method also kills hornwort. Dang. :/


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## Sophie and Mom

So far the algae has turned brown and is thinning. Not sure if it is thinning due to the peroxide or due to the otos. I have seen one of them munching on the hair algae, but the other one is just intent on escaping....or at least looking for a way out.

ETA: That oto must have found a way out. I can't find him anywhere. I really hope he's just hiding, and will show up at some point, but I don't think so.....


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi Sophie and Mom,

Otos are great, they eat the 'brown algae' (diatoms) and the softer flat green algae. The Siamese Algae Eaters (SAE) like the filamentous algae like hair algae and BBA (especially if weakened by using Excel). Regrettably I have not found a fish that likes GSA (green spot algae) or GDA (green dust algae).


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## Newt

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> ..................................................... Regrettably I have not found a fish that likes GSA (green spot algae) or GDA (green dust algae).


Rubber Lipped Pleco


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## Sophie and Mom

I found the missing oto but he isn't looking too healthy. I was unable to find SAE in my nearby fish stores, which is why I chose the otos.

Also, peroxide isn't good for eel grass.

I guess I didn't make the right choice after all.....I'll do a water change tomorrow and try to get some dilution going on.


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## vicky

In my experience, fish trying to escape means time for an extra water change or three, especially if this is new behavior for them. How much peroxide did you use?


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## Sophie and Mom

I just finished up a 10 gallon change. I decided not to wait until tomorrow after all--although all fish but that one oto looked fine, I didn't like the way my plants were looking. I have a melon sword that had a leaf turn yellow, and the amazon swords were beginning to look a little funky, too. The leaves were a little darker, and I could see the veins more clearly.


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## Sophie and Mom

vicky said:


> In my experience, fish trying to escape means time for an extra water change or three, especially if this is new behavior for them. How much peroxide did you use?


It was just this one new fish that was acting strangely--I assume it was strange behavior, I've never had an oto before. The rest of them seemed fine.

I followed the guidelines I found in the flourish thread--he had used 100 mL (a half cup) for a 58 gallon tank for one week. My tank is a 55, so I reduced that a bit and used it for three days before I started seeing undesirable changes, hence my water change this afternoon.

So, overall, the tank-wide treatment with H2o2 was very successful against the hairy black algae, BUT:
--it killed the hornwort
--it made the swords look distressed
--it seems to have killed the eelgrass (leaving it in there to see if it perks back up or grows fresh leaves)
--questionable behavior seen in a new fish...jury is out on whether water quality caused it.

If I had to do it again, I'd choose the flourish route. Let's hope it doesn't happen again.....


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## Newt

Otos can be very difficult to acclimate to a new tank especially if the water in the tank varies widely from the tank they've been in. They also need places to hide and tend to be nocturnal.


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## Sophie and Mom

I think I really screwed up by using the peroxide. My water is beginning to cloud slightly, and my ammonia is beginning to creep up. Looks like another water change is in store for today.

Is there anything I can do to boost my bacteria and help get things back on track quickly?


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## Sophie and Mom

The peroxide is proving to be a short term cure--Yesterday I noticed some more hair algae starting to grow in two different parts of the tank.

Does anybody know if the Excel method is safe to use with fry in the tank?


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## jeremy1

You may need to clean your filter and make it a routine about every 2 months, but preserve the biomedia by rinsing with only with tank water and clean everything else well with a brush. Spot treat with excel and increase water changes until algae is gone. Siphon all decaying plant matter on the substrate.


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## Sophie and Mom

Thank you, Jeremy1. I'll give it a shot.


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## inkslinger

http://www.gpodio.com/h2o2.asp


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## Sophie and Mom

Thank you for the article. Good info.


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## R_facc

Does anyone know what this is? I have no problems with it, it looks great and doesn't spread from ornament, it looks like healthy human hair lol, picture looks crappy, fish roll in it sometimes. anyone?


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## niko

This is black beard algae (BBA).

You will read how if you increase CO2 it will disappear. Except it does not.

BBA is made to disappear by cleaning your tank. No, not by making all visible trash disappear. Real cleaning involves getting rid of trash that is invisible. Think lots of water changes, less or no fish, great working biofilter, and great plant growth.

And when you get rid of BBA doing this you can do it over and over again. Until one day in some tank BBA will refuse to disappear despite all your efforts. Then you have a chance to see that not a single person in this hobby really knows what we are all doing.


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## R_facc

Niko, thanks for reply, I like the bba as you call it, is it at all detrimental, I have 4 fish in 20g tank, water changes weekly with vacuum. fish r fine. BBA looks awesome I think, is it bad in any way?


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## niko

Not at all. Algae is not a bad thing except that in this hobby we like things to happen in a certain way and to look in a certain way. As with everything else in life we get carried away the longer you stick around. The internet adds to that tendency by facilitating the spread of narrow mindedness.

Very few people will understand your view that BBA is pretty. But in essence you just called a living creature "pretty".


Sent from my RM-893_nam_att_206 using Tapatalk


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## vancat

Niko, I always appreciate your refreshing take on things! Ever since I took the driftwood out of my tank I have not seen a speck of BBA.


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## Tugg

It won't harm the fish. In fact, some people build algae scrubbers as a filter device to export waist and clean the water.

If you have plants it can be a problem. It tends to dig into the plants tissues to anchor itself. It also blocks the light for any leaves it's attached to.

However, as Niko stated, it is a stuborn little bugger. I would give the tank a good cleaning, and then take an appropriatly safe amount of H2O2 in a syringe to spot treat whats in the tank. You don't want it to spread.


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