Black Beard Algae

[neon]

I've figured out that I have BBA.  Its growing all along the edges of my anubias and my driftwood.  I'm getting a lot of conflicting info on how to get rid of it.  Any suggestions?  I have an albino bristlenose pleco that has absolutely no effect on it whatsoever.  I've tried the otos, but they died pretty quickly.  I did have sae's but don't have them anymore.  When I did have them, I didn't have this algae.  Could they have been the ones that kept it under control?  Any info would be appreciated.  I actually like the look of the algae swaying in the current but its getting out of control.

[sdivell]

It will eventually totally take over your plants, driftwood and eventually substrate..the stuff is nasty.

Are you running Co2 at all on your tank? DIY or Pressurized?  The most common cause of BBA is an incosistant level of Co2 in your water column.

Overdosing Excel has been proven to get rid of it over a period of about 7-10 days.  I personally had great success with it.

[fischkopp]

Yes, SAE are know to eat BBA at young age. As suggested, a little excel is a good and easy way of controlling this algae. But you will have to dose it continuously every couple of weeks or it will grow back.

You have to remove it mechanically and attack the root cause (CO2 as named) if you want to get rid of it fully.

[neon]

I'm not running any C02, I've tried with the store bought stuff and it didn't work very well, I tried with a home-made recipe, ditto.  What is "Excel"?

[Toss]

Liquid additive you can buy at LFS. Do you fertilize your tank? You need to find the root cause. It could be too much fertilizer, not enough CO2. If you don't want to deal with CO2, don't fertilize too much

[neon]

I don't fertilize at all, and my lights are on about 10 hrs a day.  I'll cut down all my anubias and buy some of that excel. 

[DawnMarie81]

sdivell, you're so smart, I think i need you to come take care of my tank for a while, uggg............LOL

[sdivell]

how much do you pay? 

Thanks!, but really all my knowledge on tanks has come from this forum basically when I started the hobby a year and a bit ago