Hornworth vs bba? Is it possible?

[Chiasmodon]

Can hornwort endirecty kill bba?

...it absorb most of the nutrients from the water column according to some sources.


Im already doing the following to kill bba and avoid BBA from growing

1.50% water change per week
2. Reducing the photoperiod from 12 hours to 8 hours
3. Removing infected leaves
4.only feed my fish once a day
5. H202 spot treatment but it does not work


Another Last option, buy SAE.. But they are rarely sold here.

 

[devsi]

Took me a second to realise BBA is black beard Algae and not beneficial bacteria (my brain clearly didn’t care what the ‘a’ stood for).

I was reading it thinking “why would you want to kill your BB!?!”

So…. Time for more coffee.

On a more serious note; algae is prevalent when something is out of whack. Through an algae issue a while back, I’d suggest figuring out what’s causing it / removing it by hand, over buying something to eat it.

 

[Flyfisha]

I have tanks with large amounts of hornwort. No I don’t think it makes much difference. I have 20 gallon tanks with 20 Pothos plants in them and hornwort consuming some nitrates. See picture. I still get a little BBA from time to time.

Perhaps I over feed? Because I can’t see a big difference in tanks with pothos and without. Hornwort is very good for fry to hide in and I like the plant a lot. I just don’t believe it consumes “ most” of the nutrients?

 

[Chiasmodon]

I have tanks with large amounts of hornwort. No I don’t think it makes much difference. I have 20 gallon tanks with 20 Pothos plants in them and hornwort consuming some nitrates. See picture. I still get a little BBA from time to time.

Perhaps I over feed? Because I can’t see a big difference in tanks with pothos and without. Hornwort is very good for fry to hide in and I like the plant a lot. I just don’t believe it consumes “ most” of the nutrients?

I have some BBA on my plants, I was thinking of vacuuming the substrate of my tank and re-aquascaping it. maybe my tank is overstocked and I overfed my pets. I have countless number of shrimps, 2 angels, 10 platies, 6 cory, 4 ottos, 4 atlantic mollies, and relatively few number of wild guppies. I almost forgot to mention, some sections of my tank are not vacuumed because its heavily planted and .. I dont have access to those sections, so maybe removing everything would help.

Took me a second to realise BBA is black beard Algae and not beneficial bacteria (my brain clearly didn’t care what the ‘a’ stood for).

I was reading it thinking “why would you want to kill your BB!?!”

So…. Time for more coffee.

On a more serious note; algae is prevalent when something is out of whack. Through an algae issue a while back, I’d suggest figuring out what’s causing it / removing it by hand, over buying something to eat it.

I actually did temporarily fixed this problem but now its coming back. what I did before is I did daily 25% WCs and turned my light on for 8 hours. but I want them gone, like 100% dead

 

[Flyfisha]

Having joined my local club and visited a few peoples fish rooms not many of my local club members have tanks that look like George Farmer is working full time on them . Yes we have one nurse who is really into plants and has a beautiful looking wet garden with a few fish swimming in it.

The rumour in my town is BBA comes in the water pipes . Just live with it. Embrace it if you like, it’s harmless to fish. A chemical treatment is sold for those that need to fight it. H202 will kill it if it’s getting out of hand.
Siamese algae eaters are one way to remove it.

Sorry I don’t have all the answers on going BBA free. I have my suspicions aquascapers use more chemicals than they admit?

I watched George farmers latest video on the $80 aquascaping tweezers when he is hinting that current in a tank has something to do with BBA.?
If you have just one or two tanks I can understand you having enough time to worry about this weed . As I have dozens of tanks I am flat out with other things to worry about.

A link to Georges latest video.

A beautiful wet garden, with no lid . no feeding dish, no leaf litter , it’s not really a suitable home for a lot of fish ? IMO
Edit, check out the stocking level

 

[Chiasmodon]

Having joined my local club and visited a few peoples fish rooms not many of my local club members have tanks that look like George Farmer is working full time on them . Yes we have one nurse who is really into plants and has a beautiful looking wet garden with a few fish swimming in it.

The rumour in my town is BBA comes in the water pipes . Just live with it. Embrace it if you like, it’s harmless to fish. A chemical treatment is sold for those that need to fight it. H202 will kill it if it’s getting out of hand.
Siamese algae eaters are one way to remove it.

Sorry I don’t have all the answers on going BBA free. I have my suspicions aquascapers use more chemicals than they admit?

I watched George farmers latest video on the $80 aquascaping tweezers when he is hinting that current in a tank has something to do with BBA.?
If you have just one or two tanks I can understand you having enough time to worry about this weed . As I have dozens of tanks I am flat out with other things to worry about.

A link to Georges latest video.

A beautiful wet garden, with no lid . no feeding dish, no leaf litter , it’s not really a suitable home for a lot of fish ? IMO
Edit, check out the stocking level

ooh George, I watch him too, he has good tanks (including this one) and tips. SAE might be the last option for me. I only have 2 aquariums, but I have 9 small ponds consisting of emersed form of aquatic plants - I grow plants outside my tank because I might need them for my next project.

I still hope that they will sell SAE here. lastly I might try cleaning my filter hose with H2O2 solution

 

[Flyfisha]

An option is to have ALL plants in pots or glued to the top edges of the rim. This way all plants can be removed and placed in a tank that has the Siamese algae eaters/ cherry shrimp / clean up crew.

 

[ruud]

I imagine most people see nutrients as a big pie that is divided between algae and plants species. If you have enough plants in your tank, there is less for algae. If this were the case, EI tanks, housing a surplus of nutrients, would suffer algae big time. But they don't.

The relation between algae, nutrients and plants is a little more sophisticated. Algae spores (of larger algae) spread through the water pipes and seem to reproduce when specific environmental cues are sensed. Different algae species are triggered by different cues.

An important cue for BBA seems to be leaf decay. A leaf in decay leaks metabolites and no longer produces anti-pathogens. This offers the cue for BBA spores to set foot. Hence, in high tech planted tanks with abundant nutrients, it is common practice to remove decaying leaves.

 

[Chiasmodon]

An option is to have ALL plants in pots or glued to the top edges of the rim. This way all plants can be removed and placed in a tank that has the Siamese algae eaters/ cherry shrimp / clean up crew.

I will purchase some pots right now, but yes, I dont have a cleanup crew that eat BBA, but I will try dipping the plants to H202 solution or liquid carbon when I remove them.

I imagine most people see nutrients as a big pie that is divided between algae and plants species. If you have enough plants in your tank, there is less for algae. If this were the case, EI tanks, housing a surplus of nutrients, would suffer algae big time. But they don't.

The relation between algae, nutrients and plants is a little more sophisticated. Algae spores (of larger algae) spread through the water pipes and seem to reproduce when specific environmental cues are sensed. Different algae species are triggered by different cues.

An important cue for BBA seems to be leaf decay. A leaf in decay leaks metabolites and no longer produces anti-pathogens. This offers the cue for BBA spores to set foot. Hence, in high tech planted tanks with abundant nutrients, it is common practice to remove decaying leaves.

thanks for the response. My tank is kind of heavily planted and I often let the plant leaves to rot. I will now try to cut the dying leaves off the plants and remove debris.

 

[ruud]

I'm actually a big supporter of debris myself. Nothing but benefits in low tech tanks.

As I said, the relation is sophisticated. Experience tells me that in very low tech conditions, even tanks without mechanical filter, but with abundant plants but minimal nutrients (this includes minimal fish), you can leave decaying plants / leaves in without cueing algae spores. I'm not certain why this happens. The decaying plant matter slowly turns into a carbon and infusoria source, giving back to the tank.

Only direct sunlight during the summer months triggers filamentous green algae in my tanks. Direct sunlight in spring, fall and winter is not a problem. Perhaps an interaction with water temperature plays a role. I've never bothered to research this. I simply block sunlight in the morning from June till August.

 

[dcutl002]

You could try this: Green Water Labs - Algae ControlDefault Title
It is an all organic, plant-based treatment. It may work for you.

 

[ruud]

It says the active ingredient is "organic waste". I have plenty of that in my tanks.

If it is marketed well, people will buy what they allready have, or worse, are throwing away

 

[Chiasmodon]

I'm actually a big supporter of debris myself. Nothing but benefits in low tech tanks.

As I said, the relation is sophisticated. Experience tells me that in very low tech conditions, even tanks without mechanical filter, but with abundant plants but minimal nutrients (this includes minimal fish), you can leave decaying plants / leaves in without cueing algae spores. I'm not certain why this happens. The decaying plant matter slowly turns into a carbon and infusoria source, giving back to the tank.

Only direct sunlight during the summer months triggers filamentous green algae in my tanks. Direct sunlight in spring, fall and winter is not a problem. Perhaps an interaction with water temperature plays a role. I've never bothered to research this. I simply block sunlight in the morning from June till August.

my tank is not under direct sunlight, I might just be my irresponsibility while not knowing the impact of too much waste in water. I might need to reduce the bioload by reducing the number of living organisms in my tanks - I have maybe around 40 shrimps in my tank, isnt that a lot for a 39 gallons?

You could try this: Green Water Labs - Algae ControlDefault Title
It is an all organic, plant-based treatment. It may work for you.

I can't afford this now. I only have 6$ hahaha, but I will when I earn enough money.

 

[dcutl002]

Well, it sounds like you have done some research and are doing everything you can to get rid of it.

It says the active ingredient is "organic waste". I have plenty of that in my tanks.

If it is marketed well, people will buy what they allready have, or worse, are throwing away

Yeah, I get what you’re saying. But there is a saying where I work, “anyone can turn a valve, but knowing which valve to turn and when to turn it is what separates the professional from the novice”. So, I do not know what they mean by organic waste, but the reviews seem to be favorable.

 

[StarGirl]

my tank is not under direct sunlight, I might just be my irresponsibility while not knowing the impact of too much waste in water. I might need to reduce the bioload by reducing the number of living organisms in my tanks - I have maybe around 40 shrimps in my tank, isnt that a lot for a 39 gallons?

I can't afford this now. I only have 6$ hahaha, but I will when I earn enough money.

Im guessing with 6$ Peroxide is your BFF...lol

 

[86 ssinit]

Thing is most of us have bba or spot algae or hair algae. No mater what you do it’s always there. Many different reasons are out there on why you have it. But if you’ve got it lol you’ve got it. For me I’ve tried many things. Uv steralizer, doctors 3 in 1, cherry shrimp, SAE, ottos, api co2 booster, many plants…. Thing is it’s always there! I’ve had great results that went bad over time and things that just did nothing. As I’ve always done I change 50% water weekly with the discus it’s closer to 100% 2x 50%. This and my uv steralizers and SAE are all I use now. My lighting on all tanks are variations of 24/7 lighting. Yes my lights are on most of the day in all tanks (thanks to led lighting). I keep a 15 and a 30g cherry shrimp tanks. Any thing that gets an algae build up goes into these tanks for a few days to weeks for the shrimp to clean. They come out free of algae. But in both tanks there is bba growing! Go figure? Even using the h2o2 you’ll have problems down the line. Spot treating neverworked for me but the dipping did. Thing is after a while it grew back and the more times you dipped the weaker the plants got. So I don’t use it anymore.

Are your shrimp cherry shrimp? If so I had 400 in a 5g without a problem . Didn’t know this till I decided to move them into a 15g. Though I had about 100 in the 5. But they just kept coming out!!!. So my 15 now has a lot and my 36 is rebounding after my bosemani fry ate everything in that tank.

 

[Chiasmodon]

Im guessing with 6$ Peroxide is your BFF...lol

I can buy peroxide with less than 1$ here lol

Thing is most of us have bba or spot algae or hair algae. No mater what you do it’s always there. Many different reasons are out there on why you have it. But if you’ve got it lol you’ve got it. For me I’ve tried many things. Uv steralizer, doctors 3 in 1, cherry shrimp, SAE, ottos, api co2 booster, many plants…. Thing is it’s always there! I’ve had great results that went bad over time and things that just did nothing. As I’ve always done I change 50% water weekly with the discus it’s closer to 100% 2x 50%. This and my uv steralizers and SAE are all I use now. My lighting on all tanks are variations of 24/7 lighting. Yes my lights are on most of the day in all tanks (thanks to led lighting). I keep a 15 and a 30g cherry shrimp tanks. Any thing that gets an algae build up goes into these tanks for a few days to weeks for the shrimp to clean. They come out free of algae. But in both tanks there is bba growing! Go figure? Even using the h2o2 you’ll have problems down the line. Spot treating neverworked for me but the dipping did. Thing is after a while it grew back and the more times you dipped the weaker the plants got. So I don’t use it anymore.

Are your shrimp cherry shrimp? If so I had 400 in a 5g without a problem . Didn’t know this till I decided to move them into a 15g. Though I had about 100 in the 5. But they just kept coming out!!!. So my 15 now has a lot and my 36 is rebounding after my bosemani fry ate everything in that tank.

I dont have cherry shrimps, I've been keeping 3 species of shrimps which includes ghost shrimp, Caridina simoni, and Malaysian rainbow shrimp. Will low grade cherry shrimp eat BBA? lol.

 

[ProudPapa]

I didn't read through all the replies, but I've had good luck using Seachem Excel to combat black beard algae.

 

[86 ssinit]

I don’t know your shrimp but I would think they’d eat it. Yes in an established cherry shrimp tank they will eat all algae off plants and hard scape. But it’s funny because the algae that’s growing in there own tank does take a back seat to the stuff I add. Lol it like the new stuff tastes better .

 

[StarGirl]

I don’t know your shrimp but I would think they’d eat it. Yes in an established cherry shrimp tank they will eat all algae off plants and hard scape. But it’s funny because the algae that’s growing in there own tank does take a back seat to the stuff I add. Lol it like the new stuff tastes better .

None of my shrimp eat it at all. I have neos and amanos. SAE were the only thing that ate it in my tanks. Flag fish are supposed to eat it too Ive seen. I would have to research how aggressive the Flag fish are though before getting any. SAE are big babies.

 

[86 ssinit]

Yes SAE are just great fish. Looks, attitude, and the fact that they’ll swim beith any fish swimming make them great fish! They are in all my tanks!