Trying to find my tank's imbalance - black beard algae

[Jeff]

10g planted tank.

Tank date of birth: 4/9/20. 

Eco-Complete added July 2021.

Regimen: Light is on a timer daily 2P - 8P. 20% weekly water changes. Filter is cleaned out every week. Easy Green is dosed every week after water changes. Easy Root Tabs are inserted 1x per month.

I had a T8 4100k florescent bulb from inception until December 2022. Switched it out for a Hygger 14W full spectrum LED. 

Plants: Water Sprite, Jungle Val, Banana Plant, Tiger Lotus Aponogeton Ulvaceus, Aponogeton Crispus, Java Fern, Anubias Nana Petite, Rosette Swords, Crip Parva. Banana Plant and Apongeton Crispus are about the only plants that aren't affected.

Fish: 12 Chili Rasboras. I make a concerted effort to really not try to over feed. I use only small foods, live baby brine, frozen baby brine, etc

BBA started last year around June/July 2022. I added some Spider wood March 2022, and a few months later is when the BBA took off. I removed the Spiderwood December 2022, and added quite a few more plants (most are included in the plant list). BBA went away when plants were added, and came back a month or two after.

My tank parameters are consistently per the attached pic. I do 20% weekly water changes, clean out my AquaClear 30 every week.  

I don't have all the time in the world for the tank, and am starting to think I'm running into old tank syndrome. However, I'm still confused about what could be causing this.

Thoughts?

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/21/2023 at 8:19 PM, Jeff said:

BBA started last year around June/July 2022. I added some Spider wood March 2022, and a few months later is when the BBA took off. I removed the Spiderwood December 2022, and added quite a few more plants (most are included in the plant list). BBA went away when plants were added, and came back a month or two after.

My tank parameters are consistently per the attached pic. I do 20% weekly water changes, clean out my AquaClear 30 every week.  

I don't have all the time in the world for the tank, and am starting to think I'm running into old tank syndrome. However, I'm still confused about what could be causing this.

Thoughts?

There is some discoloration that is shown on your test strips, so I wanted to pass this along.

As far as BBA, can you please attach some photos of the tank with closeups of the algae issues?

What are your parameters from the tap after the water is aerated with an air stone for 24 hours?  How do those results compare to your tank?

What is your maintenance regime?  How much water do you change, how often?

[Jeff]

On 2/22/2023 at 12:45 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

There is some discoloration that is shown on your test strips, so I wanted to pass this along.

As far as BBA, can you please attach some photos of the tank with closeups of the algae issues?

What are your parameters from the tap after the water is aerated with an air stone for 24 hours?  How do those results compare to your tank?

What is your maintenance regime?  How much water do you change, how often?

I change 20% of the water every week - also cleaning out the filter, and replacing filter floss each time. I also have bio rings, the Aqua Clear sponge, and some Aquarium Co-Op sponge in the filter.

[nabokovfan87]

On 2/22/2023 at 5:30 PM, Jeff said:

I change 20% of the water every week - also cleaning out the filter, and replacing filter floss each time. I also have bio rings, the Aqua Clear sponge, and some Aquarium Co-Op sponge in the filter.

Unfortunately my tank looked just like this.  You can see the photos in my journal in the original post.

There's a few things we need to do right away to get it under control and then there is a need to understand how this stuff progresses.

The BBA shown in the photos sends out spores in a cycle.  Those spores find new places to grab onto and then that will lead into further infestation.  The plants get choked out and then the algae itself feeds off of stuff like excess light / phosphates to keep growing larger and larger.  It is a vicious cycle where the algae kills your plants, then you're left with nothing but severe algae.

Steps to improve the situation (after the big cleanout mentioned below):
1.  Clean all filtration more regularly and more intensely because you will have spores and particles, I call them tufts, floating around the tank in the water column.  This can and will get into your pump and cause equipment failure.  Maintaining the equipment to that detail is important.  If possible step up water changes to 50% to remove as much of the spores as you can and reduce excess phosphates.  You can also use phosphate pads or phosguard to do this.
2.  We need to reduce light intensity and duration to a value where the plants are growing, fighting things off, but where the algae isn't overtaking them.  This is where manual removal helps a lot.
3.  Dose in hydrogen peroxide, flourish excel, or easy carbon to combat the algae over time.  You can spot treat this as well, but this is the only sure method to get right of this stuff.
4.  Once you spot treat the plants, you'll need something that will eat the algae in question or remove it. 

The big clean:
I would highly suggest removing all of your plants right now and doing a major RR treatment.  RR = Rapid Respiration.  There is a thread linked above, but ultimately this will cause some of your plants to wilt and die (that were already going to) as well as fight off a portion of this algae.

That treatment can be done overnight and will give you a clean place in the tank where you then should be able to:
1.  Siphon the substrate extremely well to remove as much of this stuff as you can.  If you need to use a stainless steel or bristle brush to dislodge it. 
2.  Scrape the glass, all sides.
3.  Scrub hardscape with whatever makes sense to get as much of the algae off.  You'll also want to do this with the plants following the RR treatment.
4.  Big water change to try to remove as much of the floating debris as you can.  In some cases I've done up to a 90% water chance.  Just make sure the fish have room to swim and have room to escape to if they are spooked.  80% is usually a save level of remaining water in the tank for fish to keep them safe and de-stressed.
 

On 2/21/2023 at 8:19 PM, Jeff said:

Switched it out for a Hygger 14W full spectrum LED. 

What is your lighting settings and duration?  How long does this light run per day?

[Jeff]

On 2/23/2023 at 12:46 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

.
 

What is your lighting settings and duration?  How long does this light run per day?

Lights run from 2P - 8P 7 days / week on a timer. 

Lights are Hygger. Not sure how many clicks they are on, tbh. It's nowhere near the max - somewhere in the middle.

I will be doing the RR sometime soon when I have the time.

Thank you so much for all of these tips. I really appreciate it!

[Cory]

The majority of the "algae" on the bottom is blue green algae, aka cyanobacteria. Some maracyn or slime out will take care of that, I recommend manual removal first. After beating the cyano bacteria. I'd recommend a florida flag fish or two to get the hair algae under control. I'd also up the easy green dosage a bit to keep 20ppm of nitrates in there at least, and relax the water changes to maybe once a month.

[Jeff]

Thanks @Cory