# black beard algae



## craig mason (28 Mar 2018)

hi i have black beard algae in my tank so i am thinking of stripping all the plants out of my tank and changing it around and adding some new plants are there any fish i could add that eat black beard algae


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## zozo (28 Mar 2018)

craig mason said:


> are there any fish i could add that eat black beard algae



No..  At least not as fast as BBA can grow..And stripping and changing all around also isn't the solution. As long as you keep up with your current regime of which you do not elaborate you likely will keep growing BBA.

Please give us more information, such as tank size, lights, periode and intensity, CO² or no CO², filter capacity/turnover, fert regime, stocking list and plant listt. 

Pics help a lot as well.

And surely someone experienced wil come along helping you in the right direction fighting BBA.


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## NOWIS (28 Mar 2018)

Siamese algea eater will eat it but they also eat moss if you are growing any


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## ceg4048 (29 Mar 2018)

craig mason said:


> hi i have black beard algae in my tank so i am thinking of stripping all the plants out of my tank and changing it around and adding some new plants are there any fish i could add that eat black beard algae


This will not solve your problem. BBA appears because of something that you are doing or are not doing. If you strip your tank and re-do the same things you have been doing then the new plants will also get BBA.

Have you looked through the Algae forum section to research cause and effect?

As zozo mentions we'll need a lot more information in order to troubleshoot.

I've moved the thread to the Algae section.


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## sciencefiction (29 Mar 2018)

craig mason said:


> are there any fish i could add that eat black beard algae



Yes, there are. However the issue with BBA in the first place is overstocking/overfeeding a tank and lack of large enough regular water changes, although the latter won't help that much if the organic bioload production is not reduced,Unlike most other types of algae, BBA can flourish quite well in a non-planted tank for the same reasons. So BBA generally doesn't have much to do with plants but if you get the plants back in top health, they'll help fight off the issue as they're natural consumers of the same things the algae needs to proliferate.


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## dw1305 (29 Mar 2018)

Hi all, 





sciencefiction said:


> BBA can flourish quite well in a non-planted tank for the same reasons.


Reminds me of <"our local pet shop"> (which has just shut), No plants, yellow water and BBA on the gravel thicker than gorilla fake fur. 

A local garden centre (still open) had bare tanks where the <"BGA formed an iridescent layer on the gravel">, speckled with oxygen bubbles. I haven't been in since, but I can't imagine it is any different.

cheers Darrel


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## NOWIS (29 Mar 2018)

Some changes I made to get rid of bba in my 
700l that may help. 

I upped my water changes of 100l every 1-3 weeks back to once a week. Your need for water changes will be different depending on your bio load and weather you run a hi or low energy tank. 
Less fish less food helps with bba!

I was letting my nitrate/phosphate level drop back to  zero, very bad! Plants can't grow algea will. EI tanks won't have this problem. 
Be consistent with fertilising.

I raised my light up 5cm (160watt of t5 on 700l)
I could have upped my co2 level but didn't want faster growth and more trimming. 
Bba grows in hi and low light areas so it's all about co2/light ratio.

Last I added 3 SAE fish to clean up the bits i didn't get with trimming plants and  general cleaning. 
They won't fix the problem but did a great job of cleaning the bba off hard scape. They have now moved onto my moss which I new would happen I WANT THEM OUT 
It took about 5 week to disappear.

Just some basic info hope it helps some1


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## rebel (29 Mar 2018)

Simon Hellmich said:


> Some changes I made to get rid of bba in my
> 700l that may help.
> 
> I upped my water changes of 100l every 1-3 weeks back to once a week. Your need for water changes will be different depending on your bio load and weather you run a hi or low energy tank.
> ...




This is excellent advice .

When you buy Siamese Algae eaters, get the tiniest one in the shop. 

Also you should spot dose with excel and peroxide. Remove some BBA manually everyday.


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## zozo (29 Mar 2018)

rebel said:


> When you buy Siamese Algae eaters, get the tiniest one in the shop.



How fast do this fish actualy grow? I actualy never bought them because they seem to grow to big for what i can provide.. An option could be if they grow rather slow, to buy the smallest possible and give them away for free by the time the size gets to big..  Never had problems with giving anything away for free in my country. If it says for free people jump on it like flies on a turt.


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## sciencefiction (29 Mar 2018)

zozo said:


> How fast do this fish actualy grow?



Mine didn't take that long, perhaps about 8 months. They're not extremely big or bulky fish, however, they're extremely social and I wouldn't get less than 5 now that I know their natural behaviour.


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## sciencefiction (29 Mar 2018)

On the video below I had my SAEs for just over 2 months. This was last year January.



And on the below I had them for about 5-6 months. I'll try getting some pictures of them now, after about 1 year and a half but the growth is not significantly bigger than what you see below. The small one is still the smallest in the group.






And the below is from February this year. I don't think they're growing anymore. The Denison barbs outgrew them long time ago. They school with the denison barbs so I am guessing even just 5 of them isn't enough ideally.


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## zozo (29 Mar 2018)

sciencefiction said:


> Mine didn't take that long, perhaps about 8 months. They're not extremely big or bulky fish, however, they're extremely social and I wouldn't get less than 5 now that I know their natural behaviour.


I was thinking about them for my 110 litre asian style theme tank.. But with 8 months, i'm not going to, i'll skip on it. a 10cm fish in a 90cm tank looks cramped up to me. Buying them at 3cm and have 2 years time would have been an option.. Thanks for the info..


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