Beard & String Algae

Padraig said:
I disagree with Done. First of all excess phosphate is most certainly a major factor in black beard algae growth and PhosPure adds nothing to the system it only removes excess phosphate, emphasis on the word Excess. For whatever reason be it the fish load, plant choice, substrate or any combination of these and other factors, the phosphate production in this tank exceeds the plants ability to remove it therefore intervention is required in this case. I’m not saying that this is The cure for Black beard algae all I’m saying is before you start dipping your plants in bleach or hydrogen peroxide rule out excess phosphate.
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How does a product designate what is needed and what is excess?

Seachem claims that PhosGuard can limit PO4 to 0.2 ppm. Many people far exceed that with their doses, in fact, target dosing using the EI method is stated as 1-2 ppm.

I've had a couple BBA outbreaks and gotten rid of them without changing my phosphate input levels one bit. More often than not fluctuating CO2 is the issue.
 
I concede that I may be incorrect in attributing the algae growth with the elevated phosphate but that was my conclusion based on the results when the phosphate level was reduced. The product I use is 100% granulated Ferric Hydroxide which also claims to reduce “heavy metals, silicates and other compounds” so it could be doing more then just reducing the phosphate. I think Slappy is right though, it’s about balance and by reducing the phosphate and possibly other compounds and since I don’t inject CO2 it brought this tank into a healthy balance.
 
Depending on the amount, you can put a few flying foxes in; they LOVE string algae.
 
fyi, just to help you out, too large or frequent water changes in a non co2 tank can cause bba because of the co2 fluctuations from fresh tap water.
 
bingo^
...and I've witnessed this first hand on planted tanks with no co2 or even poorly maintained DIY co2, with frequent water changes. Flourish Excel helps tremendously in this situation.
 
Slappy*McFish said:
bingo^
...and I've witnessed this first hand on planted tanks with no co2 or even poorly maintained DIY co2, with frequent water changes. Flourish Excel helps tremendously in this situation.
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or just aging/gassing off the water prior to adding it to the tank.
 
Great idea for those that are not aware of the PO3&4. I check mine weekly and have it down to 0.5 mg/l as of today's check as well as my CO2 at 4.5mg/l.

pH 7.2
Ammonia 0.0 ppm
Nitrite less than 0.3 mg/l
Nitrate 10 mg/l
GH 9 dH
KH 2 dH
PO3&4 0.5 mg/l
CO2 4.5 mg/l

My beard/string algae may not have been a big outbreak as much as I might have concern myself when the condition was worsening. I have reduced the light down from 8 hours to 7 hours and focused on not over feeding. I have also reduced the mult purpose plant fertilizer from once every other day to once every three or four days and increase my Excel to a cap a day in my 54 gal tank. The algae appears to have stablized at the moment. I will be putting my Siamese Algae Eaters (still to be determined) into the 54 gal tank this evening after taking a closer look with the articles as mentioned in the past several posts to see if I can narrow the species type down.
 
Padraig said:
I concede that I may be incorrect in attributing the algae growth with the elevated phosphate but that was my conclusion based on the results when the phosphate level was reduced. The product I use is 100% granulated Ferric Hydroxide which also claims to reduce “heavy metals, silicates and other compounds” so it could be doing more then just reducing the phosphate. I think Slappy is right though, it’s about balance and by reducing the phosphate and possibly other compounds and since I don’t inject CO2 it brought this tank into a healthy balance.
Click to expand...

Great idea for those that are not aware of the PO3&4. I check mine weekly and have it down to 0.5 mg/l as of today's check as well as my CO2 at 4.5mg/l.

pH 7.2
Ammonia 0.0 ppm
Nitrite less than 0.3 mg/l
Nitrate 10 mg/l
GH 9 dH
KH 2 dH
PO3&4 0.5 mg/l
CO2 4.5 mg/l

My beard/string algae may not have been a big outbreak as much as I might have concern myself when the condition was worsening. I have reduced the light down from 8 hours to 7 hours and focused on not over feeding. I have also reduced the mult purpose plant fertilizer from once every other day to once every three or four days and increase my Excel to a cap a day in my 54 gal tank. The algae appears to have stablized at the moment. I will be putting my Siamese Algae Eaters (still to be determined) into the 54 gal tank this evening after taking a closer look with the articles as mentioned in the past several posts to see if I can narrow the species type down.
:thumbsup:
 
you said that you have 0 problems with ammonia, BUT you're reading nitrite. you have recently experienced an ammonia spike.

your phosphate is very low. do you have green spot algae?
 
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