black beard algea prob.

Jay-Stew

Jay-Stew

AC Members
Jan 18, 2006
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26 miles North of Lake Erie
Hi, i am starting to notice bba otubreak. I have a 65g setup 2/3 planted. i am using a DIY co2 and i susupect that it may have something to do with the outbreak. i have measaured my co2 to be at about 9ppm. i know that its low but it is very hard top control the output. the tank has 90 watts on it right now. is it possible that the light is to low ? I guess I am wondering if anyone has any expierience with the black algea. also today i added 2 siamiese algea eaters to help control the algea as they willeat the bba. i do 2x 30 % water change weeekly along with scrubbing. All my other param. seem to be good . i am going to get the phosphates checked also to see if that will help. any thoughts ???????
 
Light has little affect on BBA, either too much or blacking the tank out.
Cleanliness(cut out, bleach it out), CO2 levels and getting the plants growing will work against it. And SeaChem's Excel definitely will work. SAEs will eat the new growth, but IME do not eat the coarse, black stuff.
Advice: cut it out where ever you see it and start dosing Excel.

And I truely hope that the SAEs that you've got will leave the Discus alone.
I have found them to be very disruptive to tank tranquility as they mature.

Len
 
djlen said:
Light has little affect on BBA, either too much or blacking the tank out.
Cleanliness(cut out, bleach it out), CO2 levels and getting the plants growing will work against it. And SeaChem's Excel definitely will work. SAEs will eat the new growth, but IME do not eat the coarse, black stuff.
Advice: cut it out where ever you see it and start dosing Excel.

And I truely hope that the SAEs that you've got will leave the Discus alone.
I have found them to be very disruptive to tank tranquility as they mature.

Len[/QUOTE
Thanks for the advice. i have a water change friday so i will start then. i figured i would try the EXCEL because it can only bring the co2 levels up closer to where they should be. How exactly does the co2 levels fight the algea though? As for the SAE's ,they are actually Flyin foxs'. I am a little dissapionted in the LFS. The guy "convinced " me they are the same fish...NOT!!! anyways I will try em for a bit and if I am not impressd they are gone. Beside they don't really fit with the tank theme. i guess i am really trying to find the balance in the tank between the fish , plants and wtaer quality. and beleive me it is not easy. Any more thoughts?????
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BBA is caused by unstable CO2 primarely. DIY CO2 is the culprit here, get a better diffuser, change the brew often (after lights out) and try to maintain your CO2 in a stable 25-30 ppm range and the BBA will stop growing. You will need to manually prune it to get rid of it though I have experienced BBA dieback in my tank.
 
I'd suggest keeping an eye on them as well because, as you probably know Discus stress easily and it can cause problems if not corrected.

Added carbon forces growth in all plants no matter what the source. Excel is not the same as CO2. It is a liquid carbon additive and I don't think even SeaChem is sure why, but in addition to the general push it gives plants to grow it has shown to be very effective at controlling BBA. If you use it in conjunction with your DIY CO2 and try to push the ppm up a bit as well as cleaning it up where ever you see it this course of action should be effective.

It is very difficult to get CO2 ppm up into the 25 - 35ppm range in a tank of your size without multiple reactor bottles. I used to use 2 2liter bottles on my 55s, changing one bottle weekly to keep the mix fresh and the ppm high. 2 bottles would work better than one, for sure in your tank.
The thing is that you've only got a bit less than 1.5 wpg presently and really don't need to push your plants that much, so the Excel in conjunction with what you've got would probably do the job for you. Just keep your reactor mix fresh.

Len
 
Just an FYI- to get SAEs to do a proper job on bba you need to stop feeding the tank. SAE will eat fish food over algae whenever given the choice.
 
In regards to the diffuser for the DIY, I was thinking about switching to something a bit better. I am now using a ladder and not really happy with it. I see there is a 8 coil glass diffuser. has anyone had any luck with them? The one I am using now is letting the bubbles get away as they are too big i think. As for the SAE's i will watch them closely and see if the are any help at all.
 
While I respect opinions of everyone here, I feel I must chime in for the positive with my experiences with SAE.

I have six SAE, paired and distributed amongst three tanks, including my BGA tank. I got them all at the same time and they were all the same size, about an ich and a half. Now, however, the SAE in my "worst" aglae tank are almost twice the size of all the others. I had an unfortunate occurance when one of them jumped out of the tank and died :( I found him on the floor and measured him. He was 3½" SL, almost 4" TL. I've had them for about 3 months.

When I first got them, I thought they were harassing my fish. I've had them for several months and I just want to share my observations . . .

I think these guys are a little misunderstood. When they first started "harassing" my rainbowfish (rainbows, not discus! Big difference, of course) I was very worried about it. After a while I realized there were not harassing, but trying to school with them. Yes, my SAE -- all pairs -- school with my rainbowfish quite a bit

Yes, when they get bigger then will beg for food, however mine *do* continue to eat algae. I took two of them out of my BGA tank to put in another tank for a bit and the algae starting getting a huge foothold. After I put them back in, the algae abated.

Mine *do* eat BGA. I've seen them do it. All my BGA is confined under the substrate at the front of the glass. The SAE trim it down every day and it never gets right up top of the Flourite at all.

That's just my experience with these guys. I really like them.

Roan
 
Yea , i kinda like them to except for the one i just found dead. Just got em yesterday. Oh well the other guy is in there just picking away at the plants. Funny you say that they school with your rainbows. Yesterday i was watching them and they were schooling with the rummies. also at the LFS they had them in with the Denisoni's( very nice fish) and they were right at home with them. Anyways I got them to see if they can help maintain the algea in my tank. We'll see....... Oh yea did i say they are actually Flying Foxs' correct me if i am wrong but there is a difrrence between the Chinese, Siamiese and Flying Fox. The Siamiese being the better of the group. Anyways i just changed the water and added some Excel to help curb the BGA prob. I also did some cleaning in the tank which is going to take a while to get it all but I got an early start on it. Funny thing now my Co2 is not bubbling properly. it seems to push out a BIG bubble that misses the ladder then a bunch of little ones follw which go up the ladder. I am going to try a new diffuser these ladders are silly. Any thoughts??????????
 
Roan Art said:
Yes, when they get bigger then will beg for food, however mine *do* continue to eat algae. I took two of them out of my BGA tank to put in another tank for a bit and the algae starting getting a huge foothold. After I put them back in, the algae abated.

Mine *do* eat BGA. I've seen them do it. All my BGA is confined under the substrate at the front of the glass. The SAE trim it down every day and it never gets right up top of the Flourite at all.

That's just my experience with these guys. I really like them.

Roan
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I believe you mean BBA, and not BGA (blue-green algae). BGA is a foul slime that coats everything and is not eaten by ANY FISH I know of. It is difficult to remove by pruning also, because it just breaks apart like slime. BBA is the Short dark haired algae that is being discussed, and that a few fish actually do eat.
 
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