I was about to comment that none of those bba issues are on level with mine until I saw the bba garden. That’s gotta be on level with mine and I bow down to it

Great video and very helpful tips. Here is my advice for BBA. 1) BBA seems to thrive with fluctuating CO2. Even with tanks not injecting CO2, CO2 naturally builds up when the lights are off for 3-4 hours. Long photo periods in low-tech tanks might fluctuate CO2 levels more because the CO2 is used up by the plants in the first couple hours that the lights are on, then the rest of the photo period there is no CO2 for aquarium plants. Solution: add injected CO2 and keep it consistent or think about a siesta period in between photo period of at least 3-4 hours. I only keep low tech. BBA is only in the one tank I do not use siesta. 2) BBA seems to thrive in high phosphate. Solution: invest in phosphate remover, but beware that plants need phosphate to grow so there is a fine line. Experiment. 3) BBA grows in areas/tanks with high waste organics: dead/decaying leaves, unhealthy plant growth, stagnant areas where fish waste accumulates, dirty/uncleaned sponges and filter material/media. Solution to this is to increase cleaning, removing any dead and decaying leaves, fertilize any plant deficiencies (this means learning the signs of different deficiencies), vacuum up any accumulated waste, removing 'dead spots' in the aquarium by improving flow and filling in any gaps where waste accumulates. 4) BBA likes to grow on hardscape that receives a lot of flow or no flow at all relative to the rest of the tank, sometimes both. Solution: adjust the flow and place it in an area that is not diffused by hardscape, ensure proper water movement around hardscape. Sometimes dense plant growth can effect the flow and this can be a problem in the future. Add more circulation pumps if necessary. 5) light period and light intensity relative to plant growth. If plants aren't growing fast, blasting them with light and long periods will just grow more algae. Experiment with decreasing intensity and decreasing photo period. I have limited my BBA growth by decreasing to 8 hour photo period and dimming my light. And one general rule on algae: algae seems to grow best in warm water. Anything over 75 Fahrenheit, 23/24 Celsius will grow algae faster. keep it between 72-75 F for best plant to algae growth. This means choose fish that can thrive at this temperature if the aquascape is what you want to show off rather than the fish. I keep fish first, plants second, so I get algae and I'm ok with that. Everyone's priorities are different. Hope this was helpful to someone. Thank you MJ. Take care.

This series is gonna be so nice! Love your content keep it up please

Hey MJ, I’m Sam the second aquascaper, thanks for including my aquascape and giving some advice. You was right about MD Fish Tanks, it’s heavily based on one of his and I totally agree with all ur advice so I might look at getting a cleanup crew, Thanks 🙏 Sam

Great start to your series. I would definitely like to see more of these. Very informative.

Excellent clip, useful and interesting. Just keep going !

This is amazing mate. People you reviewed the tanks feel heared and helped and others can see more examples of diferent issues and learn from other experiances... Kudos to you, mate!

This is really helpful. Thanks for taking the time to do this.

Good series, this helps hit a bunch of issues others might have with their tanks. Thanks for all the good info MJ

love this video, great tips, can't wait till the next video! this will be an epic series!

Great vid brother 👌🏼 definitely do more

Awesome video! Thanks for doing this MJ! I’m Emil, the owner of the aquarium at 17:00. Really apreciate your feedback on how to tackle the green thread algae issue. I was pondering buying some floating plants, but kept avoiding it because I was worried about blocking any light from the ADA aquasky rgb. You’re absolutely right though, it’s a really powerful / non dimmable light, so tomorrow i’m adding some floating plants in there. Hope most of us following this series will get through our algae issues and maybe even get to inspire a new series on aquariums that recovered/won the algae battles :).

Dope series! This helps out sooooo many people. Would love to see more:)

This is an absolutely fantastic idea for a video I love this and look forward to next episode well done 👍

This is a great segment I don't feel so alone now knowing so many new aquascapers are struggling as well, thanks you all for sharing with mark and with us, all, can't wait for the next instalment :)

Love this style of video so helpful

I really like this format, keep it up!

This is super cool! It would also be awesome to review some beautiful subscriber aquascapes, kinda like an aquascaping version of Chris on fish for thought's fish tank review

This was great! Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Very helpfull video ,keep them coming

Thank you. This definitely helped give me some knowledge into my own algae issues in my tank. I appreciate the diagnosing with explanations and solutions.

Awesome video, I love this style of video and all your content.

Great video once again, the last tank was mine and im relieved to hear it is probably just a startup issue. I will get some clithon snails for sure! Keep it up :)

Yes please do more videos as I’m also going to start doing my first time planting in my aquarium. I will most definitely like to learn how to treat my algae in my aquarium when I get started. Please keep posting these videos.

i love this video, thx for sharing your expertise, pls do more like those 🐟😀

Hey MJ…..seeing everyone’s tank situations was really informative. I like this type of vid format with your valuable commentary. I think this helps everyone in one way or another so…keep them coming. Knowledge is power. I wish my beginning tanks looked this good as the beginners when I first started. Cheers, 🏄🏼‍♂️

Me encantan estos videos! Se aprende un montón! Sigue haciéndolos! Gracias! 👏👏

To the person at 15:00 - try putting your diffuser in the tank away from the inlet. I used to do the same and it lead to algae issues. After moving the diffuser, CO2 spread more evenly. I think putting it through the filter causes uneven CO2 levels and thus algae.

great video MJ

Yes. More review from you would definitely allow more room space for us to learn. Thanks MJ.

Great video! Best regards from Brazil!

Late to the party, but I really loved that video. Super helpful and educating. It's much easier to understand what to do when seeing the algae and recommendations together!

this series is awesome

Yes do more please! My issues haven't been seen yet

Would love to see something like this extended outside of algae problems. Maybe including plant deficiencies?

This was a very helpful video. I do not use CO2 but I am battling with BBA. I have adjusted my lighting and that seems to be helping. Thank you for all of your help and for those who comment with helpful tips.

Mark this is excellent, interesting that the more impressive tanks often have CO2 fluctuation BBA issues.

So upset I couldnt submit the tank photos ! you are such an inspiration to me

Great video. Greetings from Brazil!

Nice video! I had problems with algaes too. Problem was the fertilizer, I cut the use month ago, and it’s better now.

You are gifted, indeed. Please do more reactions, whatever the topic might be. Greetings from Germany

at 13.53 with the bubbles, what he might want to do is only turn that filter on after the c02 cycle is over. Can be very good for the plants to get rid of that oxygen fast over night, AWESOME vid as always!

Much appreciated video, there are so many different types of algae, it's quite difficult to identify them, especially as a beginner... :)

Love this series! On the first timer's tank.. I notice what looks like plecos on the filter intake valve in the picture. Could be the algae is living and spreading from there as well. Maybe have him start a small tank remotely and put in new cycled media in the filter?

Already loving this series! If I ever see hair algae, I'll probably just restart cause I can never seem to get rid of them on hair grass.

Yes am doing the filter next to the co2 diffuser too. And yes it works . You avoid the annoying bubbles everywhere 😅

Thanks, really enjoyed the video.

Awesome video! Hope to see more of these. What are your thoughts on EI dosing? I currently dose dry salts according to EI recommendations, but I am curious about reducing the macros to see if it helps with algae. Thanks for all of your great content!

This is a great section for people. Obviously you are going to get to the point where it's repetitive all the time, but great none the less. I just learned yesterday that diatoms aren't always just dust like, as you mention in the first tank of this video.

Great video and a great channel. I was going to post a pic of my aquarium thats 5mths old. There wasn't a link but there's zero algea.

Great video, very informative hope you continue with them. Btw was nice to see you recently in a video from aquaddicted, would be great to see a collaboration with them. 😊

As I previously said in the beginning. Weekly or monthly series of this please !

Hello MJ, this is Akshay the guy with the Corner Tank, cheers for featuring it on the video. As for the Co2, I had it setup before BBA took over the hard scape(I’m assuming this could be because of high phosphate?), I had also been treating with liquid carbon before I had setup the pressurised CO2. Thank you for your honest comments and advice I really appreciate it! Akshay

Definitely do more

Hello, this video is beneficial and informative.

agree with MJ Aquascaping about this 19:21 issue...my experience lot of nutrient waste in water column because of slow growing plant can't take the nutrient the solution fast growing plant or stem plant help a lot about this issue...

Nice suggestions

Hi MJ. Siva from malaysia .Good job bro. Keep it up. Always follow your videos for my guidelines. Managed to get rid 3 of 4 types of algae issue. Almost quit this hobby.Now only try to Green spot algae.

Very thank You🙏🙏

Roy's tank, fantastic, but I would test for Nitrate and Phosphate and as you suggest cut down on water column fertilisation, but I would recommend some Rowa in the filter to mop up excess Phosphate in the water column. Suggest you Mark are right that the tank might be getting a bit too much direct sunlight.

This is really helpful..

Hey Mark-Jan, thanks for reviewing the aquarium I send in. It was mine starting at 9.18. I will definitely buy a c02 drop checker after this. The BBA is luckily gone. I also put 3 big blankets above the plastic bags while doing the blackout. So it was completly dark and gone after 1 week. Maybe some better cleaning of dead leaves/the green hair algae. My only concern is how I remove the green hair algae from the hardscape. The hardscape is completly grown in and I can't remove it. Really good video again!

Good advice. Suggest, tank two, yes dosing is too heavy, but has an Oase internal, small amount of filter medium, output too close to surface. Lower the filter and add hornwort and stop dosing, test the water for Nitrate. However, I would buy a filter with much more room for filter material.

Oh wow, I'm so glad I watched this one. I have been using an internal filter blowing air bubbles, I thought the air bubbles were good for gas exchange, but I have lots of plants and they are covered with algae. I never knew the air bubbles could be part of the problem. I suppose the air bubbles are great in unplanted tanks. I still have so much to learn.

That was great. I've been keeping low tech aquaecapes for almost ten. years now and I still really appreciated watching you give advice on these different aquariums.

Hey MJ! I took out the stones and gave them an acid wash. BBA is gone, but now the rocks look too clean and unnatural. Hopefully they get a matured look in a month or two. Thanks for reviewing my scape!

Good content

Good of you to provide this one-on-one advice, I’m sure it has been useful for lots of people. My struggle has always been whether a good quality light for short periods is better than a budget light for longer periods. Which is better?

Great video 👍 keep them coming that style was good but it's the same advice for most setups. I don't use Co2 on my tanks. I have a 5 gallon cherry shrimp and a 15 gallon nano tank with amano and ottos Cory's neon and a couple of temporary mollies. I'm constantly struggling with one type of algae or another, I don't like using liquid carbon in my shrimp tank I'll usually lose a couple when treating. Iv had bad experience with hydrogen peroxide where my plants melted way back and though I was going to lose them. I tried a siamese algae eater it did a good job on the algae but would eat my hygrophila compact and bullied all it's tank makes and maybe the tank was not big enough so I returned it. Any suggestions iv added floaters tried reducing light and liquid fertilizer. I have tropica aquasoil in both .thanks

@Timothy @freshwaterscapes I had algae issues while i have inline CO2. My filter outlet is a glass lilly pipe. My drop checker showed sufficient CO2 but i noticed the bubbles out of the lilly pipe were going straight to the surface. I used a small blow torch to heat de bend and aim the outlet more to the center of my tank. That solved my problem and saved CO2. The same shape is sold ready made as violet pipe.

Great video, would like to see a quick update to any of those tanks that took your recommendation. Did their issues get solved or still on going.

So nice

I really like this sort of video where you are showing real life problems and suggesting ways to remedy it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who watched and identified with one of these scenarios. In my case I have very slow plant growth and hair and BBA infestation despite decent substrate, CO2 injection, regular fertilisation and Fluval Plant lighting. I have my diffuser positioned directly underneath a powerhead to circulate the CO2 rich water round the tank. I also have an airline attached to the powerhead to increase oxygen in the water. It was not until seeing this video that I learned that all these air bubbles are simply gassing the CO2 off just as quick as I'm injecting it. Oh well, live and learn. I've now removed the air line, hopefully things will improve.

Good advice in general, but I wish you wouldn't just advise people to start over. It might be the easiest option but it's the most expensive option and deffo not the only option. I'm a pretty experienced aquascaper and I've rescued many a tank covered in algae. Bringing plants back from the brink is one of the most satisfying feelings. It's proof of your skill and patience, which is what the hobby is all about. Telling people to start over kinda removes the sport of it all.

In the mystery bba tank.. since bba is usually a co2 fluctuation issue.. it might be the flow is causing a fluctuation only in that area. Perhaps he can observe the flow in that spot,it might be an uneven distribution of co2 situation effecting one spot or one side of the tank.

Thank you for the video, much needed information! And nice video angle because we don't see the big shallow :D *spoilers proof*

more pls!

Could you do another one of these sometime?! I've had the same problem in my tank for a long time an I'm banging my head against the wall to fix. 😅 I would absolutely love your imput!!

Balance" is the most important thing we needed to learn , and how to scaper figure out to balance the water parameters and let the plant's and live stock growth healthy ..So all this algae will never have a chances to enter the water environment, prevent which is so much better then curing....

Nice video I hear you frequently speek of inconstant co2 regulators, can you tell witch regulator is good and witch is not I want to buy a co2 system but don’t know for witch price

I was having problems with staghorn and bba, my aquarium store owner sugested that I tested for fosphates. I had an absurd amount, even with 2 30% water changes weekly . I started using some Seachem Purigen, and cutting on the food. It made miracles

I know a lot of people don't like to treat their tank with chemical, but once, I too have an infestation of black beard algae and I'm at my end wits on how to treat this algae. Tried everything on the internet but nothing works. Almost gives up when some one told me to use liquid co2 specifically seachem flourish excel. To surprise those thing works like a charm! Heck it works better as algaecide than as co2 supplement lol. At the right doses it destroy bba no problem. But it also kills jungle vals as well so use it with precautions.

Make more of these

Like Did learn a bit!

Cool 👍

Great video. Why don't more people cap their aquasoil substrate? That should cut back on excess nutrients in the water column.

man @16:55, I think we have all been there, I'm not sure what worse, when i first started I got a questionable regulator and it died and dumped all the co2 into my tank while I was at work, came back to a tank of dead fish only a couple of Cories and my Betta survived, had to put them in another tank and did a couple of Large water changes for a few days, it only gets better now that you have the experience.

Iv been in the planted tank seen for 15 years...top tip spot dose the black beard algea with boiling hot water out of the kettle in a syringe under the water it turns it red straight away exactly the same as excel liquid carbon dose but you are not using chemicals so you can spot dose as much as you like in one go without worrying about killing shrimp and fish . It doesn't work on green hair algea I wish it did. Lol 😃....lee

Leuke serie

I have an idea, Maybe opposite to this lets make "most Beautiful " tank series? ( ; some people for sure would be proud and want to share their tanks. Just some filtering will be needed to Separate the wheat from the chaff. :p

I've been waiting for this actually. I have a blue green algae problem. Even after the rescape. I use a fine sponge in my external filter. I clean it as much as I can. Aquascape Definitely cycled. What should I do?

Keep up the good work mark 💪 hopefully you continue this series😁

Hi, i have a juwel lido 120 with standard light, but i don't get my plants to grow, i inject diy co2, dropchecker is nice and green, 2.5 ml liquit fertelicer a every 2 day's and i have a dirt botom with gravel over it, and the light is on from 14.00 till 21.00

Bigger aquariums are generally easier as they have a bigger water volume creating a bigger buffer.

Patrick's algae garden is pretty heheheh

DO THIS MORE OFTEN PLZ WE LOVE THIS TYPE OF VIDEOS

I had BGA in my tank. It wouldn't go even after blackouts, so i tried using antibiotics. Erythromycin worked for me, it hasn't come back since. Using antibiotics does cause harm to beneficial bacteria, my tank was cloudy for a few days after treatment. I changed the water (70%) and kept adding beneficial bacterial suspension, and the system soon stablilized. I do not instist using this method, because this can go wrong, just saying that it worked for me and could help others if they are battling BGM.

Tip for people who use vallisneria. I only found out when I had a lot of algea when using this plant and asked the shopkeeper for tips. He said, when you trim vallisneria, the plant actually releases a sugar substance which algea loves! And when you add fertilizer (ground or liquid) you basically keep the algea alive untill the next trim. So the cycle continues. It's OK to use vallisneria in a very big tank, but would not recommend it for under 100 liters. Never had a problem with algea anymore once I removed the vallisneria.

Hello MJ My aquascape lot of space is taken by the hardscape so i would end up with lesser plants quantity comparatively but the best suggestion by you has been to start heavily with plants. Please suggest what i should do to avoid algaw isssues. This is a new aquascape, hardscape is nearly done righ now in dark start stage. I will add plants in couple of weeks Thanks Viky

Anyone know what that shelving unit behind MJ is and if it’s something one could purchase? Looking for something like it as I’m running out of room for tanks and there are so many ideas I must try😂 thanks in advance