Black Beard Algae

[Grahms]

Hey Guys,

Need a little help with the amount of hours I should leave my lighting setup on per day, from the amount of black beard algae outbreak I have (pictures to come tomorrow).

I have been dosing with AlgExit from the techden and haven't had any luck removing the algae yet (cut the lighting down during this dosing period to two hours in the morning and 5 hours at night).  

I am currently using a Solar Max Nano Metal Halide Light Solar Max 150W Single Ended 

Metal Halide Light Solar Max 150W Single Ended

14K Globe

150W electronic ballast

Using this light setup, how many hours should the lights be left on for? (is there a formula?)

Tank is a ADA 45cm (45x27x30cm/5mm)

Keeping in mind that I am attempting to carpet the floor with HC....

Edited June 1, 2015 by fishmosy
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[Grahms]

More info

I am also adding CO2 in to the aquarium (around one bubble every two seconds)

[Grahms]

Would using a Sochting Oxidator also help correct the Black Beard Algae?

[fishmosy]

Cant really comment as I haven't used metal halides before to grow HC. 

 

However 8 hours is usually what I reccomend as a starting point and then you can adjust up or down depending on how the plants respond.

 

is it correct that the globe in your metal halide is 14K as in 14000 Kelvin? If so, That is a very blue light and is not an ideal colour range for freshwater plants (which is more 6500 to 8000) . 

[Grahms]

Yes, using a 14k Globe, it would be better to use in a salt water tank?

I haven't had any issues with the plants I am attempting to grow in the tank, if any thing they are doing really well (pictures will come tomorrow)

I also have a LED light using the following specs that is not currently in use, was going to switch back after the floor was completely carpeted with HC (put this in storage as I thought that growing HC will be better for it using the metal halide):

- luminous: ~6000 lux

- 6w power

- LED bulb: Blue 3 pcs, White 51 pcs

- Input Power: AC 220-240V

[Grahms]

Forgot to mention that I only run the metal halide on 50% power thru the ballast, and notice the less blue/white color from doing so....

[jayc]

Haven't seen your pictures yet, so no idea how bad the BBA is.

But can you remove it manually from ornaments? Or are they growing on older leaves?

 

With 150W on a 45cm tank, you have put yourself in the High Tech tank category, which means you will run into problems if the CO2 and Macro & Micro nutrients aren't balanced.

BBA thrive in nutrient deficient tanks. This means you are either lacking in Macro or Micro ferts or both. Add to that the CO2 inject needs to be at 30ppm. Such high light is going to cause the plants to suck up all the nutrients in the tank really fast. When there is none left the older leaves suffer. BBA take hold on these older leaves first.

150W of light for 8 hours straight is also too long.

 

The best thing I did for my tank is to get a controller that mimics sunrise and sunset with my lights.

Turns on at 7am, light intensity slowly ramps up until 100% power at midday, then slowly ramps down the power to the lights until 7pm mimicking sunset. 7pm - 8pm, moonlights run, so I can come home to see my fish/shrimp after work. 12 hours of light but note: only about 1 hour of full light intensity. This is the daylight cycle.

If your tank is running 8 hours of 100% power, it's very unrealistic, and no wonder algae becomes an issue in our tanks.

 

 

[Grahms]

Where outs did you get that controller from Jayc?

[jayc]

 

Where outs did you get that controller from Jayc?

​pm sent

[yeswaitnosorry]

I would like to know too.

[fishmosy]

Haven't seen your pictures yet, so no idea how bad the BBA is.

But can you remove it manually from ornaments? Or are they growing on older leaves?

 

With 150W on a 45cm tank, you have put yourself in the High Tech tank category, which means you will run into problems if the CO2 and Macro & Micro nutrients aren't balanced.

BBA thrive in nutrient deficient tanks. This means you are either lacking in Macro or Micro ferts or both. Add to that the CO2 inject needs to be at 30ppm. Such high light is going to cause the plants to suck up all the nutrients in the tank really fast. When there is none left the older leaves suffer. BBA take hold on these older leaves first.

150W of light for 8 hours straight is also too long.

 

The best thing I did for my tank is to get a controller that mimics sunrise and sunset with my lights.

Turns on at 7am, light intensity slowly ramps up until 100% power at midday, then slowly ramps down the power to the lights until 7pm mimicking sunset. 7pm - 8pm, moonlights run, so I can come home to see my fish/shrimp after work. 12 hours of light but note: only about 1 hour of full light intensity. This is the daylight cycle.

If your tank is running 8 hours of 100% power, it's very unrealistic, and no wonder algae becomes an issue in our tanks.

 

 

I didn't think about that. Well pointed out. 

[Grahms]

Here are the pictures of my tank.

 

[jayc]

Wow!

That's pretty bad.

You could do a quick fix by removing the rocks, wood or any other hardscape items, and pour boiling water over the BBA. That just kills the existing BBA, but obviously doesn't fix the cause.

The BBA will turn purple or white, in a day or two. Which indicate it is dead.

At least it will help you get back close to ground zero, while you add measures to avoid BBA.

 

[Grahms]

I could remove the Mangrove from the middle to clean it, but the rocks are being used as a retaining wall, moving them will stir up the ADA soil behind it and most likely kill the shrimp...

(Jayc)I have already ordered a custom setup from that place you put me on to, will just keep on dosing with AlgExit after this.....

[jc12]

I had quite a bit of BBA a few months ago in a 40L tank. Now they are mostly gone with just a tiny bit left if you look hard enough.

I used AlgExit weekly for about 6-8 weeks and dose dino pee and dino spit. I am not sure which one helped rid my BBA issue... probably all three.

I also introduced 2 x DAR and 2 x DRN shrimps.

It was a low tech set up with no CO2 and LED 6500K light for 6 hours each day.

Not sure if this info is helpful but I hope you'll be successful getting rid of them.

[jayc]

I could remove the Mangrove from the middle to clean it, but the rocks are being used as a retaining wall, moving them will stir up the ADA soil behind it and most likely kill the shrimp...

(Jayc)I have already ordered a custom setup from that place you put me on to, will just keep on dosing with AlgExit after this.....

​That's your choice of course. Boiling water will kill BBA real fast. Just saying. 

 

Ohh, show us your light when you get it.

Come back here to talk to me when you get your controller.

I can help with using the software that you use to program the sunrise/sunset.

[albash]

Haven't seen your pictures yet, so no idea how bad the BBA is.

But can you remove it manually from ornaments? Or are they growing on older leaves?

 

With 150W on a 45cm tank, you have put yourself in the High Tech tank category, which means you will run into problems if the CO2 and Macro & Micro nutrients aren't balanced.

BBA thrive in nutrient deficient tanks. This means you are either lacking in Macro or Micro ferts or both. Add to that the CO2 inject needs to be at 30ppm. Such high light is going to cause the plants to suck up all the nutrients in the tank really fast. When there is none left the older leaves suffer. BBA take hold on these older leaves first.

150W of light for 8 hours straight is also too long.

 

The best thing I did for my tank is to get a controller that mimics sunrise and sunset with my lights.

Turns on at 7am, light intensity slowly ramps up until 100% power at midday, then slowly ramps down the power to the lights until 7pm mimicking sunset. 7pm - 8pm, moonlights run, so I can come home to see my fish/shrimp after work. 12 hours of light but note: only about 1 hour of full light intensity. This is the daylight cycle.

If your tank is running 8 hours of 100% power, it's very unrealistic, and no wonder algae becomes an issue in our tanks.

 

 

​I would to know more about the controller Jayc.

What really causes this black beard algae?

[jayc]

​I would to know more about the controller Jayc.

Oh? what do you know about it? 

 

BBA thrives in a tank that is nutrient deficient and lots of light.

Edited June 2, 2015 by jayc

[Callan]

Black beard algae can be a nightmare to get rid of. I have heard of people direct dosing with hydrogen peroxide. As was previously mentioned hot water does work and kills it quite quickly. When I used this method it turned grey and died. I have seen products that have been developed to specifically treat BBA but have heard mixed results from people.

Where I work we have an 8ft tank with a murray cod in it and it gets a large amount of light both artificial and from clear roof sheeting above the tank. This tank gets BBA badly as well as a green algea blanket all over the substrate, plants and rocks. I starting experimenting with the tank using clarifying bacteria dosed at the recommended dosage rate every fortnight. Nothing happend for the first few weeks but by about week 6 I noticed clear patches starting to show in various spots. After 10 weeks it had completely cleared from the rock, substrate and plants. Both the BBA and the green algae had completely cleared up. I then continued to treat every two weeks and in the end was adding to all the fish tanks as well as the external lily ponds.

[jayc]

I starting experimenting with the tank using clarifying bacteria dosed at the recommended dosage rate every fortnight.

​Callan,

what's clarifying bacteria?

Do you have a Link? or Pic of the product?

[Callan]

​Callan,

what's clarifying bacteria?

Do you have a Link? or Pic of the product?

​PM sent

[Grahms]

Hey Callan,

​PM sent

​Can I hit you up as well please for what exactly you were using?

​

[Callan]

PM sent

[jayc]

I'm sure you can post the product name.

[Morgan]

I'm curious about this too, never heard of it before?