Black fuzz stuff

Grimmjow

Any idea what this could be?
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Fishin Pole

its black beard algae.........supposedly it come from an unstable level of CO2 in your tank............google it to be sure, but thats what it looks like to me

Angel079

Yup, black beard algae..... to better help ya determine what's specifically causing it in your tank:
How long has the tank been running?
What lights (watts) do you use and how long are they on?
What's your stocking and gallon?
What filter do you use and how much/ how often do you do water exchanges?

stephanieleah

I have that on one of my plants, too...I got the plants from my friend's tank. Once it got into my tank it started going away (luckily it didn't spread!). I think my friend doesn't do frequent water changes (monthly I think) so if an unstable CO2 is the case...maybe all his fish waste is causing excess. I'm going to google it as well.

The one good article I found said that it's hard to get rid of and suggested picking off the leaves or scraping it off with a credit card (and watch for it on gravel). I am going to go out on a limb and suggest a couple of things:

1. "siesta" put your lights down for nap during the day for a few hours, mid-day. The rationale for this on a previous thread was that algae photosynthesis takes 4+ hours to start so if you do lights out after 4 hours, then put them back on a couple hours later, the algae photosynthesis process has to start over.

2. If you only have a couple of infected plants (blackbeard tends to like the wider leaf plants, and it's only on my Java Fern so far), you can try bleaching them. Here is how I bleached my brown algae without compromising the health of my plants (or fish):

I prepared three bowls: one with a 1:20 concentration of bleach:water. Bowl #2 had clean treated tap water. Bowl #3 had clean treated tap water.

I pulled out my infected plants and put them, leaves only (not roots) into the bleach water. Left it dunked in there for about 3-5 minutes. Took it out, rinsed it thoroughly in bowl #2, then dried with paper towels. Rinsed thoroughly in bowl #3, then paper towel dried again. I would even say use 4 bowls if you are doing lots of plants.

It's a risk, but I think if you rinse off the bleach thoroughly with treated water, it should be okay.

WisFish

I had this too. it went away when I upped the light from less than 1 watt per gallon to just short of 2 watts per gallon. I also started using Excel. I think if you just start adding Excel every day for a couple of weeks it will go away.

Angel079

I'd wanna bet my rear that what killed it is the Excel rather then the light change cause black beard algae doesn't like the add carbon. And with daily excel dose you're providing a steady supply. Increased water circulation also helps.

stephanieleah

I have been adding excel, but only 5 mL after each weekly water change. Maybe I should start adding it every couple of days to really boost things. I just worry about adding chemicals when the fish are in there. I'm being a worrywort.

Incidentally the blackbeard algae has decreased by a buttload since I started using the Excel.

willb

I had beard algae as well in my 55g. I was told by a member of our local aquarium club to try Excel. in less than one month I've seen a dramatic decrease of algae. Also, today I'm upgrading my lights from the generic 2 fixture 15 watt lights that came with the aquarium to a single 48" fixture with two 40 watt lights. Also am planning on buying a Fluval 305 canister to replace the whisper filter.

Angel079

5ml would do the trick to kill it over time (if you have a 50g or smaller). But if you wanna use it for plant growth enhancer you gotta add it every single day and then always 5ml for every 50g.

I used it as well to get the algae under control but as far as a CO2 substitute I find it unnecessary if you have a well stocked tank (which if memory serves me right you did have a decent stock there).
I spent some good time reading up on this stuff before "testin" in my own tank, so if I can be of any help there, just shoot me a PM as always