Possible BBA outbreak ?

[DanielSev]

Hi all,

I think I have a BBA outbreak. Sorry for the poor pic, but this is the best I can get:


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It looks like fine black hair about a half inch. This spot is located in a zone with very good flow and light. What do you think ?

Best regards,
Daniel

[Biollante]

Hi Daniel,


Yes one of the three common variants of so-called black bush algae, a “red algae” from the division Rhodophyta.


In the wild Rhodophyta, likes high flow area, often this is the variant that grabs on to return lines. They really hold on, part of what makes them so hard remove.


Biollante

[DanielSev]

Thank you very much for your answer (happy to read you again, BTW !). I have increased the CO2 flow and dosed 15 ml of excel (mine is a 41 gal tank so that is about 4 times the recommended daily dose). Also I have tried to remove some of the algae with success. It came out easy, but a complete erradication will have to wait until weekly WC (Saturday hopefully).

Sooo, is this algae easy to control ?

Best regards,
Daniel

[Biollante]

Hi Daniel,

Unfortunately, Rhodophyta is about as nasty a bunch as there is.


It is also more resistant than most to biocides such as Excel.


Red algae are generally associated with low oxygen, wonky CO2 levels and/or circulation issues. Make sure your CO₂ is up to the task. In addition I have been tracking dissolved organic material and have noted a correlation (not causation, I know) between certain algal outbreaks and increased dissolved organic carbon.



Make sure your filters are operating properly, do not over clean, but make sure your flow (no channeling) is good, adding activated charcoal or Purigen to the filters might help .



Oxygen and the toothbrush-of-death are your best bets. Large water changes, 70-80% are doubly effective as they reduce both the organic material and introduce a lot of oxygen. While the water is out scrub all of the hard-scape, clean all the plants as best you can, removing infected leaves may be necessary, red algae really grabs on and digs in.



If you have Potassium permanganate, an easy test for dissolved and particulate organic material as well as helping rid the tank of BBA is maintaining 2-ppm Potassium permanganate for four hours. As a general rule if you require more than a total of 6-ppm Potassium permanganate (never more than 2-ppm at a time) to maintain the pink coloration for four hours then you need to consider more filtration, better feeding and/or maintenance practices.


Large water change followed by 2-ppm of Potassium permanganate, maintained for four hours (do not do a second PP treatment if you did so before the first water change), a little scraping and cleaning, another major water change or six, good filter maintenance, care with feeding and things should get back to normal.



Hydrogen peroxide is effective against Red algae and can be used to oxidize organic material, though since there is no colorimetric indicator associated it is harder to gauge and therefore substantially more dangerous than Potassium permanganate.



Whichever method you choose figure on a series of water changes, this stuff is nasty and can get out of hand, do not assume it is gone after the first water change and good cleaning.


Biollante

[DanielSev]

Thank you again for your detailed answer ! I have not PP at hand but remember having it in a kids chemistry set (wonderful purple color !). Getting chemicals is difficult here. I tested the Ammonia, NO2 and NO3 and the readings were 0, 0, and about 40 ppm. Regarding the algae, I have removed it manually and dosed the tank with 10 ml of Excel (for about 130 liters of water) daily as well as raised CO2. Algae growth has not been stopped completely but it is under control, and now there is very very few algae. In addition the only algae hairs are still confined to the same spot. The next WC change will be on Saturday or Sunday.

I will keep the post updated.

Best regards,
Daniel

[Biollante]

Hi Daniel,


I am sorry I do not know how I missed this!



The Excel is not going to be effective against the red algae; it may help stabilize the system, which is good.


Best bet is increased aeration; this actually works well with the Excel as it helps compensate for CO₂ loss.

Try 3% Hydrogen peroxide directly on the algae, do not get carried away with it, Hydrogen peroxide is a stronger oxidizer than Potassium permanganate.


Still your best weapon is toothbrush of death and water changes.



Biollante

[aquabillpers]

I've had great success in in using American flag fish to control BBA. They also might help to control excessive Endlers' population growth.

Bill