BBA grows from build-up of organic waste. To deal with this you have many options. Good gravel vacuuming, clean filters more often, more frequent water changes, cut back on feeding and reduce fish population
I never had BBA until I changed my substrate from gravel to sand. Everything was fine for a couple weeks then the BBA appeared. I believe when I was removing the gravel everything from underneath went into the water column. I've been using Excel and things have gotten better but not completely gone. I have a heavily planted tank and everything got infected so it's definitely been a battle. Thanks for the video.
Yes , that is probably it . The same happened to one of my tanks when I changed from fluorite to aquasoil. Excel helps to weaken it , but it doesn’t really go away unless you get the nutrients out of the water column . Mine finally disappeared after sticking to a strict water change schedule. I am sure yours will too 👍. Wish you all the best
Interesting results. I've been afraid to stick with Excel because I've had crypts and buce melt some when I use it. My amano shrimp also become inactive every day I dose the tank with it. They stop swimming around and even ignore food. I'm surprised your slower-growing plants and shrimp seem to be just fine. Going to give it another go as my hairgrass carpet is absolutely covered in BBA! Thanks for the tips!
@@humanelements2 I have not had any shrimps die due to excel (as long as the dosage is low) . Crypts are another story . Any slight change causes my crypts to melt but they bounce back again . Also , I would recommend you try hydrogen peroxide before excel . It’s milder and leaves no chemicals in the water (hydrogen peroxide just breaks into pure water and oxygen molecules ) . Lately , it has been my go to for any algae issues . Good luck ☺️
@@captain_guppy thanks for the additional tips! Do you use the basic hydrogen peroxide concentration from the pharmacy? How much per dose? I can spot treat but it's the entire hair grass carpet that is covered in BBA so I'll need a fair amount...
I have this in one tank particularly...I cut back on the lighting and the next time I do a water change will trim my nubeus plant. it's on the tubing of my air stone ....will try spraying something on it and scraping. I have shrimp, a fat pleco and snails and you'd think they would do something.
Unfortunately , Shrimps , snails or Plecos do not touch black beard algae :( . The only fish I know capable of eating this stuff is the Siamese algae eater . Excellent fish if you can find them . Good luck ☺️
Thank you :) . I appreciate it . Yes , excel works for hair algae too but I found hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) more effective. Use 1.5ml h2o2 per gallon of water. Dose is fish & shrimp safe. This needs to be done only once . The hair algae will turn brown in 48 hours, and will disappear in 5 days time . Good luck :)
@@MissChelle yes , I saw some damage to fissidens moss and riccardia on dosing h2o2 . But they bounced back. It’s best if you can remove the mosses . If not , maybe try a lower dose first . Also do remember to switch off the filter as h2o2 can kill the beneficial bacteria
Hi, did you turn your filter off for 10- 15 min so bba could absorb the algae? Cause bba will die off a lot quicker. Did you happen to find out the cause of the bba outbreak?
No, I didn’t turn off my filter as I was injecting small doses of excel directly on the BBA. However , turning off the filter during dosing seems like a great idea (thanks!). Yes - in my tank it was due to fluctuating co2 levels . I was using diy co2 in my tank for a while . I stopped co2 completely follwoing BBA outburst to keep the co2 levels stable. Also , followed a strict water change and fertiliser routine since. Thankfully, not seen any BBA in the tank again 🤞
@@captain_guppy Yes i was spot dosing aswell, The method i mentioned will have the bba change color in a few days. And start dying off. I've tried all forms of co2. What i hated about diy co2 was the constant making co2 every week or 2. I'm now using soda stream as my co2 source. Cause of my bba was same as you. My last diffuser broke and i didn't have a spare, so i used an airstone. We learn by trial an error lol.
@@urbansk8r231 haha - yes , totally agree my friend. This hobby is all about experimenting (which makes it all the more interesting 😉) I am using a sodastream cylinder on one of my nano tanks myself. It’s a great option when you have small tanks and don’t have any places to re-fill co2 cylinders nearby 🤷♂️. Wish you all the best !
dealing with this issue in my show tank... weird thing ive noticed which i believe if i could figure out is the true natural solution...... in my show tank this stuff grows like mad however ive moved infected sprouts to my breeder tanks to propagate and the BBA dies off.. something about the tank causes the Algae and in turn can cure the algae if whatever this unknown variable is addressed, it appears.. its not the light, all ive done is play with the light.. light worked for everything else and now im left with the bba.. i think its got to do with the bio activity, this tank is packed with life, breeders are bare
I feel you .. it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of this algae. Yes agree , it’s definitely not the light . Light (or absence of it ) seems to have no effect on BBA. I did a blackout for 5 days and the BBA looked as healthy as ever . One thing I did notice is that my co2 tanks get it , but none of the non co2 tanks do . Fluctuating co2 surely causes it , so you might want to look at your co2 regulator . Direct use of excel has permanently killed the BBA growth in my tanks though. Hope it works for you too . One more thing you could try is adding Siamese algae eaters . They love this stuff . All the best 👍
Try removing all the fish . Switch off the filter. Then dose the tank with 2ml hydrogen peroxide per gallon . Also dose flourish excel as per recommendation at the same time (5ml per 50 gallons) . Switch off the lights and let it brew for 3 hours . You can then add the fish (no need for a water change as hydrogen peroxide disintegrates into hydrogen and water without leaving any other byproducts ) . Good luck
If you are dosing excel directly over the leaves , it should still work . However , charcoal is not generally recommended in a planted tank as it pulls out a lot of nutrients that plants would otherwise use as a food source
![BLACK BEARD ALGAE [the *REAL* Reason it's GONE!]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/kDfdWavGAIA/mqdefault.jpg)
![BLACK BEARD ALGAE [the *REAL* Reason it's GONE!]](/img/tr.png)
BBA grows from build-up of organic waste. To deal with this you have many options. Good gravel vacuuming, clean filters more often, more frequent water changes, cut back on feeding and reduce fish population
I just started this a week ago im very pleased with the results. My shrimp have become incredibly active as well
I never had BBA until I changed my substrate from gravel to sand. Everything was fine for a couple weeks then the BBA appeared. I believe when I was removing the gravel everything from underneath went into the water column. I've been using Excel and things have gotten better but not completely gone. I have a heavily planted tank and everything got infected so it's definitely been a battle. Thanks for the video.
Yes , that is probably it . The same happened to one of my tanks when I changed from fluorite to aquasoil. Excel helps to weaken it , but it doesn’t really go away unless you get the nutrients out of the water column . Mine finally disappeared after sticking to a strict water change schedule. I am sure yours will too 👍. Wish you all the best
Interesting results. I've been afraid to stick with Excel because I've had crypts and buce melt some when I use it. My amano shrimp also become inactive every day I dose the tank with it. They stop swimming around and even ignore food. I'm surprised your slower-growing plants and shrimp seem to be just fine. Going to give it another go as my hairgrass carpet is absolutely covered in BBA! Thanks for the tips!
@@humanelements2 I have not had any shrimps die due to excel (as long as the dosage is low) . Crypts are another story . Any slight change causes my crypts to melt but they bounce back again . Also , I would recommend you try hydrogen peroxide before excel . It’s milder and leaves no chemicals in the water (hydrogen peroxide just breaks into pure water and oxygen molecules ) . Lately , it has been my go to for any algae issues . Good luck ☺️
@@captain_guppy thanks for the additional tips! Do you use the basic hydrogen peroxide concentration from the pharmacy? How much per dose? I can spot treat but it's the entire hair grass carpet that is covered in BBA so I'll need a fair amount...
I have this in one tank particularly...I cut back on the lighting and the next time I do a water change will trim my nubeus plant. it's on the tubing of my air stone ....will try spraying something on it and scraping. I have shrimp, a fat pleco and snails and you'd think they would do something.
Unfortunately , Shrimps , snails or Plecos do not touch black beard algae :( . The only fish I know capable of eating this stuff is the Siamese algae eater . Excellent fish if you can find them . Good luck ☺️
Have you fought with staghorn algae? Im having a horrible time with it.
Damn good video! and in spectacular 4k
Thank you :) . I appreciate it ❤️
Thank you for a great video. Would this work on hair algae too? New subscriber from Australia ❤️🇦🇺
Thank you :) . I appreciate it . Yes , excel works for hair algae too but I found hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) more effective. Use 1.5ml h2o2 per gallon of water. Dose is fish & shrimp safe. This needs to be done only once . The hair algae will turn brown in 48 hours, and will disappear in 5 days time . Good luck :)
Thank you. I have moss in the tank. Will peroxide kill the moss?🇦🇺❤️
@@MissChelle yes , I saw some damage to fissidens moss and riccardia on dosing h2o2 . But they bounced back. It’s best if you can remove the mosses . If not , maybe try a lower dose first . Also do remember to switch off the filter as h2o2 can kill the beneficial bacteria
Hi, did you turn your filter off for 10- 15 min so bba could absorb the algae? Cause bba will die off a lot quicker. Did you happen to find out the cause of the bba outbreak?
No, I didn’t turn off my filter as I was injecting small doses of excel directly on the BBA. However , turning off the filter during dosing seems like a great idea (thanks!). Yes - in my tank it was due to fluctuating co2 levels . I was using diy co2 in my tank for a while . I stopped co2 completely follwoing BBA outburst to keep the co2 levels stable. Also , followed a strict water change and fertiliser routine since. Thankfully, not seen any BBA in the tank again 🤞
@@captain_guppy Yes i was spot dosing aswell, The method i mentioned will have the bba change color in a few days. And start dying off. I've tried all forms of co2. What i hated about diy co2 was the constant making co2 every week or 2. I'm now using soda stream as my co2 source. Cause of my bba was same as you. My last diffuser broke and i didn't have a spare, so i used an airstone. We learn by trial an error lol.
@@urbansk8r231 haha - yes , totally agree my friend. This hobby is all about experimenting (which makes it all the more interesting 😉) I am using a sodastream cylinder on one of my nano tanks myself. It’s a great option when you have small tanks and don’t have any places to re-fill co2 cylinders nearby 🤷♂️. Wish you all the best !
dealing with this issue in my show tank... weird thing ive noticed which i believe if i could figure out is the true natural solution...... in my show tank this stuff grows like mad however ive moved infected sprouts to my breeder tanks to propagate and the BBA dies off.. something about the tank causes the Algae and in turn can cure the algae if whatever this unknown variable is addressed, it appears.. its not the light, all ive done is play with the light.. light worked for everything else and now im left with the bba.. i think its got to do with the bio activity, this tank is packed with life, breeders are bare
I feel you .. it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of this algae. Yes agree , it’s definitely not the light . Light (or absence of it ) seems to have no effect on BBA. I did a blackout for 5 days and the BBA looked as healthy as ever . One thing I did notice is that my co2 tanks get it , but none of the non co2 tanks do . Fluctuating co2 surely causes it , so you might want to look at your co2 regulator . Direct use of excel has permanently killed the BBA growth in my tanks though. Hope it works for you too . One more thing you could try is adding Siamese algae eaters . They love this stuff . All the best 👍
I recently had a black beard algae problem. But I solved it. Thanks to the community.
I have posted updates on my channel.
Couldn't see that post
Clean and neatly explained bro nice
Thank you 🙏
My South American tank has it growing all over the place. No way I can spot dose. Recommendations??????
Try removing all the fish . Switch off the filter. Then dose the tank with 2ml hydrogen peroxide per gallon . Also dose flourish excel as per recommendation at the same time (5ml per 50 gallons) . Switch off the lights and let it brew for 3 hours . You can then add the fish (no need for a water change as hydrogen peroxide disintegrates into hydrogen and water without leaving any other byproducts ) . Good luck
Will charcoal filter make this excel not work?
If you are dosing excel directly over the leaves , it should still work . However , charcoal is not generally recommended in a planted tank as it pulls out a lot of nutrients that plants would otherwise use as a food source
If I wanted to read instructions I would buy a how to book....
Wow
If you dose hydrogen peroxide alongside the Flourish XL you will have better results. And I have shrimps and snails that haven't been affected
Yes ! Tried this and completely agree 👍
👋👋👋👍👍👍
when you got bba even with floaters :/
I feel you . Once you get it , it’s really hard to get rid off 😕
@@captain_guppy ye, gonna be trying to spot treat with excel but its inconsistent. Worked in a day with my anubias, still hasnt worked on my buce
lol looks like fluffy carpet for shrimps