# Planted Tanks > Fertilisation and Algae >  Monte Carlo Algae Problem

## carcraze

Hi,
Have a problem with algae growing at the lower/inner section of my Monte Carlo carpet. I just did some trimming to shorten my Monte Carlo length. Is there any way to prevent it from algae from happening?

Thanks to all the sifus

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## greenie

Firstly provide the type of algae you encounter. Secondly post image of the algae if you are not sure.

Then we go from there.

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## carcraze

> Firstly provide the type of algae you encounter. Secondly post image of the algae if you are not sure.
> 
> Then we go from there.


I'm guessing it's black bears algae cause those are growing on leaves of my longer stem plants. Here are some pics.



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## greenie

BBA stands for Black Beard algae as the black fuzz looks like a beard.

I use the 1-2 punch chemical attack for BBA. Remove any snails temporarily out.

Items to get :

1. Small syringe.
2. Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) (local pharmacy like Guardian or Watson sells 100ml or 500ml bottle)
3. Seachem Excel

Step 1.
Determine your total water volume. With filters running, add 10ml per 4L tank volume of water direct to tank. So if your tank water volume is 50L then add (50/4) x 10ml Hydrogen peroxide = 125ml. Let it run for at least 12 hours. Important to calculate the water volume minus the hardscape and substrate to prevent overdosing.

Step 2.
50% water change after 12-24hrs. Do vacuum your substrate, nook and cranny of any debris, mulm and waste.

Step 3.
At 50% tank level, stop your water circulation. Make sure water is still as possible before using a syringe to spot squirt any visible BBA you can find like pipes, stones or wood. Wait for 5 mins for the Excel to further weakened and destroy any surviving BBA from the H2O2 dosing before running back your filter/pump. The Excel also is good source of carbon for your plants anyways but don't over dose, spot treat sparingly.

Step 4.
Fill up your tank, add any necessary additives eg anti-chlorine and observe for 2 to 3 days. BBA should turn red follow by grey or whitish. Yamato shrimp will eat the dead BBA.

Please note that you need to constantly monitor your fishes and critters for any signs of stress, remove them if necessary. Most scaleless fish like Cory and Oto don't handle well with this treatment but mine seems able to tolerate and survive the ordeal. For shrimps, they usually would start doing laps after laps in the tank if stressed. I had 1 CRS turn turtle during 1 episode of me using the 1-2 punch but recovered after a few hours.

Reintroduce your snails in 2-3 days. Good luck.

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## carcraze

Thanks for the advise Greenie. A question though, doesn't Zebra and Spotted snails eat BBA?

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## greenie

Almost nothing eats bba. Sometimes when there's really no food, they might graze on it.

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## greenie

But don't bet on them. BBA grows faster than any snails can eat. Unless the nuked bba, even SAE will gobble them up.

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## carcraze

Lol! Thanks. Now I have to find Seachem Excel during CB

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## greenie

If you stay west side, LFS at C328 are open for business. In fact, just bought a bottle from Polyart yesterday.

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## carcraze

> If you stay west side, LFS at C328 are open for business. In fact, just bought a bottle from Polyart yesterday.


Thanks!!

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## carcraze

> BBA stands for Black Beard algae as the black fuzz looks like a beard.
> 
> I use the 1-2 punch chemical attack for BBA. Remove any snails temporarily out.
> 
> Items to get :
> 
> 1. Small syringe.
> 2. Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) (local pharmacy like Guardian or Watson sells 100ml or 500ml bottle)
> 3. Seachem Excel
> ...


Do I need to repeat this step? If yes how frequent?

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## greenie

Shouldn't be anytime soon, if done with the correct dosage.

And as long as you don't accidentally reintroduce the BBA through fishes or plants that is not properly quarantined before adding to your tank, your tank will remain BBA free.

I will always shy away from LFS that have BBA in their display tank as I deem all their tanks are already BBA infested. But if a particular plant or fish that I'm looking for is only available at that shop, I will still purchase it and then proper quarantine procedure will be done before adding to tank.

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## greenie

In fact thinking of it, ALL plants and animals bought will go through quarantine procedure before adding to my tank, not only those I suspect with BBA.

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## carcraze

> In fact thinking of it, ALL plants and animals bought will go through quarantine procedure before adding to my tank, not only those I suspect with BBA.


What kind of quarantine procedure do you do? I recently bought some Crypts from a LFS. No visible BBA but it's hard to locate spores. I didn't quarantine it too 

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## greenie

Simplest method I used is using bleach. Yes, ordinary bleach. Not the coloured or scented ones.
19 part water to 1 part bleach. I soak or dip plants depend on type. Hardy ones like Nana on rocks I just soak the entire thing in the solution for 30mins. Rinse and dechlorinate in a container. 
Then using a fresh container of water, I soak the plants in high doses of Seachem Excel. For the second step some plants cannot tolerate the high dose of Excel and will melt, not necessary actually and sort of overkill. But I will do it for hardy plants especially those tied to rocks or wood.
Plants grown in gel media like from Tropica, can skip this as it is assure to be algae and pest free.

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## carcraze

> Simplest method I used is using bleach. Yes, ordinary bleach. Not the coloured or scented ones.
> 19 part water to 1 part bleach. I soak or dip plants depend on type. Hardy ones like Nana on rocks I just soak the entire thing in the solution for 30mins. Rinse and dechlorinate in a container. 
> Then using a fresh container of water, I soak the plants in high doses of Seachem Excel. For the second step some plants cannot tolerate the high dose of Excel and will melt, not necessary actually and sort of overkill. But I will do it for hardy plants especially those tied to rocks or wood.
> Plants grown in gel media like from Tropica, can skip this as it is assure to be algae and pest free.


Thanks Greenie

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## greenie

For fishes, please don't use bleach! Instead quarantine in separate container and add meds to kill any diseases like ich.
Just note that many hobbyist tend to kill their fishes during the quarantine period due to over dosing of meds or putting different meds all at once.
BBA spores could be brought over from the water when the fishes are pack, so I step is I will add the H2O2 and Excel method during this phase too. Sounds a lot of work but you will thank yourself from future headaches.

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## carcraze

> For fishes, please don't use bleach! Instead quarantine in separate container and add meds to kill any diseases like ich.
> Just note that many hobbyist tend to kill their fishes during the quarantine period due to over dosing of meds or putting different meds all at once.
> BBA spores could be brought over from the water when the fishes are pack, so I step is I will add the H2O2 and Excel method during this phase too. Sounds a lot of work but you will thank yourself from future headaches.


For fishes, do I mix the H2O2 + Excel 50/50 ratio and spray into the quarantine water?

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## carcraze

> BBA stands for Black Beard algae as the black fuzz looks like a beard.
> 
> I use the 1-2 punch chemical attack for BBA. Remove any snails temporarily out.
> 
> Items to get :
> 
> 1. Small syringe.
> 2. Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) (local pharmacy like Guardian or Watson sells 100ml or 500ml bottle)
> 3. Seachem Excel
> ...


I'm starting this treatment tomorrow. Was wondering how much squirts of Excel can I use for the Step 3?

Do I wash my filter clean before I start this treatment? 

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## carcraze

> BBA stands for Black Beard algae as the black fuzz looks like a beard.
> 
> I use the 1-2 punch chemical attack for BBA. Remove any snails temporarily out.
> 
> Items to get :
> 
> 1. Small syringe.
> 2. Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) (local pharmacy like Guardian or Watson sells 100ml or 500ml bottle)
> 3. Seachem Excel
> ...


@greenie thanks for the advise. Managed to get most of the BBA and Hair Algae turned whitish. A few casualties along the way too, but lucky not many.

After changing 50% water today, the smell of the water condition is stronger than usual. I'm not sure what it smells like, maybe fishy smell, but definitely today I noticed it than before.

Is this normal?

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## greenie

In a few days time, more BBA will turn whitish. I associate fishy smelling water due to dead stuff in your water. 

From beneficial bacteria, bba and other critters residing in your tank and filter dead, rotting or dying. 

Just monitor ammonia levels and do appropriate water changes. Vacuum the subsrate to remove mulm and detritus and the smell should clear. Just remember, H2O2 destroys not only BBA but also bacteria. Beneficial bacteria should bounces back. I suggest reduce feedings to bare minimum to allow Beneficial bacteria to slowly populate.

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## greenie

For fish quarantine, I treat with aquarium salt and heater set to 30C 24/7. Airstone at full blast. Feed them sparingly with frozen bloodworm and clear their poo as much as I can.
I change water daily and will add epsom salt to purge their digestive tract. If any other disease pop up, then I treat it with the proper meds. I stop the salt treatment but continue with the heater and airstone.

Normally I keep it this way for 10-14days. On the last day I add H202 to the quarantine to kill BBA if any. 

Also by then, the fishes should be strong enough to endure the effects of H2O2. But you cannot do H2O2 for scaleless fish like Corydoras or Otocinculus. They seem to not tolerate it as other fish species.

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## carcraze

> In a few days time, more BBA will turn whitish. I associate fishy smelling water due to dead stuff in your water. 
> 
> From beneficial bacteria, bba and other critters residing in your tank and filter dead, rotting or dying. 
> 
> Just monitor ammonia levels and do appropriate water changes. Vacuum the subsrate to remove mulm and detritus and the smell should clear. Just remember, H2O2 destroys not only BBA but also bacteria. Beneficial bacteria should bounces back. I suggest reduce feedings to bare minimum to allow Beneficial bacteria to slowly populate.


@greenie Thanks for the advise. I woke up this morning and the aquarium water turned whitish and blurry. My fishes are all ok and the heavy smell have disappeared. Just the water is whitish... Any thoughts what this is? 

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## greenie

This is expected. This bacterial bloom due to mass dead matter in the tank. You may have knocked out your beneficial bacteria. It will recover though.

Just remember the dosage used for H2O2 and Excel and slightly reduce the amount if used next time. Though the water looks unslightly, once your good bacteria in your filter repopulate, it will clear up.

You can assist in the recovery by monitoring ammonia levels and do water changes if necessary as your tank filter is going through a mini cycling. Since you have fishes and critters inside your tank, it is necessary to do water changes if ammonia levels gets toxic for them. Secondly, just add a airstone to oxygenate the water because the bacterial bloom also consume oxygen. No need to blast, just enough that you don't gassed out your CO2. It also aid in the recovery of your filter aerobic bacteria.

Importantly no drastic changes in water parameter change unless sudden spike of ammonia that is detrimental to your fauna.

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## carcraze

Thank you for your advise. Will follow accordingly. The good part is at least the smell is gone. I added good bacteria to speed up the process too

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## carcraze

@greenie most of my MC has turned white and my Repens are dropping leaves and looks like rotting at the ends.

Is this normal after H2O2 treatment?

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## carcraze

Image of my MC

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## greenie

BBA infested leaves and weakened HC will melt. You might have dose a tad too much on either the H2O2 or Excel or both. Yamato shrimps and snails will eat them but most of the whitish leaf will melt and add ammonia to your tank water. Just do WC if ammonia spikes.

You may end up with bald patches, but it will recover. This is better than tearing the whole tank and sanitizing everything and start from scratch. In a week or two new leaves should emerge and slowly recover. Just maintain same water parameter.

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## carcraze

> BBA infested leaves and weakened HC will melt. You might have dose a tad too much on either the H2O2 or Excel or both. Yamato shrimps and snails will eat them but most of the whitish leaf will melt and add ammonia to your tank water. Just do WC if ammonia spikes.
> 
> You may end up with bald patches, but it will recover. This is better than tearing the whole tank and sanitizing everything and start from scratch. In a week or two new leaves should emerge and slowly recover. Just maintain same water parameter.


, a lot to look out for

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## greenie

This the aftermath. Like I said just keep it simple. Maintain water parameter as the same as possible, no unnecessary sudden changes.

BBA infestation is a losing battle for aquarist. Sooner or later nuking is the only option.

Patience is key.

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## carcraze

Thanks for the advise!

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## carcraze

Know what this is? The small white egg like spots, next to the bright green algae

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## carcraze

@greenie Sifu, do you know what this is? Don't have it before I did the hydrogen peroxide treatment. It grows till beneath my soil

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## greenie

That is BGA. Blue Green Algae. It's a the cyanobacteria. Meaning it's an algae and also bacteria. Suck away the BGA and treat those places you cannot totally remove with H2O2 spot treatment. It grows at spots with little to no water flow. Remember just spot treatment. Due to the mass melting of MC, BGA is taking advantage. If left alone it will cover all your plants.

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## carcraze

@greenie I need some help. I reset my tank about a week ago. The only thing that was recycled from old tank was the fishes and tank. Rest are new including filter. After resetting the tank, after about a week, algae started again on all screens. 

I did WC after I reset for about 3x during the course of the week. I didn't see any algae hence didn't scrub the screens. The last WC I did was bse I could see algae on the screens hence I scrubbed it. The next day, algae is back again.

I've been dosing Excel and keeping my co2 injection low or none. I increased my Excel dose yesterday than prescribed on the bottle. 

Is this normal for algae to keep growing on screens so aggressively?

Help!!  :Sad: 

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## greenie

Hi,

"on screens" meaning on side glass of tanks? 

Is it the BGA like on your last pic? 

Do you reuse your substrate? 

Help to answer these for me so that I may offer my advice.

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## carcraze

> Hi,
> 
> "on screens" meaning on side glass of tanks? 
> 
> Is it the BGA like on your last pic? 
> 
> Do you reuse your substrate? 
> 
> Help to answer these for me so that I may offer my advice.


@greenie yes all screens means all 4 glasses of the tank.

no, I changed substrate. Everything is new except for my fishes. I used some Excel in the tank that I used when I reset the tank. 

It looks like BGA, but I can't really tell. Here's a pic. When I reset the tank, I used H2O2 to clean the whole tank. Poured hot water into the new drift wood and rocks. Planted new TC plants. Only my Crypts are potted, which are about 3-4 stalks only. New cannister filter. 

To date, I've changed water 6-7 times, including 2 WC that I scrubbed the screens. Water was also cloudy like this until my last WC yesterday.

During my first scrubbing WC, I added H2O2 10ml to my 10-12 gallon tank. Waited 1 hr before water change. But the cloudy water wasn't from this doing.

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