Staghorn/BBA algae and carbon additives to treat

[Marnol D]

Hello,

In one of my tanks I am having trouble with Staghorn algae and Black Beard algae. I have been doing research and have tried the hydro peroxide treatment on my hard materials and it somewhat worked. I am having problems getting it off my plants, i have read that adding seachem flourish excel will help boost the CO2 in the tank and it will help treat it/kill it. Could the same be achieved using the easy carbon and fertilizer that the Co-op sales? Or has anyone treated Staghorn and BBA by boosting carbon and micro ferts and can give any tips?

Update: Its been a few days since I started spot treating with excel (waiting on easy carbon to arrive)and I am seeing improvements. Hopefully this will take care of the Staghorn and BBA

Thank you

Edited September 18, 2020 by Marnol D
update

[Cory]

Easy carbon will work the same as flourish excel. It's a long road to retarding the algae that way. Usually dosing some of that combined efforts with manual removal and some fish or inverts to help get it under control is the best method I've found for dealing with it long term. 

[RyanR]

I didn't realize that Excel was the same as Easy Carbon.  If it's the same, next time, I'm giving my money to Cory....lol.  I had a case of staghorn that was getting pretty bad and I dosed Excel and it worked great.  It was all over my Java Fern and my Christmas Moss Bridge.  After a week, it was all gone.  But, I don't think staghorn and BBA are treated the same.  This is the article that I read that helped me Identify and Destroy Staghorn Algae In Just 2 Days

I hope this helps.

[Irene]

Hydrogen peroxide wasn't as effective for me (e.g., treating the whole tank, spot treating plants in and out of water, etc), but liquid carbon did wonders. I first tried dosing the whole tank with liquid carbon (and increasing that concentration over time), but got minimal results. Once I spot treated a few leaves with liquid carbon, I saw the algae change colors and the algae eaters would pick off the dying algae. I gradually treated a few leaves every week and saved my whole tank from being taken over by BBA and a short hair algae. Also, I dialed down my Fluval 3.0 light a lot, which stopped the algae from growing back. Best of luck to you!

Edited September 15, 2020 by Irene

[Marnol D]

Ive been spot treating with hydrogen peroxide for about a week and have had no success (ill probably stop trying hydro because i have even uprooted my plants to dunk them in it and it didnt help). Ive noticed however with the excel when i started spot treating it about two days ago it has died back and my mystery snail army has taken it out. The staghorn has yet to die but has started to kinda detach from some of my leaves however im just hoping the snail army finds it aswell. Just placed an order for easy carbon and ferts.

and thank you for the advice!

Edited September 16, 2020 by Marnol D

[RyanR]

When I dosed Excel, I dosed the entire tank (1 cap/10 gallons) and it didn't hurt anything.  In fact, I started dosing Excel on a regular basis.  I have community fish, shrimp, snails and plecos.   My plants love it. 

[Marnol D]

So,

I started pumping in CO2 on my tanks and that took care of the staghorn algae after about two weeks of letting the CO2 do its thing. The BBA was easier/faster to halfway treat as directly applying hydrogen peroxide(heavy heavy doses) killed it off. I haven't fully solved the issue of BBA reappearing I just have to watch for it and treat as it pops up. I guess I could directly spray the hydrogen peroxide onto my substrate (as the substrate is the only thing I have not treated) in a heavy dose but im afraid that will more than likely kill the snails and maybe crash the cycle. 

Edited December 2, 2020 by Marnol D

[Brandy]

I have had mixed results with the liquid carbon. It worked beautifully at first dosed into the whole tank, but the second I stopped dosing it came back with a vengeance. My fish behave badly when I increase the dose, so last night I tried directly treating areas out of the water. I will keep you posted.

[Marnol D]

Havent thought about dosing liquid carbon out of water. i've also noticed the BBA likes my moneywort and edges of my annubias over all my other plants which is weird since they arent near one another in the tank.