cuda

The largest of my three tanks (46 gal) is a 2 year old planted community tank of live bearers that I encourage to breed. The beautiful, crystal clear water is R/O, consequently the pH is low but I don't usually treat this. The fish are happy and breeding, so I leave well enough alone. I also have a mature plecostomus that lives under a log.

Lately, despite the clear water, I have green/black algae growing on the gravel, ornaments and log. It starts out green and rapidly turns black. It is very dense and incredibly hard to remove. I am scooping out and replacing gravel alot and have resorted to scraping a couple of the ornaments. The black stuff returns very quickly. It has not affected any live plants until a few weeks ago when a few main stems started to darken. It appears worse at the front of the tank, almost none at the back wall.

I also have a faint growth of green algea on the walls of the tank, but the water has never looked green and my mollies love to eat it.

I am looking for help on getting rid of the black stuff. I am attaching a picture (I think).

Thanks
Cuda

Attached Images

DSCN2249.JPG (161.9 KB, 50 views)

Tony G.

i cant quite remember the name of it, but it is the toughest algae to remove... it starts with a c.... i think lol

Welcome to FIshlore by the way

cuda

Thanks, that's a start.

Here's a better picture.

C

Attached Images

DSCN2260.JPG (932.9 KB, 47 views)

mathas

The second picture looks like black brush/beard algae, which is rather difficult to remove. I had some success with targeted Flourish Excel overdoses, and I've heard siamese algae eaters will eat it.

Do the pictures at the following links look similar to what you see in your tank?

http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
http://plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=9
http://www.gwapa.org/articles/algae/#blackbrush