I have this black hair algae

[B-bayarea]

I have a 55 gal freshwater tank. I have semi-agressive fish. I have over my live plants this black hair algae. its also on my plexiglass tank. I would like a fish or something that would eat the stuff.

[coral reefer]

Do you have Plecostomus in your tank? They are good at eating algae since that is their main diet!

[mattgeezer]

pulmonate or apple snails will do the trick , bristle nose catfish will too but they grow huge

[B-bayarea]

yes i have a Plecostomus but it wont eat this type of black hair algae. my only concern with using snails is that thier population would explode.

[B-bayarea]

I also want to make sure they wont eat my plants

[mattgeezer]

bristl nose cat fish there cool and they clean up the tank ..they grow big though ..keeper for years

[B-bayarea]

I added some alde deystroyer and covered the tank with a blanket during the daytime. I also limited the light to just 4 or 5 hours a day. Its worked good so far

[jaidexl]

Crossocheilus siamensis and Jordanella floridae are a few of the only fish known to eat BBA. Alternatively you could attack it where it hurts, BBA thrives in low CO2, so manually removing infected leaves along with turning off air stones, lowering surface agitation, dosing Flourish excel, and setting up DIY CO2 will all work in your favor, and your plants will greatly appreciate all of that. IME, fish only keep it knocked down, but you'll never get rid of it without making the tank a less hospitable place for it. Alternatively, you could spot treat it with 1mm squirts of Flourish excel, this will kill it in short time, some people use a daily double overdose of Excel in the water column for about 2 weeks, but many are turning to the spot treatment as it is less wasteful and less likely to cause problems with livestock.