On Fri, 03 Dec 2004 21:49:41 GMT, "cabaloz"
wrote:

It sounds like Black Brush Algae and once it has a toe hold in the tank it
is near impossible to eradicate. I have battled it for almost a year now,
tinkering with the nutrient levels, bleach dips for the plants etc., all of
which slowed it down but couldn't kill it off completely.
At the moment I am at the mid-point of a 2 week treatment using a product
called Azoo Brush Algae Killer, recently renamed to Brush Magic. The staff
at my LFS confess that it works a treat, we'll see.
Do a Google on it and you will find lots of suggested treatments for it.
Hopefully one will work for you.
Good luck.


My 75 gallon tank had BBA. I battled it for about2 months and it
finally cleared. That was well over a year ago.

My "fix" was a series of things, no chemicals. The tank had been
running for about 6 months before I realized I was having a "growing"
problem. I have no LFS, so I had to rely on Google to get help. I
didn't know of this news group at the time.

First I new I was having plant problems. I had learned of the "low
light" formula and realized my tank lighting was "low light." I had
bought pretty plants up to then. Since I do my buying via the
internet, I did a Google and found I could by assorted packages of
plants by ligh level. So I put in my order.

I also noticed that even the gravel had tufts of BBA growing. The
live bearers seemed to be eating shorter pieces, so I placed an order
for Siamese Algae Eaters, some Black Mollies and some Platties.

When the new plants arrived, I removed all the plants that had BBA,
removed all gravel that had BBA (I cleaned the gravel and spread it
out in the summer sun to dry and bleach), cleaned with bleach
ornaments and rocks and planted the new plants. The new fish arrived
about the same time.

I don't remember any more steps. I hope my experience is some help.
I avoid chemical additives in my tank. Today my plant growth is
luxurious and the tank is algae free except for some dots of green
algae on the glass. I love the SAEs, so much so I now have 9 of them
in the tank. Since ridding the 75 gallon of BBA, I have added to my
menagerie a 29 gallon and 3 ten gallon tanks. By following the things
I said above, I have avoided the awful BBA in those tanks. Quite
possibly BBA is imported. In which case my efforts had nothing to do
with it clearing.

dick

"Nikki Casali" wrote in message
...
Well, that says it all really. I think my 330l planted aquarium is going
through puberty. All this yucky black hair is very unattractive.
Definitely needs the full wax treatment.

Suddenly, I've noticed around the edges and tips of leaves an algae that
looks almost like black scraggy beard hair. I've just finished a course of
treatment to cure ich. That treatment lasted over 2 weeks. I checked the
phosphate level directly after and measured 2.75 mg/l. My tap water, by
the way, contains 2.20 mg/l of phosphate.

I'm wondering whether the ich medication had an impact on plant phosphate
uptake?

Today, the phosphate level is 2.07 mg/l. Yesterday, it measured 2.17 mg/l.
I didn't feed the fish between the 2 measurements.

Other specifics a
Nitrate 25 mg/l (tap 25 mg/l)
pH 7.4
CO2 around 18 mg/l
0.75 watts of fluorescent lighting per litre for 12 hours

Algae eating Fish:
2 Otocinclus
6 Ancistrus
5 Mollies
1 Labeo variegatus

Should I stop feeding the fish for further days to reduce phosphates or
would I be better to place a phosphate removing pouch in my canister
filter? Maybe I should reduce lighting hours?

I don't think any of my algae eating fish are interested in the hairy
stuff. Maybe the mollies would be if I starved them?

Any ideas?

Nikki