FIX THIS TANK! Fighting Black Beard Algae in a high light CO2-injected aquarium with heavy stock

Рет қаралды 17,766

StephenP2003 Awkwardics

Күн бұрын

Sure, CO2 and high light can transform a planted aquarium into a beautiful enviable display, but it's not the easy button for a perfect aquascape. This video discusses fighting black beard algae and the perils of trying to keep a high-tech planted tank with heavy stock. The higher you go with the lighting and CO2, the more sensitive your plants become -- making one small change can throw everything out of balance and have you scrambling to fix one problem after another. Such is the case in my 40-breeder planted tank with lots of fat rainbowfish, and a mix of easy, medium, and hard difficulty plants requiring different levels of light. This is the first of at least two videos to chronicle the fight against this sudden influx in black beard algae
#Aquascape #Algae #aquariums
0:00 Intro
0:32 Identifying the Plants
1:18 The Algae Problem
1:29 The Role of CO2 and Light
2:05 The Secret of Fancy Aquascape
3:00 Finding a Balance
3:25 Causes of Black Beard Algae
5:30 Plan of Attack

Пікірлер: 44

@iainballantine1115 Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the video. How did the treatment go and how is the tank now?

@StephenP2003 Жыл бұрын

The treatment went well. It took about 3 months of regular maintenance and treatment, plus aggressively trimming leaves that were too far gone to save, to get the tank back to normal. Staying on top of maintenance thereafter was extremely important. In the past few months, the tank has been rescaped and new plants are growing in, but I will be revealing that new scape as soon as possible.

@josepolanco1228 2 ай бұрын

Gorgeous tank. Subscribed to your channel saw you live with Mexicali

@thebipolarfishkeeper 2 жыл бұрын

That is still an amazing looking tank, algae or not! I love how you have so many different plants in there.

@mariaz9538 2 жыл бұрын

Absolutely beautiful tank! I have a bba issue that pops up in my discus tank seasonally because it is near a sliding glass door (too much light and over feeding) I added a little more flow, cut my feedings and bought 2 SAEs so far so good. Loved the tutorial 👍🏻

@CJBlack265 2 жыл бұрын

Oh yeah! This is an excellent video!! Really well done - thanks Stephen 💕💕👍

@arachnophilegrrl 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks for this Stephen. Your timing is perfect. I am dealing with a small outbreak in my favorite tank right now. This will help me get on top of it, hopefully. 😁

@sandyfarrell6894 2 жыл бұрын

Beautiful tank. Thanks for sharing!

@Aquafinity 2 жыл бұрын

Great video Stephen! Loved the tutorial!.

@Craig.catfish 2 жыл бұрын

Great vid Stephen

@jenn.u 2 жыл бұрын

Super helpful video! Thank you!

@GreggsPlantedTanks 2 жыл бұрын

Great video, can’t wait to see the progress. I also have leaned to accept some algae in all of my tanks.

@manestailsfurandfins 2 жыл бұрын

I wish I had your talent Stephen, You and Jenna are awesome and make great content. Keep up the Great Work , Love watching everything you put out.

@StephenP2003 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks so much!

@davefarrell5912 2 жыл бұрын

Beautiful tank super informative video thanks for sharing 👍

@SkullAquatics 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome Video !!

@DidisFINDen 2 жыл бұрын

Nice Stephenp. Always love your teachings as my lil brain can absorb and understand how you explain things. Thanks for this video.

@StephenP2003 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks Didi!

@atkinsnatureaquariums3552 2 жыл бұрын

Awesome video, BBA is a pain but with regular maintenance like you said it should go away soon. Good luck!

@fbingforever 2 жыл бұрын

Great video dude, very entertaining. keep going like this and your channel will go big! :)

@StephenP2003 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you! 🙂

@S0004 2 жыл бұрын

Nice video,I’m sure someone will be able to utilize it. mukulikai seem to be doing great as well

@BwizzleAquatics 2 жыл бұрын

Damn o rings. Messing with them on swimming pool air leaks all the time

@MridulSinghMusic 2 жыл бұрын

Very useful video Stephen, I'm dealing with BBA as well, using your methods (it gets easier, trust me). Your Ludwigia inclinata is looking quite healthy! Mine was thriving for months until recently; all of it's gone LOL I was lazy with the trimming of surrounding plants and it got shaded to nonexistence. Looking forward to part two!

@StephenP2003 2 жыл бұрын

Thanks! Yes, this inclinata is just waiting for me to mess up one day and let it get shaded, then poof it'll be gone. Did you see the pathetic bits of super red in there? No? Exactly. :(

@MridulSinghMusic 2 жыл бұрын

@@StephenP2003 LOL! Yeah it doesn’t want to get red until you blast it with light, but the growing of the plant is the hardest part, worry about the coloration later. Just keep it out of the shade!

@kelleyforeman 2 жыл бұрын

I wholeheartedly agree with these approaches, #notsteffen. My four-pronged approach to almost every algae situation is 1. Mechanically remove what you can. 2. Scrupulous maintenance 3. Reduce the lights a bit. 4. Get the CO2 dialed in. For those following along at home, I almost never bother with tweaking up my ferts or changing the spectra of my lights. It’s not near as important as the other things. Your tank will turn it around in time! In the meantime, though, where did you get those scissors? I need those for mowing my hair grass and Monte Carlo!

@StephenP2003 2 жыл бұрын

I got those scissors from my LFS. They are made by Aquavitro, the seachem hoity toity aquascaper brand that is reserved for mom and pop shops. And yes, they are the best lawnmower scissors ever! I agree, ferts are not the problem here. Purely my neglect of crap and the stupid leaky O-ring!

@MridulSinghMusic 2 жыл бұрын

Kelley indeed! And those scissors: they look like the Seachem brick and mortar brand (can't remember what they call themselves), you can only get them in stores though. A similar alternative can be found on Amazon, although they're not as long or high quality.

@kelleyforeman 2 жыл бұрын

@@MridulSinghMusic well, crud!! I almost never go to a brick and mortar store of any quality. Next time I do, I’ll get some.

@kelleyforeman 2 жыл бұрын

@@StephenP2003 I’ll be on the lookout for those scissors! Since I don’t have many stems, lawn mowing is about the only trimming I do these days. Edit-looks like the nearest store to me that has those is 2 hours away. Lame!

@MridulSinghMusic 2 жыл бұрын

@@kelleyforeman These aren't the same quality as the ones in Stephen's video, but if you search up double curved scissors on amazon, you get some decently curved scissors that do the job :) They should do if you can't get to an LFS for a while

@somedude2455 2 жыл бұрын

Thank you Stephen! This was great timing as I also have a high tech 40g breeder battling bba. I’ve been spot treating with h202 but the other tips help. Why do you turn the filter off when dosing h202?

@StephenP2003 2 жыл бұрын

I turn off the filter because I want to spot treat and don't want the current sending it all around the tank. Spot treating allows it to sit there for a few minutes and gas off harmlessly. There's a method called the "one-two punch" which involves using flow to send hydrogen peroxide all around the tank, but that method uses 4x the amount of peroxide per gallon that I'm using, and you would need to remove your filter media or use a powerhead if you intend to go that route, because a bunch of hydrogen peroxide will harm/kill your beneficial bacteria. I'm going with a slower method to bring as little harm/stress to the fish as possible. The algae didn't appear overnight, so there's no reason for me to bomb the tank to get results overnight.

@somedude2455 2 жыл бұрын

@@StephenP2003 Thank you for the help

@richardmaccarthy101 2 жыл бұрын

Two 3.0!!! You beast. What % (ish) do you run them at?

@StephenP2003 2 жыл бұрын

100% is the peak for a few hours. Some of the plants need it, so generally I just tweak the amount of time it stays at peak. I'm leaving the lighting alone for now and starting with the cleanup and water changes as the means of prevention. If that doesn't work, I'll tackle lighting as the next variable.

@richardmaccarthy101 2 жыл бұрын

@@StephenP2003 Nice! I have 1 on a 20 gallon, so I guess I'm not much better...I'm starting slow though, still around 60%, haven't set up pro mode yet... the plants though, they did so appreciate the upgrade!

@dustinfleetwood7167 7 ай бұрын

Thanks for the upload. Can I use 30% hydrogen peroxide for spot treatment, if I just use less?

@StephenP2003 7 ай бұрын

I've never tried this, but I wouldn't recommend it. At that concentration it's extremely dangerously corrosive. Theoretically it would be instantly diluted in the tank water, but definitely not something I would "officially" endorse because mishandling it could literally kill you.