# [Wet Thumb Forum]-god knows



## asaf (Feb 22, 2003)

hey,
something strange,
don't know what is it, 
doesn't look like an algae,
but it is a dirty white spots very very very hard to remove that sits on the plants' leaves and as the time passes it takes over and make some coat on the leaf and kills it...
even bleach can't take it off, so i need to know how to prevent that stuff.
help!


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## asaf (Feb 22, 2003)

hey,
something strange,
don't know what is it, 
doesn't look like an algae,
but it is a dirty white spots very very very hard to remove that sits on the plants' leaves and as the time passes it takes over and make some coat on the leaf and kills it...
even bleach can't take it off, so i need to know how to prevent that stuff.
help!


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

can you take a picture? is the leaf turning white, or is something white growing on the leaf? a picture would definitely help...









JP


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## asaf (Feb 22, 2003)

sorry....no picture...
but it's something on the leaf,
not the leaf itself...


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## Guest (May 26, 2003)

Sounds like marl deposits. Plants are using the HCO3 (KH) in the water for the Carbon. This leaves the -OH on the outside of the leaf and high pH occurs resulting in Calcium deposits out on the leaf's surface.
Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## captain (May 12, 2006)

Are certain plants more prone to this than others? I have an Anubias with what looks like dirt on it that won't come off.

-Steve
See profile for tank info


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

tom, i learn something every time you speak... talk more!

JP


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## asaf (Feb 22, 2003)

thanks ^
but how do i solve this?!


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

are you adding CO2? from what tom mentioned... it sounds like the plants might be trying to take carbon whever they can... resulting in the -OH product stuck on your plants... if i'm understanding that correctly... if you add a better source of carbon (flourish excel, or CO2) then it should stop stealing so much carbon from HCO3. this is a guess though









JP


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## Guest (May 29, 2003)

Good guesses get full credit.
Regards, 
Tom Barr


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## jpmtotoro (Feb 13, 2003)

full credit eh? lol, only on web forums and multiple choice









JP


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