Black beard algae (arrrgh)

[Munkyaquatix]

What fish is good for eating black beard algae? I have a ton growing in my 20 gallon community tank 

[Will Billy]

There are only a few fish that eat black beard algae. Flag fish do, but they can be aggressive. True siamese algae eaters also eat bba, and nerite snails will eat some of the softer bits. I may be mistaken but i think mollies and guppies will pluck at it some, but they wont eat near enough to keep it at bay. 

[Brandy]

I bought a single flag fish to try for some staghorn algae control...It is the most mellow fish in my tank--which says more about the spazzy/agressive nature of my tank, than the temperment of the flag fish. So far I have not seen massive algae eating behvior, so I opted not to buy more, tho she is a pretty little thing. Massive doses of fertilizer while lowering my light hours has had the greater effect.

EDITED to clarify: By "massive doses of fertilizer", I mean the correct actual amount required to keep the nitrate consistenly above 10ppm. I am too stingy by far.

Edited January 14, 2021 by Brandy

[Andy's Fish Den]

I had BBA in a couple of my tanks, I got some true Siamese algae eaters for each tank, they took care of it in one tank and the other they have made quite a dent in the algae. Panda garra are also supposed to be good for helping with it, but I have some panda garra and have not seen them eating any BBA though.

[MBStevens]

Hungry amano shrimp, true siamese algae eaters, and panda garra are what I have in my tanks that I've seen nibbling on or chowing down on my bba. The SAE are the true BBA eating champs. They'll be mowing the lawn even as I'm feeding the rest of the tank some delicious bug bites or something. The panda garra I've seen eating on it but only after I've withheld food for a day. The amano shrimp are kinda lazy bc they get a lot of food in other ways, but they definitely will if they're hungry. 

[Munkyaquatix]

Thank you everyone 

[Colu]

I spot  treat Seachem flourish excel  on to BBA it start to change colour and dies with in 24/48hours 

[Kriskm]

I have tried Amano shrimp, panda garra, and flag fish. None really helped enough. The only thing that has worked consistently for me is spot treating with Flourish Excel (applying it directly to the BBA with a dropper). In total I use about twice what the bottle recommends. When I do this on a daily basis, the combinations of nuking the BBA and providing the rest of the plants some carbon from the Excel works. It takes about two-three weeks. After that I still need to add Excel every day to keep it at bay (no CO2 in my tank).