Black Algae?dieing Plants?

[madjoker14]

hey everyone,i moved out of my girlfriends house and i left our 10 gallon tank with 3 molly fishes,2 glass fish and 1 that i dont know the name of but its small too,well i came back today to say hi and i saw some black stuff looked like algae but it was black and it was only on the surface of rocks,it also looks like the plants are dieing because there all turning brown and yea kinda lifeless,also he glass fish have some heavy white stuff on there tail,should i wash it off and change the water??can anyone help me i dont want to loose my fishes (btw she sucks at taking care of them)

 

[Montizuma]

I dont know about the plants but the white stuff on the fish might be ick or ich not shure does it cover just the tail or the body

 

[madjoker14]

just the very tip of there fins,and its only on the glass fish,but what do u think about that black stuff thats growing on the rocks?

 

[penguin22]

Ive suffered with black algea (diatoms) my advice is change water a little more regular, buy a new light bulb, wash gravel and get rid of any plants which arent healthy. Then heavily plant your tank (very heavily). All you can do then is keep removing it and keep up water changes, wash any algea off plants. Eventually as long as plants start to thrive it should clear, takes a lot of work though it is nasty stuff, good luck.

 

[madjoker14]

okay kool thanks for the advice,i'll try that today,when u say heavily plant your tank what do u mean by that?like a heavy clean?

 

[Underwurlde]

Cover at least 50 - 70% of the area of the substrate with plants, planted at an average distance of about 1" stem to stem.

Fast growing algae busters such as:
Hygrophila species (e.g. Hygrophila polysperma)
Ludwigia species
Rotala species
Egeria species (e.g. Egeria densa).
Brazilian Water Ivy
Small Ambulia
Mexican Oak Leaf
Water Sprite
Cambomba Caroliana
Hornwort

See also this excellent site for pictures, causes & prevention:
http/www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm
(Thanks again JamesC).

GL

Andy