# What is this? Algae?



## kanvas (May 1, 2010)

I have this black stuff growing every where in my tank on rocks, woods, plants, plastic. It grow on fast growing plants, slow growing plants, no growing plants (yes, I have some plastic in there, now take a deep breath, calm down and continue reading, please) and everything in between. The only place that it doesn't grow is on gravel and fish . Doesn't grow too fast but it keep growing at a fairly constant rate. :yell:

It sticks on pretty hard, and can only be removed by tooth brush with lots of elbow grease, which mean it's not removable from plant leaves. It has a dark brown almost black and sometime with a hint of red. As you see, I have both SAE and nerites in there, but they don't seem to help much. out:

Tank Stat:

* 55 gal semi-heavy stocked.
* Fish is fed with flake and blood worm daily (I don't think I overfeed)
* 2x54wT5HO at about 6" from surface and is "dimmed" with dirty glass covers.
* Medium planted
* Pressured CO2 at close to 20ppm (result from drop checker)
* EI dosing (3/4tsp KNO3, 1/8tsp KH2PO4, 1/8tsp K2SO4 every other day, 1/8tsp CSM+B every other day, 1/2 MgSO4.7H2O/week)
* Very soft tap water.
* Water change: 60% on Sat and depend on schedule 10% on Wed.

What is this? Algae? something else?


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

It looks like green-spot algae to me, only not green and not necessarily in "spots". Definitely an algae though. I've had this before as well but it eventually stopped coming around.

How old is your set-up? This may just be a temporary adjustment period for your tank. Also, you may consider planting more heavily, or reducing your ferts slightly until your plants fill in more.


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi kanvas,

The first picture looks like Green Spot Algae (GSA) on the leaves.
The second picture looks like Black Brush Algae (BBA) on the stones in the background.
The third picture could be GSA but might be diatoms (Brown Algae).
The four picture looks like a nice fat Siamese Algae Eater! LOL.

You didn't mention how long your photoperiod is, how long do you leave your lights on? More live plants would help out-compete the algae for nutrients and light.

Here are a couple of places I go with I need to research algae issues.
Jame's Planted Tank
APC Algaefinder


----------



## kanvas (May 1, 2010)

My photo hour is 8-10,11-4,5-7. So that's 9 hrs
I got a bunch of green spots, that's for sure. What I can't figure out is the black stuff. Like those on the pebbles/pea gravels in the SEA picture. The gravel's original color is yellowish tan, now they are covered with that black tar thing. 
The setup as a whole is about 1.5 years old. But I just recently added the t5ho + CO2 (about 1.5 months). I think the new light triggers the green spot run away, however, I've had that back stuff since as long as I can remember.


----------



## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi kanvas,

The third picture also has some Blue Green algae (BGA) lurking at the base of the stem area.

I have two tanks with T5 Power Compact at about 2 WPG and I do a split period as well. I run about 7:30 - 10:00 and 6:30 - 10:00 for a total of 6 hours. You might want to try backing down the photoperiod a few hours and see what happens after a week or two.

Green spot algae may be caused by low phosphate levels although based on your dosing levels I would not expect that in your tank.


----------



## kanvas (May 1, 2010)

My SAEs used to do a decent job of keeping the algae in check when they were young, now they (seemingly) just sit and wait for flake and worms.:-k

I added a hand full of duckweed to my tank to shade part of it some what today.
Do you think adding a bunch more plants will help? What kind? I guess some fast growing stems?


----------



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

kanvas said:


> My SAEs used to do a decent job of keeping the algae in check when they were young, now they (seemingly) just sit and wait for flake and worms.:-k
> 
> I added a hand full of duckweed to my tank to shade part of it some what today.
> Do you think adding a bunch more plants will help? What kind? I guess some fast growing stems?


Yep, you have to keep them hungry for the algae once they get a little older. Fish food tastes better. 

The duckweed will help if the fish don't eat it first. Fast growing stems are always a great choice for taking up nutrients in the water.


----------



## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

The black spots are in the red algae family and is a form of BBA.
Adding MgSO4, more nitrate, more circulation and more CO2 will help.D.2. RODOPHYTA SP. 2



>>>FROM MCI algae thread>>>>>
D.2. RODOPHYTA SP. 2
This algae is related to a complex imbalance where where there is too much Ca in relation to Mg and there is an excess of Fe too.

1. Use the Kno3 generic protocol plus: 
2. add just over the algae with syringe without needle 10 ml/25 gallon of hydrogen peroxide once a day. Excell can be use too, 4 time the recommended doze.
3. In future, you should add 1/3 of the Fe you were using.
4. In future, change the Ca:mg ratio. Please read the fertilizing chapter about Ca:Mg.


----------



## kanvas (May 1, 2010)

Newt said:


> The black spots are in the red algae family and is a form of BBA.
> Adding MgSO4, more nitrate, more circulation and more CO2 will help.D.2. RODOPHYTA SP. 2
> 
> >>>FROM MCI algae thread>>>>>
> ...


Thanks for the advises. I'll put some more MgSo4 and decrease the trace and see how things go. There isn't much i can do about Ca since I'm not even dosing any Ca to begin with and there's anu obvious Ca source in my tank.


----------

