Blackbeard algae - next steps???

S

SeaTurtle

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Nov 18, 2008
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This is my first time posting - I've been lurking for a while now.

I bought an established 58 gallon tank a while ago. The tank came complete with a blackbeard algae problem. The rocks are coverd, the plants have some growth, and gravel is speckled with batches of the algae. I believe the tank was catching some sunlight where the previous owner had it. Now that the fish are moved & the water is cycled, I'm on a mission to eradicate the algae.

My question is - am I doing enough? So far, I've started to cycle the light on & off at different times. Yesterday, I removed the plants & rocks & started soaking them in a bucket of bleach water (1:20 ratio). This seems to be doing the trick. I'm planning on removing all the old gravel this weekend & replacing it with new gravel.

I'm just concerned that the spores will still be present in the tank. I'm concerned that the problem will return again even with the clean rocks, new gravel, and clean plants.

Any thoughts?

Particulars - our tank is kept at about 77*, nitrites are 0 ppm, and nitrates are about 10 to 15 ppm. All fake plants. The tank came with a Magnum Pro 350 filtration system (with biowheels). The tank gets no direct sunlight - it faces a large Northern window. The tank houses a 5" Bala shark, a 6" pleco, 5 sword tails, and 5 neons.
 
The only thing that I noticed in your particulars is that you have Nitrates. Without live plants, this should be zero along with the ammonia and nitrite level. Have you tested for phosphate? Assuming the tank is cycled (seems so with zero ammonia and nitrite), how often do you change water and how much? What are you feeding and how often? Keep in mind that any macro nutrient existing in the tank, in your case nitrogen, without the other two (phosphate and potassium *NPK* will allow algae to take hold.
 
Interesting. I'll pick up a phosphate test kit & see what I find. I don't know much about this, so I'll do a little research. Thanks for the tip.

Feeding consists of flake food in the morning via a feeding ring. They get a big pinch & they seem to eat all of the food within 5 minutes. Once in a while, they get a tiny pinch in the evening to entertain the kids.

Water changes are 1x per month. Typically, I use a gravel cleaning siphon & pull out a few buckets of water. The replacement water is tap water at about the same temp as the tank water. I add the drops that percipitate out the nasty stuff (the name of the product escapes me).
 
avionics30 said:
The only thing that I noticed in your particulars is that you have Nitrates. Without live plants, this should be zero along with the ammonia and nitrite level. Have you tested for phosphate? Assuming the tank is cycled (seems so with zero ammonia and nitrite), how often do you change water and how much? What are you feeding and how often? Keep in mind that any macro nutrient existing in the tank, in your case nitrogen, without the other two (phosphate and potassium *NPK* will allow algae to take hold.
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Nitrates should be managed to be around 20 in a fw tank, IMO 40 isnt to high, but is borderline, others may disagree with that. However all said, nitrates do not have to be kept at zero.

Black beard algae is really hard to get rid of once aquired. You can go the route of taking eerything out of the tank and scrubbing it with a belach solution, then putting it back, but chances are this will not eliminate the prob, only cut back on it. There is something in your tank that the algae is feeding on. It would be good to get a phosphate test and check that, if it is high in your tank, check your tap for it is well. If it is high in your source water, you can purchase filter media that will remove the phosphates from your tank, or you can use bottled spring water.

Investing in an siamese algae eater will also clear this prob up for you as well. They are one of the only known algae eaters to eat this type of algae.
 
Blueiz said:
Investing in an siamese algae eater will also clear this prob up for you as well. They are one of the only known algae eaters to eat this type of algae.
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Would a siamese algae eater and a 6" pleco have enough to eat in a 58 gallon tank?
 
This is true. Nitrates do not have to be kept to zero, but lowering them would be a good idea since you are having problems. Coupled with a possible phosphate issue, that sounds like a good recipie for algae. As Blueiz mentioned, be sure to check your tap for phospahtes as well. If your tap has high levels, you are going to go through a crazy amount of money tryin to lower phosphate and you will never eliminate it. It sounds like your feeding is on track, so no issues there. I would personally increase the frequency of your water changes. Once a month is a stretch. You may see a difference in your water quality readings if you changed 25% every two weeks. I am a discus keeper so I am big on clean water. Since you are keeping a tank with no live plants, nutrients will build in your tank decreasing the water quality. Water changes help keep all that in check. Your filter just cant handle everything. Good luck!
 
A regular algae eater is not going to touch the black beard algae, so there wouldn't really be any competition for food there. After the BBA is gone, then you could suplement with algae wafers.
 
avionics30 said:
The only thing that I noticed in your particulars is that you have Nitrates. Without live plants, this should be zero along with the ammonia and nitrite level. Have you tested for phosphate? Assuming the tank is cycled (seems so with zero ammonia and nitrite), how often do you change water and how much? What are you feeding and how often? Keep in mind that any macro nutrient existing in the tank, in your case nitrogen, without the other two (phosphate and potassium *NPK* will allow algae to take hold.
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Ammonia & nitrItes should be '0' and nitrAtes should be around/under 20 ppm.
I think you got confused, perhaps? I do huge multiple water changes in some of my tanks to keep nitrAtes around 5 ppm. There's no way someone could keep them at '0' unless they did 100% daily water changes.
That "blackbeard algae" (diatoms) will eventually go away. In the meantime just rub it off of things. It's a pain but it's harmless.
 
ksane said:
Ammonia & nitrItes should be '0' and nitrAtes should be around/under 20 ppm.
I think you got confused, perhaps? I do huge multiple water changes in some of my tanks to keep nitrAtes around 5 ppm. There's no way someone could keep them at '0' unless they did 100% daily water changes.
That "blackbeard algae" (diatoms) will eventually go away. In the meantime just rub it off of things. It's a pain but it's harmless.
Click to expand...
I may be wrong here but I don't think BBA and diatoms are the same thing:)
 
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