So I have had some black beard algae problems and I have trying to get rid of it for a while now but it continues to spread. I have high pressure co2 and high lighting. ph is 7.4, ammonia .25 ppm nitrite is 0 ppm and nitrate is 5 ppm. I turned down my light from 8 to 6 hours. I also put 6 Siamese algae eaters in the tank, but nothing seems to be getting better.
Black beard algae problems
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Is this a brand new tank? If not, are you sure you have .25 ammonia? The colors on test tubes can be hard to distinguish in some lighting. I highly suggest looking at it using sunlight, even overcast sunlight to help accuracy.
Anyway, if it's bba and not staghorn and you are using co2, then it's almost certainly a nutrient imbalance. What fertilizer are you using?
I checked ammonia again and its hard to tell. Somewhere between 0 and .25. I'm using aquarium coop easy green, which now that I think about it, I should probably be using a higher nutrient fertilizer. The co2 levels have also been fluctuating because I'm having a hard time getting the correct amount of dissolved co2.
I also just dosed seachem excel because I heard It can help against algae
I also just dosed seachem excel because I heard It can help against algae
The tank is about 6 months old
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when i had bba i successfully slowed it down by doing a 3 day blackout and dosing excel 2x usual dose. bba turns pink and snails, shrimp, and fish finish it off. after i tuned my co2, i've never had it again. check out dennis wong's site for instructions how to dial in co2. basically it involves turning up co2 and increasing surface agitation. and btw get a pH pen or monitor, don't get a drop checker. you want immediate, real-time feedback what your co2 levels are, not what they were 2-3 hours before.
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Surface agitation should be very light in CO2 injected tanks. Strong surface agitation will only help the water degaus the CO2 into the atmosphere!
How often do you do water changes?
Could you post some pictures of your tank?
If your test is showing 0.25 ppm of Amonia then your Amonia is zero. The API test is known to show some Amonia when there is none. If your tank is cycled you don't have Amonia, especially in a planted tank.
There can be numerous reasons for BBA. It's impossible for anyone to answer without knowing more about the tank.
Could be too much light in relation to plant types/plant mass. Could be lack of water changes and generally dirty conditions with too many organics in the system. Could be underfed starving plants. Could be too much flow. Could be poor or fluctuating CO2. Etc. Etc.
If you really want help, post pics of the tank with as much information as you can provide. The good news is that with a well run tank full of happy plants BBA is not an issue. But might take some adjustments to get it there.
And as to the comment above suggesting limiting surface agitation, that's exactly what you don't want to do. A well run tank has high levels of both CO2 and O2.
Could be too much light in relation to plant types/plant mass. Could be lack of water changes and generally dirty conditions with too many organics in the system. Could be underfed starving plants. Could be too much flow. Could be poor or fluctuating CO2. Etc. Etc.
If you really want help, post pics of the tank with as much information as you can provide. The good news is that with a well run tank full of happy plants BBA is not an issue. But might take some adjustments to get it there.
And as to the comment above suggesting limiting surface agitation, that's exactly what you don't want to do. A well run tank has high levels of both CO2 and O2.
I did a couple blackouts and dosed excel and got rid of most of the algae. However, to stop algae from growing again, I need to fix some things. The tank is 125 gallons, and with the sump its around 165 gallons. I'm having a hard time getting the correct amount of co2 into the tank. Right now I have 2 diffusers next to my sump pump and the bubbles get sucked up and dispersed around the tank, but I'm still not getting enough co2. Someone suggested that I look into rex griggs reactors, but I can't see any way that I can fit one onto my pvc tubing because I don't have much space. I also need a higher nutrient fertilizer that what I have now.
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upping co2 and surface agitation are the easiest ways to have approximately 30ppm from the moment the lights turn on and remain steady throughout the photoperiod. not enough surface agitation often leads to a steady increase of co2 throughout the photoperiod, leading to levels harmful to fish toward the end lights on. check out dennis' site.
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Nonsense, if your fish are getting sick from too much CO2 then turn it down a little.
This is like saying:
In the winter I keep the heater on all the time but when it gets too hot I open the windows.
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