# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Black hairs



## Carson (Apr 16, 2003)

I've started noticing a black hair like algae growing on one of my plants. (Only on one plant).
Can anyone tell me alittle bit about my strange tank invader. Furry plants aren't part of my plantscaping plans.
thanks


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## Carson (Apr 16, 2003)

I've started noticing a black hair like algae growing on one of my plants. (Only on one plant).
Can anyone tell me alittle bit about my strange tank invader. Furry plants aren't part of my plantscaping plans.
thanks


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

does it look like black beard algae? (check the algae section, has pictures of plants) if it's only affecting one plant, try to trim the leaves if possible to stem the spread... unless it is past that stage. any more info would be great. such as... type of tank, lighting, plants, fertilizers, CO2, etc etc. when we know what you have, we can help you out a little more









JP


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## Carson (Apr 16, 2003)

The tank is 55 gallons
1-4' Titon, 1-4' 6500 daylight, 2-18 tropical suns. No CO2 
55 oz Laterite
Flourish every other day
only about 5 swords and a water hedge??? 
I'm very new to plants so I'm really not sure of plant type.


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

YAY welcome to the wonderful world of algae. i'm gonna spell out your learning curve for you...

first, you're gonna cuss because you got algae. then you're gonna cuss because you can't get rid of it. then you're gonna cuss becaues you get another type of algae. then you're gonna cuss that some of your plants died. then you're gonna cuss for the heck of it and buy ferts for your tank and experiment with dosings. after failing the first few exeriments and creating MORE algae, you will cuss heartily. FINALLY one day your fertilization will be good and your algae will be gone, your plants will be green, your water will be clear and you will be happy once more... until your credit card bill comes in and you cuss at the cost to fix your problem.









ok now down to the real stuff... read the algae page, try to find out what it looks like... you might want to buy some test kits so you know your water quality. most likely you are low in some micro or macro nutrient and the algae is starting to grow. you may want to take care of this sooner than later. i waited until later... i cussed... expensive fix trying to save all my plants and keep my algae under control. finally all worked out. also, isn't 55 ounces itty bitty for a 55 gallon? maybe i'm wrong... just doesn't seem like much... swords are heavy root feeders, so if they don't have much below them, you'll probably run into an issue. i couldn't get mine to grow well in my normal gravel, but after swapping flourite in, they doubled in size in a few short weeks. anyway, keep us posted. the more you give us, the more we can help you.

JP


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## Carson (Apr 16, 2003)

I thought that 55 oz of laterite seemed alittle light also, but that's what the box said.
I have more ordered in case I want to try adding more. My tank was already set up so I froze it in ice cubes and stuffed it in during a water change. 
I'll be going from 2 wpg to 3 wpg in a day or so. I realize I'm not going to have a jungle in the tank but short of starting over, I've got what I've got.
I'm going to order a assortment pack of fast growing,easy to grow plants. I've read you need to plant alittle heavy to out compete the algea. Any suggestions on test kits that might help? I already have the master PH, Amonia, Nitrite, gh, kh, etc. I don't know if Co2 would benefit me alot or not. The thing is, I work for a fire protecion company and have access to CO2, Tanks, etc. It would be ashame not to take advantage. Any comments about my situation. Thanks.


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## Vicki (Jan 31, 2003)

Not only will CO2 benefit you, it will become an absolute necessity when you go to 3 wpg. In order to have healthy, growing plants, you need to provide enough light, enough CO2 and enough macro and micro nutrients; if you have that much light, your plants will not have enough CO2 to photosynthesize at the rate you're encouraging them to unless you inject additional CO2. Your best bet is to set up the CO2 first, THEN increase your light--you'll avoid giving the algae a head start that way. The black hairy algae you have starting should just be pruned out; remove the affected leaves. As for the laterite--55 oz. is just right for a 55 gallon. Laterite is an amendment, not a substrate in itself, and one ounce per gallon is plenty. Interesting idea about the ice cubes, by the way! And you're on the right track ordering some fast growers; the heavier your initial planting, the better all your plants will do and the less algae you'll have. Good luck!

http://www.wheelpost.com


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

yay CO2! but yes, algae will go away when you add CO2 (or excel at least) and the right ferts. as for test kits, GH, KH, nitrates (or nitrogen), phosphorous, ammonia, and PH. i think those are the main ones. potassium and iron if you feel like it... but you can usually use your plants as indicators for those. nitrogen and phosphorous are 2 big algae creators, so if you're not set right, you'll get algae, not plant growth.

vicki - how thick of a layer of laterite should there be? going by gallons isn't the best since some tanks are tall, some short, etc. i don't use any, probably never will, but would be good to know. it sounds like a very small amount, so i would like to know more about it. thanks!









JP


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## LaZZ (Jun 2, 2003)

I have the same problem. My tank is 120 x 50 x 50 and I have 3 TL's for the light..

I got CO2 and still I got black algae on some plants.. (Sorry for my english.. I hope you guys understand what I'm saying).

My water has the following properties:

PH: 6,8
KH: 6
GH: 9
NO: 0

Think those are all good.. Don't know what's wrong.


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Welcome to the board LaZZ

Plants need NO3(nitrate), that's definitely your problem if you have none!


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## LaZZ (Jun 2, 2003)

My test said NO2, and that was zero but that's a good thing cause it's poisenous for the fish... But when the NO3 is my problem.. what could I do about it...

My plants grow fine but accept the last 5 or 6 leaves there starts to come some very dark green algae on it, it's almost black which doesn't look to good in my opnion. It's not on every plant, just on some of them.. the rest is growing fine.


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## LaZZ (Jun 2, 2003)

Hmmz.. I thought that was a good thing because NO is toxic (whatever) for my fishes...

I tested NO2 by the way.. don't no in what way it's related with the NO3.


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## ekim (Jan 31, 2004)

Do you have a NO3(nitrAte) test kit?
NO3 should be 5-10ppm!

What ferts are you adding?


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

in a normal tank, you don't want no2 or no3, but in planted tanks... you want a little no3 so the plants can grow. if you don't have plants (normal tank) no3 will lead to algae, that's why you reduce it to 0.









JP


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## LaZZ (Jun 2, 2003)

Well..then ít's a bad thing cause my tank is planted for about 80%. How can I increase the NO2 and NO3?

Just leave some dead peaces of plants in my aquarium or do I have to buy something (what?) to increase the level of NO3 in my tank.


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

you don't want NO2, just NO3. nitrites (no2) will still be very very low in a cycled tank, so don't worry about that. NO3 (nitrates) are what you really want. the plants will pull the nitrogen from that and use it. you can:

1) dose something like KNO3 (potassium nitrate)

2) dose something like flourish nitrogen

fish will add some nitrates... but not enough. in a higher growth tank, you'll want to add nitrates somehow. hydroponics stores usually care KNO3 i think, but i dose flourish so i don't really know. most others dose KNO3, both are ok.

JP

PS plants also use a little bit of iron, potassium, and phosphorous. you'll need to look at fertilizing all of those as well. in addition, there are "trace" minerals to dose as well. personally i use the flourish line because they carry just about everything you need, but it's a bit more expensive. you can buy compounds to dose the other stuff (except for iron and traces i think). go read the fertilizer section... welcome to the biggest pain in freshwater planted tanks... fertilizing!


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## LaZZ (Jun 2, 2003)

Hmmz.. The problem is that I'm living in Holland so much of the stuff which is available there can't I buy here.. But I'm gonna look voor KNO3 today..


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

ask rex what he doses. james H as well. they know more options than i do. they will also be able to tell you WHERE to find the stuff you need. sorry i can't help you any more than that









JP


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## LaZZ (Jun 2, 2003)

I found it at an opthacaire.. It's real cheap stuff.. €3,00 for 1 kilogram









I heard I had to dose about 1/4 to 1/8 teaspoon every day, so in the beginning I will add 1.4 cause I tested my water and the NO3 level was 0. I will test my water regularly and see what's the best option.


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