Blacks specks on rocks in aquarium.

[alexcichlidé]

Hello all,

Not sure if this is the right section to post this in but here we go,

I have an African Cichlidé tank and my goal was to grow algae green on my rocks. Nows I am dosing Seachem flourish and Seachem phosphorus and have a power glo 18,000k t8. I took some rocks from my garden as I live in Canada British Columbia now and the rocks are easy to find here. Now I found some rocks in my pond I liked that had the algae I wanted to grow in my tank so in hopes I added those to seed the tank with that species of algae. I will upload images and I'm hoping someone can help me figure out what these black spots that are so tiny and clustered are. If it is BBA I'm ok with it just want to make sure it's safe for my fish and myself.

Thank you all

 

[FishGuest5123]

It actually looks like dead algae to me. Perhaps the type on the rocks was not aquatic and needed air. I would scrub them. You really shouldn’t take things straight out of the garden and place in your tank. There could be parasites or chemicals on them. Always boil such things first. Then test your rocks by pouring a little hydrogen peroxide in them. If they bubble, then they have phosphates in them which aren’t good for your fish. If they don’t bubble then they are safe. You can speed the algae along by cleaning the rocks and testing them. Then place them in a dechlorinated bucket of water in the sun. Change half the water weekly until you get a nice growth going.

 

[alexcichlidé]

Hello,

I didn't just add them from outside I pour vinegar on them to check for bubbling as directed by my LFS and I rinse them in boiling water for a few mins to kill bacteria. However, I didn't want to use a bleach solution as I didn't want to kill off the algae that I wanted to use to seed my aquarium. I have 4 tanks and have been in the hobby a while with no issues, and still, this is not an issue more curiosity as to what this was as I have never seen this before. I like biotopes so I use on;y natural items that why I like rocks from my garden, different sizes shapes and they are river rocks as Vancouver is a rainforest here and the rocks contain not calcium or phosphate, they are primarily granite ( At least to my knowledge). Limestone and mudstone I know are not acceptable in the aquarium.

Typically I do south American blackwater biotopes and Asian, however, this was my first time doing an African lake Malawi biotope, so of course, the algae growth is crucial to the appearance and happiness of my aquarium.

I have never actually intended to grow algae and it's certainly harder to do than I expected, I guess whilst I'm here do you or anyone have any advice to grow algae faster and better? I saw your comment about the rocks in a bucket, however, this is Canada it's not so sunny this time of year and it's very cold so that isn't logical.

Any recommendations for better lighting? The 18,000 kelvin makes my fish look stunning and I was advised that this kelvin is great for growing algae in freshwater and that red lighting is better to grow algae in saltwater?

Again I am using a Power Glo 18,000 k T8 fluorescent light.

Thank you

 

[FishGuest5123]

I do sincerely apologize. Perhaps someone else will come up with more useful suggestions. Wishing you the best in outcomes!