What's this furry algae?

iamgray

It appears to only live on the top of my driftwood. I'm tempted to remove it because i think it looks gross, but my fish seem to love eating it, which makes me think I should leave it be. But what is it?

I will post a picture in a minute. apparently I can't figure out how to do it from my iPhone so i guess i remain dependent on my pc after all.

iamgray

This is what I'm talking about... should I remove it or keep it? You can kind of see in the picture that there are bare spots... that's where it's been eaten... I think the bulk of that eating was done by my Bristlenose Pleco... should I get a couple more of them and let them take care of it?

Attached Images

furry algae cropped.jpg (113.8 KB, 29 views)

aunt kymmie

That's BBA (Black Brush Algae) and if your BN is eating it I'm surprized! I thought the only fish that would touch it is a true Siamese Algae Eater. I also have bits of it in my display tank, which is why I keep an SAE. When I can, I also try to remove it but it's hard to do. What's a little bit anyway, it looks pretty "natural", IMO, anyway.

iamgray

Hmmm... yep, the bn pleco is definitely eating it... I just sat and watched him for the past few minutes. One of my mollies seems to really love it, too (he was just eating it alongside the pleco). I've seen a few of my angelfish and loaches take nibbles off of it, too, and sometimes (but much less frequently) the honey gouramis will check it out.

Byron

I would suspect it is more likely that those various fish are picking out food hidden in the mat of algae; tiny zooplankton etc. can be quite prevalent. Many fish will graze algae but not actually eat the algae itself, especially this type. I have it thick on most of the wood, I only get concerned when it starts appearing on plant leaves as the leaf dies shortly thereafter. My pencilfish love grazing through this stuff.

iamgray

So perhaps the bare spots on the wood aren't due to the pleco actually eating it... maybe it's just getting rubbed off as he forages for other stuff.

SinCrisis

If they are really hungry, they may eat some of it, but its a very difficult algae to get rid of. When I had it, it was from a lack of CO2 and excess nutrients. I reduced surface agitation and increased current flow and it slowly went away.