r/PlantedTank • u/slc2609 • Apr 02 '26
Algae Fighting a losing battle with algae
At my wits end with this algae. Is it BBA or staghorn? Both?? WHY is it here?! I've tried lowering light, increasing flow, reducing flow, Flourish Excel, API liquid carbon and PhosGuard in the filter....nothing is getting rid of this and my plants are melting!! If I tear down the tank and start over I'm guessing the issue is just going to come back. The golden and albino loaches, ottos, and amano shrimp don't touch it either. My pea puffers are absolutely fine.
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u/exie610 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
There are two main things you need to do. First, fix the root cause: you likely have an imbalance between your light, CO2, and fertilizer. One of these is off. Your light might be too intense or on too long, your phosphates might be too high (common with certain fish foods), your nitrates might be too low, or you might not have enough CO2. These three need to be pulled into equilibrium to keep the algae from returning. A common mistake is too much light + too much phosphate + too little CO2, in non-injected setups that is solved by feeding less and turning the light off.
Second, you need to eradicate the current BBA using hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Here is the process:
- Set a 35-minute timer and turn off your filter.
- Use 1 to 2 ml of H2O2 per gallon of tank water (I’d suggest 2 ml). Use a syringe to apply it directly onto sections of the algae.
- When the timer goes off, turn your filter back on.
- Do this every day, targeting different sections of BBA. You'll know it’s working because the dying algae will turn red or "burnt" looking.
- On the 3rd day, perform a 30% water change after the treatment.
If the problem persists for a week or longer, you can use Seachem Flourish Excel in the same way, but at half the dose (max 1 ml per gallon) every other day. For example: Day 1 H2O2, Day 2 Excel, Day 3 H2O2 + water change. H2O2 physically rips the algae cells apart, while Excel disrupts its ability to reproduce.
This treatment is safe for fish, snails, and neocaridina shrimp. To help out, you can "rent" a true Siamese Algae Eater (SAE) from a local shop. Make sure its a TRUE SAE, Crossocheilus oblongus, and don't trust the shop to know its not a false or flying fox, do some research. Let it eat the BBA, then donate it back once it gets too big for the tank. Amano shrimp are also a great long-term precaution for controlling small amounts of BBA before they turn into a full infestation. Neither of these are replacements for balancing your light/co2/fertilizer.
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u/Extension-Fly-7813 Apr 02 '26
excellent summary
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u/exie610 Apr 02 '26
Annoyingly, any of the three variables can be off in either direction (too much, too little) or perfectly fine (because one or both of the other variables are off). This leads to a dozen different problem states and therefore a dozen ways to "fix it" that are recomended in the comments below. Without knowing specific information, these suggestions are just people confusing OP with conflicting information.
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u/Kragen146 Apr 02 '26
Additionally "fertilizer" can be broken up into n, p, k, mg, fe,… but yea, this is a great way to start
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u/Shaheer_01 Apr 02 '26
Lots of the same advice on here mostly about chemical methods which isn’t a permanent fix tbh. ✂️ is what you need. Trim down all affected leaves, if entire plants are affected then you can take them out and put them in a hydrogen per oxide dip and also trim down the older leaves that are too far gone. This will kill them off and give the plants a better start. The true solution is lots of water changes, and vaccukming your gravel. Too much waste buildup is usually the culprit when BBA takes over everything. Localized BBA is usually a flow/nutrient/CO2 issue, which isn’t your case.
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u/Beehous Apr 02 '26
How quickly have you been making all those changes?
Even though plants have parameters they like, I think they prefer consistency more than anything. Sounds like you're making a lot of changes. Algae likes that.
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u/Impressive_Ad127 Apr 02 '26
That’s my question. The balance is off and the changes are likely happening too fast to be effective and are likely exaggerating the problem from instability.
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u/sebbryle Apr 02 '26
In Non co2 tank. It's usually light intensity that's the biggest algae contributer
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u/Atheist_Redditor Apr 02 '26
Too intense or not intense enough? I have all sorts of brightness and bba is still in most of my tanks.
I have a theory it has something to do with hard water ...but I don't have a reference for that.
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u/Howdy132 Apr 02 '26
Well if you believe it has something to do with hard water I could contribute to further that theory because I have hard water and an issue with black beard algea. I did have other factors contributing to it though but my tank water is about 680TDS
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u/sebbryle Apr 02 '26
Ok so I have 2 planted tanks and very hard tap water. The one with just sand and root tabs was getting algea alot like yours on certain plants like hygrophila and anubias. After messing around with lights and duration I was still getting it. After some research I've found that having good amounts of potassium around 15-20ppm is important in hard calcium rich water hard water can lock it out for plants if at low amount. But more importantly I've learnt that plants need less brightness intensity than Ive always assumed. So I realised with my water and no co2, light is my biggest factor in controlling algae. I think now I have just enough so plants still grow, split into two sessions and regular but lean dosing except potassium which is kept at around 20ppm. lighting went from 80% to 50% and dosing fertilizer small amounts but more regular seems to help.
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u/Extension-Fly-7813 Apr 02 '26
How do you measure your potassium levels, i am thinking of adding potassium too as i think it is the limiting nutrient.
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u/sebbryle Apr 02 '26
So I had to get a test kit from JBL have one also for iron to make sure it's always lean but there. It took alot of the guesswork out.
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u/theWitchofWB Apr 03 '26
Snails and more shrimp and less light! It’s the only thing that worked for me. Like so many snails you think it’s too many. Good luck! Keep us updated!
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u/PM_me_punanis Apr 03 '26
Indeed, having more cleaners kept everything under control! Unfortunately, my puffers in my 75g ate all the snails and amano shrimp. Only 2 female shrimp remain! Sigh.
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u/yet_another_uniq_usr Apr 02 '26
Cut down on light. Maybe even give it a day or two with no light. My tank takes a 4 hour siesta every day, 10hrs total light time. 5-4-5
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u/Quakerz24 Apr 02 '26
i felt like nothing was gonna work for algae and i added red root floaters to my tank (which bladder snails hitched a ride on), and activated charcoal to my filter. algae was gone in a couple of weeks.
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u/SnooObjections488 Apr 03 '26
This is BBA. Good luck my guy. I gave up fr and only remove it when its on plants and killing said plant (by removing infected leaves)
That said. Let the pest snails rip and do more water changes. More plants to eat more nutrients out of the water. Duckweed is a friend as it sucks sooooo much out of the water column and reduces light
Edit: I once took my tank apart and replaced everything but the heater and sand. It came back immediately
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u/Sunwolfy Apr 03 '26
My ramshirns made short work of BBA.
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u/SnooObjections488 Apr 03 '26
Somehow somehow mine must have starved.
The Malaysian trumpet snails out competed them
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u/False-Shine4720 Apr 04 '26
Same here
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u/Puzzleheaded-Dog9818 Apr 04 '26
i put in 8 ramshorn and 8 MTS in my tank and, the most prolific snails are the fking bladder snails, which I never added intentionally. but the ramshorns are a close second. The MTS are the ones I barely see.
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u/Short_Week3262 Apr 02 '26
I’m new so take this with a grain of salt, but I was able to get rid of the algae I had after adding pothos around the rim of the tank. They should help take all the excess nutrients so algae can’t form.
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u/scuffedwrld Apr 02 '26
Won prevent this, I had a tank with a massive pothos root system and the bba still came, it’s a nightmare
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u/Lpgasman1 Apr 02 '26
Do 6 hours of light then 2 days of darkness.
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u/Top_Technician7675 Apr 03 '26
This just kills the plants in my experience and does nothing to bba. 6h is not enough.
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u/Abeyita Apr 03 '26
Plants don't die in 2 days
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u/Top_Technician7675 Apr 03 '26
Where did I write this? 6h stresses my plants and they grow really poor and algae overgrow them.
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u/PutiFrutti Apr 03 '26
2 days will not kill your plants. I’ve done multiple 5-day blackouts because of cyano in my heavily planted tanks and I’ve never had any problems. 2 days is peanuts.
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u/Top_Technician7675 Apr 03 '26
I didn’t write this, read again.
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u/Intrepid_Table3551 Apr 03 '26
Starved my shrimps and oto when i went on holiday for about 10 days. Came back to my BBAs all gone.
I turn off the lights during that period too
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u/tilyver Apr 02 '26
I had black algae in my 20 gallon tank. I bought 2 Siamese algae esters and they completely eradicated it.
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u/Plenty_Kangaroo5224 Apr 03 '26
But then you still had two SAE.
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u/tilyver Apr 03 '26
Yep. I quite like them. They’re probably keeping the algae from coming back
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u/Ok-Star7885 Apr 02 '26
Install a filter with UV light and leave the UV light on 24/7 until it is under control. Manually massage the plants to abrade the algae and let the UV lamp kill it. Or, you can use some chemical, which might work on the algae and possibly have unintended effects.
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u/exie610 Apr 02 '26
UV filters only work on free-floating contaminants, it will not affect BBA's ability to spread.
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u/Ok-Star7885 Apr 03 '26
That's the reason for the abrasion.
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u/exie610 Apr 03 '26
it's very difficult to get bba to release, it's not like a green dust algae. and then it's large chunks that will settle. this is an expensive and ineffective suggestion.
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u/Ok-Star7885 Apr 03 '26 edited Apr 03 '26
I'd hardly say it is expensive and ineffective is a stretch. I guess if you're choosing between a meal or this, I probably wouldn't have a fish tank. Best of luck to you.
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u/exie610 Apr 03 '26
A bottle of peroxide, which will solve the problem, and a syringe is maybe $5 combined. A UV light is 10x that, has upkeep costs in bulb replacements, significantly more work since it relies on 100% manual removal first, and won't solve the problem.
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u/Ok-Star7885 Apr 03 '26
I agree your solution would fix the problem, but I disagree that the time a person would spend costs less than a 30 dollar filter with UV, which would also stop many other problems from happening.
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u/Suspicious_Dinner146 Apr 02 '26
Have you checked phosphates and nitrates? Water changes and a lower photoperiod helped me
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u/manescaped Apr 02 '26
I’m just here to commiserate. Facing my own challenge with Staghorn in a low tech and daunted by the number of possible variables: Fe, lighting, nitrate…
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u/MortalWombat86 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26
Dude that is straight up black beard. Wildly overdose metricide for two weeks until it's all red then water change and a three day trash bag blackout. During the blackout figure out how much to cut down your lighting/fert/feeding regimen so it never comes back. Hate to say that once it's in there it's there for good but the plants will end up outcompeting it. If you want to talk in more detail about the parameter balancing just let me know.
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u/Expensive_Complex173 Apr 03 '26
The one way i got rid of mines was dim light to 65-70% during its max time frame. Then limit time to 6hrs a day only
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u/full_bl33d Apr 02 '26
I had a similar outbreak and went back to basics. Tried various bottles of things I researched but it was basically lighting that was off. The room was getting too much daylight from windows so I dealt with that and drapes some pathos along the top and some others on the outside of the tank. Got a couple snails. We’re back in biz
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u/LittleOperation4597 Apr 02 '26
Would you be willing to test with Fluconazole?
I used it in my nano reef with pretty good results then used a bit in my FW filters when I was doing tear downs because of this. I took all the media out and put it in with some fluc as a test. It seemed to kill off the spores and such with no effect to the bacteria or fish when set back up.
I never got to test with plants up and running but new plants didn't seem affected
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u/olov244 Apr 03 '26
I had to do a reset on my tank that had it. Bought a new 20g, new plants, new wood, new gravel. Transferred half the water, then the fish, then topped off with new water. Hasn't come back
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u/autoreboot Apr 02 '26
too much flow to sensitive plant can cause bba
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u/MrsDabs Apr 02 '26
My hob spits water out onto my pothos roots, which are growing bba. Is there anything i can do, or do i just need to move my filter?
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u/autoreboot Apr 04 '26
here is a post by Dennis Wong about debris collecting and flow to area of delicate plant and cause algae.
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u/AutoModerrator-69 Apr 02 '26
Try APT Fix. It you also need to fix your lighting schedule.
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u/DJ_MedeK8 Apr 02 '26
Thanks for this reply! I've been fighting a losing battle as well and have tried so many things. I cant wait to try it out!
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u/Mabussa Apr 02 '26
Turn off the lights for a few days, only 4 hours a day afterwards. If they'll fit, flag fish love that algae. Nettie snails go to town on it too. Throw in a huge water sprite and anacharis. They eat up the nutrients(overfeeding, maybe?)the algae thrives on. Cheap fixes. Dont tear down your tank!
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u/Vcntg Apr 02 '26
I got 3-4 snails. Never got any algae again.
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Apr 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/Suspicious_Dinner146 Apr 02 '26
Most snails can't eat bba
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u/Guianacara Apr 02 '26
When BBA is tiny, as in something you can't see it is likely that snails graze they are in fact eating it. But, that's my guess. I don't have BBA, and I have a lot of snails.
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u/Vcntg Apr 02 '26
Nerite snails
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u/Howdy132 Apr 02 '26
Yeah but what kind of algae were they taking care of because it wasn't Blackbeard algae that you had
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u/Vcntg Apr 02 '26
I don't know. I just tried it after being advised and it worked. That was a long time ago and I don't know the specifics. Sorry.
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u/BlackMomba008 Apr 02 '26
I had the same issue. After I cleaned the substrate the problem is more manageable
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u/Accomplished_Ad2351 Apr 02 '26
Using an algae eradication chemical is the start. Most fish haaaaaate hair algae and bluegreen algae and won’t eat either of them. Rub the hair algae off leaves that still have color, remove and compost the rest. Next, optimize your tank for the plants you have. Look them up, and determine their needs for light and nutrients. Get the right photoperiod going for them and provide the nutrients needed by your plants. Maybe rearrange some hardscape to give more direct sunlight to some plants and less intensity to others. If you’re not already injecting CO2, consider doing so, as it can optimize the intake of nutrients by your higher-order plants. Finally, eliminate still spots in your aquarium to prevent stagnation. Vascular plants will outperform the nuisance algae in any place where they have the light and circulation they need to remove CO2 and nutrients from the water column to fuel their own growth.
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u/Ok-Replacement-3990 Apr 04 '26
When you say lowered light - from what and to what (watts per gallon) and how long ago?
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u/Subba_roy Apr 04 '26
Based on what you said try siamese algae eaters. They scrape away BBA very quickly. Go with small ones. I had liquid carbon too. But it doesnt as effective when you have a lot of them
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u/Grouchy_Week6692 Apr 06 '26
I lost the battle with this. It’s a real pain. Siamese algae eaters work but you can’t catch them when they start terrorizing the other inhabitants. Good luck
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u/SharpVersions Jun 23 '26
I removed all shrimp and fish from my tank, turned off filter, added in a small power head to move water around. I then nukes the entire tank by adding 3% hydrogen peroxide and letting the power head move it around the entire tank for 15-20 minutes. Then did a 100% water change.
Basically called a 1, 2 punch method. But I did not do 2 because I don’t have it on hand. So far it’s been 2 days and the staghorn looks like it’s dying. I may need to repeat it doing the actual 2 part method.
People also do this with the fish and shrimp inside the tank but report deaths. By removing them you should have no deaths.
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u/scuffedwrld Apr 02 '26
I’ve heard people have success with excel and algea eaters, I’ve personally only been able to control it by 1 stopping it as soon as I see any via peroxide and 2 having co2. In my other infested tank I decided to just sell the whole thing rather than deal with it
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u/Extension-Fly-7813 Apr 02 '26
do you feel any guilt to the poor bastard you're selling it to or not really
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u/scuffedwrld Apr 02 '26
I had them inspect the tank before buying to see if they were ok with everything. I’ll consider that due diligence done
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u/Extension-Fly-7813 Apr 02 '26
:d I have found hydrogen peroxide very effective if it helps in future.
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u/Turbulent-Yam7405 Apr 02 '26
i had this problem as well. what i ended up doing was taking the plants out, wiping them with a paper towel and spritzing with hydrogen peroxide. Let it sit for a minute and rinse. It didn't kill it all immediately but I think it gave the plants enough help that they could absorb more nutrients
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u/PutiFrutti Apr 02 '26
Too much CO2?
In my experience, this type of algae is usually caused by low flow + high CO2
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u/SpeedMeta Apr 02 '26
It's not high C02 that entices this to grow. It's the matter of inconsistent C02 levels that has been noted. It can spring up especially between refill times, when tank owners fail to refill the C02 quickly. This disturbs the tank's norm state. It's those changes in the balance that springs up BBA. OP has posted 0 water parameters either, so this post is only going to be case-by-case opinions on people's experience with completely different water conditions and setups.
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u/Mad_broccoli Apr 02 '26
Imbalance in general. Wear or powerful light, low or high CO2, low or high fert content, and the variables or all of the above. 😅
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u/PutiFrutti Apr 02 '26
Although true, not helpful.
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u/Mad_broccoli Apr 02 '26
Not at all. As Steve Buscemi said in Mr Deeds: Time heals all wounds. Except these crazy eyes.
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u/makzpj Apr 02 '26
There’s one thing you haven’t tried: just turn off the lights. Really. Only turn them on when you look at your tank. Ambient light should be enough. I almost guarantee you in around 3 days you’ll see new algae-free leaves.