UV Filter for my tank??

[2daysFishIsTroutALaCreme]

We are having a major problem with blackbeard algae. We have tried to combat it with liquid carbon and have changed our light cycle but to no avail.

We are going to do a full tank clean, boil the rocks and bogwood and treat with neat liquid 02 (the only thing that has seemed to make a difference so far), change the substrate and buy all new plants. We are doing this to hopefully eradicate all bba spores so we can basically start again.

DH has been looking into UV filters to try to help with the issue. He has read lots on the internet and it seems to be quite positive in combatting algae. Has anyone got one and are they any good? He was thinking of adding it to our filter after we have done the tank clean.

FTR tank 240ltr, external filter, water parameters all good apart from phosphate which we have a reading of 2 in our tap water.

Thanks all

I wouldn't recommend starting again. The problem will come up again add the tank matures. Every tank I've had has gone through a BBA stage and it's a pain but you can combat it. How many other plants do you have? What is your lighting routine?

The tank is a year old. We have a number of plants. Will see if i can post a photo.

We have the lights on from 7 to 11am then 4 to 8 pm.

What else can i try? Thanks btw

Not a great pic

That's a great looking tank.

Your lighting period sounds ideal. Does the tank get any indirect light between these times? What type of bulbs are you using? Are they Juwel T5s? If so you might want to look at the spectrum of light. I found improvement when I swapped half the bulbs from Bright Day to Nature.

Combating algae is frustrating and is about balancing three things: light, nutrients, CO2. As you already have phosphates in the water you might want to focus on that as it will occur time and time again if those phosphates aren't being used up. You can either resort to chemically mopping up the excess phosphates, use RO water, or you can load the tank with more plants to compete.

Check your water circulation. BBA thrives in poor circulation areas.

Keep dosing EasyCarbo daily, and spot treating with a pippette (30min filter off) if you're already doing that. Do you use a plant fertiliser?

I battled BBA for about 8 months before I got it under control. I still have it but it's in isolated spots.

Thank you, i love it.

To answer, yes, we have T5s so will look to swap one to nature as we have bright day for both. The tank is in a dark corner of the living room and does not get any direct sunshine.

I tried clearmax filter medias for the phosphates but didn't notice any different. Am always happy to put more plants in though. They grow well in my tank especially with the daily triple dose of CO2.

We have a spray bar to circulate the tank which seems to work well. The bba is not restricted to any area. It has infested the entire tank!!

I am going to spot treat the rocks and bog wood again. And just persevere i guess.

If you have no plants growing on the rocks and bogwood you could remove them and soak them in a concentrated bath of liquid carbon. That should bleach the BBA and it'll turn bright red/pink and die.

If you aren't adverse to shrimp, Amano shrimp are quite good at picking algae off surfaces. They won't cure it but do help in the battle.

Good luck. I know what a pain it is to deal with.

not sure what liquid carbon is, but a you and fish safe bleach is Hydrogen peroxide