# Black algae smothering plants



## mm23

Hi,

I need some help with some horrible black alage that is smothering my plants . I have attached some pictures.

I have had a tank for 3.5 years. I am not injecting Co2. I do a weekly 30-40% water change. My Nitrite is 0 and Nitrate is 40ppm. I have 6*30 watt fluro lights in 3 banks. I am only running 2 banks at the moment. I run the lights for 10 hours a day. The tank is 540 litres and contains 5 medium size clown loaches, 3 large discus, a red tailed black shark and 4 cardinals. The temperature is 29C. I have never used any fertilisers.

For the first 1.5 years I had a different setup and the plants grew great. Then it sprung a leak and I bought my current tank which is an aqua one aquagrande 180. For 1 year they continued to grow very well. They reached all the way to the top. Then this black algae started. On the ornaments it is hairy. I cleaned the ornaments about a month ago so the photos are 1 months growth. On the plants it is flat and black and smothers them. I clean the glass every week with the water change and within the week it is a green/black colour and difficult to see through. 

I tried seachem flourish excel. This kills it back a little bit and makes the plants grow a little bit better but I don't like having to dose it daily for not much gain. I went through a 500ml bottle before giving it up. I tried replacing the fluro tubes and the new ones are 1 month old. This made no difference at all, if anything it made it worse. I tried lots of water changes. This made no difference. I tried reducing the lights to 8 hours a day. this also slowed it down slightly but not much difference.

So I don't know what else to do. I don't understand why the plants went from growing great to terrible. There was always a little bit of background algae but then for seemingly no reason it took over. Can anyone please offer any suggestions on what I should try next?


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## darkoon

the algae in the 2nd picture looks like BBA.
you need to manually clean up as much as you can before dosing excel, then dose at least 3x of recommended amount to your tank. or you can try spot treatment with syringe. and maybe shorten your lighting hours from 10 to 8. do you have good water circulation in your tank?


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## mm23

darkoon said:


> dose at least 3x of recommended amount to your tank. or you can try spot treatment with syringe. do you have good water circulation in your tank?


Thanks for the response. Do you mean 3x the ongoing maintenance dose or 3x the initial does as well?

The tank is using the filter that came with it. It sucks water up at one end and pumps it into a big filter box that runs the length of the tank. The water then comes out of the filter box at the other end of the tank thorugh a short spout at the top. The pump is rated at 2000 l/h but is probably pumping abit less.


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## darkoon

when I had BBA, i dosed 2x for initial dose after 50% water change (it was probably a bit too strong, some vals and crypt melted, they grew back quickly, other plants were doing just fine), then waited 2 days, dosed 3x of maintenance dose, that's all I dosed. BBA disappeared after 1 week. Wait a day after dosing excel, if BBA turns purple/red, you can stop dosing, and let your algae eating fish (i have ottos) take over.



mm23 said:


> Thanks for the response. Do you mean 3x the ongoing maintenance dose or 3x the initial does as well?
> 
> The tank is using the filter that came with it. It sucks water up at one end and pumps it into a big filter box that runs the length of the tank. The water then comes out of the filter box at the other end of the tank thorugh a short spout at the top. The pump is rated at 2000 l/h but is probably pumping abit less.


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## Daniil

Do you use CO2?
Increase CO2 level in the tank.
That is what helped me to fight BBA.


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## mm23

Daniil said:


> Do you use CO2?


No I don't have a CO2 setup.


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## all_crypt_out

Ive seen nerite snails eat beard algae quite effectively and they might make it easier to control once you clear most of it off I have never had a problem with them they along with a school of ottos keep my 55 gallon spotless


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## vancat

peroxide


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## Aquaticz

vancat said:


> peroxide


+1


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## Seattle_Aquarist

vancat said:


> peroxide


+2

The following worked on BGA and BBA but with at least 2 WPG of light. For H2O2 to have maximum effect, photosynthesis must be going at a high rate. I believe you only have about 1 WPG.



> Last month I mentioned that I had a "dirty little secret". I explained that I did not bring plants to the March meeting because I have been fighting cyanobacteria, also known as Blue-Green Algae (BGA), in one of my tanks and I didn't want to share it with others. After six weeks of trying different methods I seem to be making major headway and will share what is succeeding for me.
> 
> As I write this it has been exactly one week since I finished treating an outbreak of BGA in my 30 gallon aquarium. I believe it started because I let my nitrates (NO3) get too low and missed a couple of water changes. In addition I hadn't cleaned my canister filter for several of months so debris had built up and the flow and circulation had dropped in the tank. Any or all of these conditions could have been the cause for my outbreak.
> 
> Here how I got rid of it. First I worked on the causes. I cleaned my canister filter and added an airstone (I would have used a Koralia Pump or powerhead if I had one) to increase circulation. I increased my fertilizer dosage to 1/8 teaspoon (tsp) of KNO3 (potassium nitrate) and 1/64 tsp of KH2PO4 (monopotassium phosphate) per 10 gallons daily. Lastly I increased my 33% water changes to twice a week.
> 
> Next I went to work on the algae. I siphoned and manually removed as much of the BGA off of the substrate, plants, and hardscape as possible and cleaned the glass. Most of the easy-to-replace plants I threw out. I removed most of the hardscape from the tank, scrubbed it, rinsed it, and put back in place. It was very important to remove as much BGA as possible before doing the next step to minimize oxygen depletion, and fish death, from dying algae.
> 
> I treated the BGA with Hydrogen Peroxide 3.0% (stabilized) solution. Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) is available at most grocery stores, pharmacies, and drug stores. I also picked up a 10 ml dosing syringe (for oral dosing of medications) at the drug store when I picked up the H2O2.
> 
> I always did this part of the treatment when I knew I was going to be around for at least a couple of hours afterwards so I could watch my fish for signs of distress. I only treated the tank after the lights (about 2 WPG compact florescent) had been on for at least two hours so photosynthesis was occurring at its' maximum in the BGA. I found that the BGA reaction to the treatment was strongest, and fastest, in the areas of the aquarium with the brightest light (and the most photosynthesis).
> 
> I turned off my filter about 5 minutes prior to treatment to minimize water movement. I dosed the 3.0% (stabilized) H2O2 at the rate of 1.5 ml per gallon of water volume (my 30 gallon tank has 24 gallons of water in it). I put the H2O2 in a glass, filled the 10 ml syringe, stuck my hand in the tank, and s-l-o-w-l-y "painted" the areas where the BGA was heaviest with the thickest "clumps". I added the H2O2 at a rate of about 10 ml per minute so as not to stress the fish too greatly.
> 
> The effect was rapid and dramatic. After several of minutes the areas of BGA I had "painted" with the H2O2 began to bubble (gas) and started to turn a rusty brown. After about 30 minutes the "painted" areas were bubbling intensely and had turned a definite brown color while other areas of the tank (where I had not "painted") were also bubbling (but not as intensely) and starting to turn rusty brown. After about an hour the water in the tank had a slight "rusty" color, the areas or BGA I had "painted" were a definite brown, areas of BGA that were heavy but had not been "painted" had some of the brown, and plant leaves that had a film of BGA and a film of brown. After one hour I turned the filter and airstone back on and continued to observe the fish for any signs of distress for an additional hour. After a couple of hours the water cleared and the fish become more active. After 24 hours the areas I had "shot" had turned a grey color and the BGA appeared dead.
> 
> I followed the same procedure for dosing the next day again dosing the areas with heaviest algae that was yet dead. The dosed areas bubbled and turned rusty but there was not as much bubbling and rust in other areas (I think because areas with a light coating of BGA had been killed on the first day), the water did not changed color as much, and bubbling activity and any discoloration cleared in about 2 hours.
> 
> Each day for a two week period I followed the procedure I described above. Each day the amount of BGA diminished and after about 8 days the BGA appeared to be gone. I continued the treatment for an additional four (4) days just to be sure there was no residual "hiding" in the crevasses of my driftwood or under plant leaves. It was not necessary to hit the BGA directly with the hydrogen peroxide to kill it. For example, on the edges and undersides of plant leaves I did not "paint" the areas but after about 5 days the BGA had turned rusty brown, was breaking away from the leaves, and was falling off.
> 
> As a side note I also had an outbreak of Black Brush Algae (BBA) in this same tank; probably due to the low CO2. The treatment described above worked on it as well, but the BBA did have to be "painted" to die and areas in bright light responded the best to treatment.


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## Gordonrichards

IMO cut lights back. You don't need them on 8 hours a day. 
Change the timer to when you'll be there to look at the tank. 
Cut your 8 hours down to 6 hours daily for the next 2 weeks.
Your plants will out compete the algae. Worst case scenario, buy some algacide. Dose your tank according to the paperwork. Keep dosing. You got some nasty algae.

I also suggest removing any rocks and ornaments, spray them with *hydrogen peroxide*. The algae will turn red. Do a water change or two in the tank as well while you're at it. 
Make sure you *wash the stuff off in water* before you put it back in.


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## vancat

i have driftwood that looks almost as bad as that. Tonight I am taking it out and spraying it with peroxide. Will let you know how it works.


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## vancat

Took the driftwood out and doused it with a spray bottle full of peroxide. Let it sit for an hour then hosed it off. Put it back in the tank. After a few hours the BBA appeared to be turning purple. When I left this am it was still dark but when I get home from work I expect to see it all dying...dying...gloriously dying.


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## Gordonrichards

Excellent job. Remember to spray it again with peroxide in a few days. Some algae could still be living on the wood.


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## vancat

ugh, I hope not. It was quite a job getting it out of there.....big piece of wood. The BBa is all grey now and slowly disappearing.


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