Black Beard Algae - I'm at a loss

[EVoyager31]

On 11/15/2022 at 4:28 PM, Mmiller2001 said:

There's no debate, you want excellent agitation. You want to degass co2 effectively and inject effectively. I'll drop an article that will explain why you are having CO2 problems. Blackbeard algae has multiple triggers but I think the main problem is your CO2 instability.

Also, using that CO2 chart doesn't account for other sources of acid in your tank. Nitrification causes acidification. NO3 is a weak acid and you must account for this acidification while using the chart. So based on the information you provided, I'm betting you want to see a pH of 6.1 to 6.0.. This accounts for the other sources of acidification in the aquarium. The ideal way to measure CO2 in the tank is to measure PH drop from a degassed sample to a fully gassed sample. The degassed sample is your baseline pH, and the gassed sample is the pH to subtract from the baseline. You are looking for a 1.5 to 1 pH drop from your baseline pH. I found that a 1.2 pH drop is the 30 PPM that I'm looking for. If I go higher than 1.2 then I start to see my fish stressing.

Pay attention to the graphs and what's happening.

https://www.2hraquarist.com/blogs/choosing-co2-why/how-to-push-the-limits-of-co2-safely

I'll also encourage you to not use Glut, that stuff causes other problems besides getting rid of BBA. But if your tank is unindated with BBA, it might make sense to use it. Hydrogen peroxide is way more effective and way safer. 

This will sound counterintuitive but I'd also encourage you to stop doing gravel vacuuming if you are doing them. Basically just swirl the surface with your hand and try and get that up do not put the gravel vacuum down into your substrate and vacuum thoroughly.

Good info, thanks! I never really gravel vac’d my tank because of the carpeting plants I had so no worries there.