# Substrate black algae



## karidofski (Mar 16, 2005)

I have black algae on substrate and on slow growth plants like anubias.
What is causing this?
I check my nitrate (5ppm), phosphate (0,5ppm), ph (7.0), nitrite (0) and general hardness (12) almost every day. Lighting is medium.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Do you use CO2 or Excel? A lot of folks have found bba goes away with increased carbon amount. SAE's will also munch on it.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Some more info would help us to help you better:

Tank size
Type of lights and watts
Heavily planted?
KH level
Current fertilization including CO2 if any

It sounds like Black Brush Algae (BBA) growth of which can be stopped by increasing the concentration of CO2...


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## Simpte 27 (Jul 16, 2004)

Increased CO2, Nitrate and some Flourish Excel erradicated it from my tank with no reaapearance.


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## karidofski (Mar 16, 2005)

heavily planted,80 watt ,kh 6,kno3 (7drops),po4 (2 drops) ,fe3 (6 drops),pmdd(6 drops),trace elements (5drops) daily.co2 (80 bubbles /minute)


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Your CO2 concentration is 18mg/l. Try to get it up to 30mg/l on a consistent basis. This will stop growth of BBA but will not remove what already exists; this needs to be removed manually.

I'm not sure what your different drops mean in terms of amounts of ferts added, but I would separate the addition of PO4 and the Fe by a couple of hours. There is always a risk of them combining and becoming unavailable to plants (FePO4).

How big of a tank is that 80w of light on top of?


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## karidofski (Mar 16, 2005)

About 80 litres.Thank you for your help!


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Ok, light is good.

First you need to get your CO2 up to 30mg/l.

Once you do that, I would suggest getting your NO3 up into the 10-20mg/l range and raise your PO4 up to 1-2mg/l.

I would also double check your test kits. Either have your LFS test some of your water or test against a known concentration solution.

Hope that helps!


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