Is this blackbeard algae?

[Seisage]

It definitely kind of looks like it, but I’ve never encountered it in person before, so I figured I’d ask for confirmation. This is new wood in a new tank (which is also why there’s the white stuff on the wood in the foreground. I’m not really worried about that).

If it is BBA, should I just remove the stick? It doesn’t seem to have spread anywhere else. It’s only on this one branch.

[Tanked]

Yes and yes.

Carefully remove the stick and give it a dose of peroxide.  Wet the sticks liberally and let them sit for an hour in a dark place..  Personally I would give the stick a good scrub and dose it again. If there are no fish in the tank yet I would dose the entire tank.  Alternatively you could: turn off the pumps and filters, wait for the water to become totally still, and spray the sticks with peroxide where they are.

BBA isn't the worst thing in the world, but it is a real pain to eliminate.

[Seisage]

On 1/23/2024 at 6:41 AM, Tanked said:

Yes and yes.

Carefully remove the stick and give it a dose of peroxide.  Wet the sticks liberally and let them sit for an hour in a dark place..  Personally I would give the stick a good scrub and dose it again. If there are no fish in the tank yet I would dose the entire tank.  Alternatively you could: turn off the pumps and filters, wait for the water to become totally still, and spray the sticks with peroxide where they are.

BBA isn't the worst thing in the world, but it is a real pain to eliminate.

Great, thanks for the confirmation. Do I need to treat all of the other wood as well? The BBA is only affecting one piece of wood. If I do need to treat all of the wood, I could dose the entire tank as there aren’t any fish yet. However, I do have floating plants and I’m currently trying to mature the sponge filter in the tank. Would the peroxide harm the plants or any beneficial bacteria I have? If I need to dose the whole tank and it’s safe to do so, what dosage of peroxide per gallon would you recommend? I have the typical over the counter 3% hydrogen peroxide.

Edit: I've removed the affected stick as well as one immediately adjacent to it and have started a peroxide treatment on both. So, just need feedback now on whether to dose the whole tank or not.

Edited January 23 by Seisage

[Tanked]

I got called away, sorry.

BBA should get it's own forum here because this is a recurring question.  Peroxide will kill the beneficial bacteria, so I would remove the sponge filter.   The internet and these forums will have several variants on how to treat with peroxide.  Because BBA produces spores, it is hard to remove, and may require several treatments. In minor cases such as yours, you could remove the wood as you have done and spray it, leave the wood in the tank and spray it directly, or treat the entire tank, which is essentially the same thing.

This is the most common method:  Turn filters, pumps, and lights off, wait for the water to become still, add 1.5ml/gallon peroxide mix with separate Aquarium water, pour in, Wait 1 hour before starting pumps. 

This is best done after lights out as H2O2 is light sensitive.  You should see results in about 24 hours. I have used up to 5ml. per gallon without issue, but as usual, your results may vary!  

If you only have floating plants right now you could remove them during treatment.  Ultimately you should include a cleanup crew in your aquarium..

 

[NOLANANO]

I spot treat with Seachem Excel. Any liquid Carbon will work. By spot treat, I mean that I take a child's medicine syringe (a pipet will work too) and I inject the Excel directly onto the BBA. I have to do this once every 6 months or so when the BBA starts to spread. The Excel kills it off but it eventually comes back. There is some underlying issue that is causing it in my (and your) tank but I can't figure it out. From what I have read it might be a Phosphorus deficiency? But I think its a light issue. I have my lights (Hygger lights) on for 6 hours every day and the BBA tends to only grow on plants and equipment near the top of the tank, close to the light. It starts slow but eventually it gets on everything so I just spot treat when I notice it and keep it in check. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/22/2024 at 10:44 PM, Seisage said:

If it is BBA, should I just remove the stick? It doesn’t seem to have spread anywhere else. It’s only on this one branch.

It spreads via spores. so you have to do a few things and it's recommended to follow up with some others.

If you are trying to avoid BBA like the plague:
1.  Remove the wood and put it outside of the tank for the time being.  If you have a tote/tub, put it there for weeks under blackout conditions
2.  do a 90% water change to remove spores, clean filtration, wipe the walls if you are seeing algae start to grow on places like the corner/seams of the tank
3.  Hydrogen peroxide treatment for the tank (video below), repeat this at least 2 with 24-48 hours between treatments. 
---> Water change, give the tank 24 hours
---> Peroxide treatment, give the tank 24 hours
---> wait 24-48 hours
--->  Water change, give the tank 24 hours
---> Peroxide treatment #2
(There is no guarantee that this will work long term, but it's about the best recommendation I've see as far as treatment of BBA and how to handle it in my own experience)
 

Alright so, the wood is removed....

Handling the wood itself:
-Get some kitchen sponges that are new, use the rough side and try to literally scrub everything off the wood that you can.
-Then, brush (not spray) using a small brush for painting, the hydrogen peroxide on the wood outside of water.  Do this until it's covered and give it a good 10-15 minutes out of water.
-Soak the wood, blackout the tub/tote but make sure you have an airstone in there to let things grow.
-Repeat that hydrogen peroxide brush every 24 hours until the wood is clean.
-Scrub off things, 24 hours after treatment with the kitchen sponge as need be.
 

[Seisage]

On 1/24/2024 at 11:31 AM, nabokovfan87 said:

It spreads via spores. so you have to do a few things and it's recommended to follow up with some others.

If you are trying to avoid BBA like the plague:
1.  Remove the wood and put it outside of the tank for the time being.  If you have a tote/tub, put it there for weeks under blackout conditions
2.  do a 90% water change to remove spores, clean filtration, wipe the walls if you are seeing algae start to grow on places like the corner/seams of the tank
3.  Hydrogen peroxide treatment for the tank (video below), repeat this at least 2 with 24-48 hours between treatments. 
---> Water change, give the tank 24 hours
---> Peroxide treatment, give the tank 24 hours
---> wait 24-48 hours
--->  Water change, give the tank 24 hours
---> Peroxide treatment #2
(There is no guarantee that this will work long term, but it's about the best recommendation I've see as far as treatment of BBA and how to handle it in my own experience)
 

Alright so, the wood is removed....

Handling the wood itself:
-Get some kitchen sponges that are new, use the rough side and try to literally scrub everything off the wood that you can.
-Then, brush (not spray) using a small brush for painting, the hydrogen peroxide on the wood outside of water.  Do this until it's covered and give it a good 10-15 minutes out of water.
-Soak the wood, blackout the tub/tote but make sure you have an airstone in there to let things grow.
-Repeat that hydrogen peroxide brush every 24 hours until the wood is clean.
-Scrub off things, 24 hours after treatment with the kitchen sponge as need be.
 

Thanks. I'll keep those pieces of wood out of the tank for a while, but I think I'll hold off on treating and cleaning the whole tank for now unless I see it start to show up elsewhere. Because the tank and its sponge filter is still so new, I'd rather not wipe out all my BB and biofilm progress by using peroxide on the whole tank and cleaning the sponge filter which is only a couple weeks old. But I'll keep this video in mind if I start seeing the BBA growing elsewhere in the tank. Although, honestly, if it ends up being a recurring issue, I'm not extremely fussed about it? I plan on getting some otocinclus eventually, when the tank is much more mature, and I hear they (or other algae eaters) will eat BBA once it's been killed by spot treatment.