BBA issue

[Cz1989]

Alright guys I’ve had it. I’ve got a 55 gallon moderately planted tank which has been running smoothly for 2 years.  Recently (4-6 months) I’ve had major issues with black beard algae exploding on everything; plants, wood, rock and equipment.  I’ve pulled out everything and scrubbed it off to no avail.  I need advice before I completely tear it down and start fresh.  

[gcalberto]

Treat it with seachem flourish excel. Apply daily in the dosage described in the bottle and all bba should die within a few weeks

[FriendlyLoach]

You may already know this but if not then... I would try to fix the imbalance in the tank. Has any new variables come into play? Like extra light from a window, new light, or new fish. If this is it then I would try to balance out the 3 variables, light, fertilizer, and CO2. If there is new light from a window I would add more fertilizer, and more CO2. Or you could turn of your tank light earlier. It just needs to have an equilibrium. Also I think a blueish aquriam night light can cause BBA. 

[Cz1989]

It definitely has gotten worse since I upgraded to the fluval plant 3.0.  

[Pete]

Are you running your Fluval at 100% across all spectrums? Depending on what you had prior to it, you could easily be flooding the tank with light which would definitely cause algae growth. 

Can you share a screenshot of your light settings?

[Cz1989]

It definitely has gotten worse since I upgraded to the fluval plant 3.0.  

[Pete]

My guess is with those settings your tank is getting too much light and you need to dial things back. Here's what I'd suggest:

• Drop the blue spectrum to 0 across the board.
• Check your Nitrates and ensure there's enough to keep your plants happy. You may need to increase fertilizer.
• Reduce the light intensity by 20%

It's taken time to build up the algae. It will take time to decrease as well. And the only way to get ahead of it is to reduce variables in your tank. Don't go adding or removing a lot of fish. Don't go changing all these settings at once. But methodically, make some adjustments and you'll be able to get this sorted out. 👍

 

[Cz1989]

Thanks!

[AudreyB]

I’ve been fighting it too. First, I upped my daily Excel dosage by 50% for one week. Then, for plants I couldn’t take out of the tank, I shut off the water movement, then I used a dropper to put Excel directly on the algae. For plants I could remove, I pulled off what I could without damaging the plant. Then soaked them in 3% hydrogen peroxide solution for 5 minutes, rinsed it off and put them back in the tank.  Here’s a photo of one of the plants I could take out. You can see the BBA turning reddish which I think means it’s dying. 

[Cz1989]

I did a 3 day blackout as well as heavily dosing excel.  This morning I uncovered my tank and the bba is all rusty colored; I think I might’ve killed it