[Zhent]

Hi everyone,

I've got an outbreak of serious algae that is proving nearly impossible to remove. This algae:

Has attached itself to almost everything. It's all over my centerpiece wood, as you can see, but it has also attached to both of the thermometers in the tank, the heater, the filter output, and small tufts of it have dropped onto the ground and are just sitting there.

Having looked at the sticky here and a bunch of other links throughout the forum, I think it is Black Brush algae. It's very hard to remove, and when dried onto something that has been removed from the tank its very stiff and almost impossible to get rid of.

Am I correct? If so, the expected follow-up question - how do I remove it? The tank is fairly planted and I dose Excel every day. I've read it can be treated with increased CO2, but I do not have a CO2 system, is there something else that can be done?

Thanks!

 

[Rockhoe14er]

looks like black bear algae. I would squirt some excell or hydrogen peroxide on the affected areas. It's a tough algae to get rid of and many people have a difficult time battling this type of algae

 

[Zhent]

That seems to be very similar to the black brush algae that I've looked at.

I have the opportunity to tear down my tank in about 2 weeks, before re-introducing fish back into the aquarium. Is there anything I can do to eliminate all of the algae short of completely tearing everything down, or is that the best bet? If so, and perhaps most important, how do I prevent it from coming in in the future?

 

[accordztech]

algae has a lot to do with cco2, lighting, ferts, water flow, and a bunch of other stuff.

Id hit it with h202 or even take it out and let the h202 soak on it.

I usually dont tear things down if its localized in a certain spot. I usually will try and find out what caused it, or fiddle with things till it stops coming back. If you were to do a tank reset, it may come back to you because you already had a existing issue

 

[jasonpatterson]

looks like black bear algae.

When will the scourge of this algae end???

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

 

[Zhent]

Yeah, sometimes it feels like that!

If it were localized on one item I would definitely take it out, unfortunately at this point there basically isn't anything in the tank it hasn't touched. It wouldn't be an option typically anyways, except I happen to be in the middle of a livestock change and thus have the opportunity to do a complete tear down.

I am most concerned with finding the issue and preventing it from re-occuring. Tearing down now isn't a problem - this is my first tank and first time tearing it down, so this will be kind of an adventure - but I definitely do not want to go through this again in another 4 months because I didn't solve the problem and the issue repeated itself!

One thing that I've thought could be the cause is light - I have a 65Watt 6700K fixture that was suggested by my LFS which later research seems would be way too much light for a non-CO2 injected planted tank.

 

[Rockhoe14er]

When will the scourge of this algae end???

View attachment 33667

Sorry, couldn't help myself.

HAHAHAHAHAH awesome. I think that's a better term for the algae type. Defeating a bear is about as easy as it is to getting rid of black beard algae.

 

[jasonpatterson]

One thing that I've thought could be the cause is light - I have a 65Watt 6700K fixture that was suggested by my LFS which later research seems would be way too much light for a non-CO2 injected planted tank.

What size is the tank?

 

[Zhent]

It's a 29Gal. I dose Excel once a day, just under a capful, but am considering doubling that up to 10mL to see if that increased dosage would help combat the algae.

 

[jasonpatterson]

I don't know beans about excel, but I agree that that's a lot of light for a tank without CO2.

 

[accordztech]

less light for no co2. Do it. Perfect atmosphere for BBA though.