Is this an algae?

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I have two rocks that it's starting on I have an artificial rock/cave and an artificial log that it's on. I'm am really worried it will get out of control. And in three weeks I will be away from home for three weeks. Someone will be here to look after the house in that time but they have no idea about aquriums
 
I have two rocks that it's starting on I have an artificial rock/cave and an artificial log that it's on. I'm am really worried it will get out of control. And in three weeks I will be away from home for three weeks. Someone will be here to look after the house in that time but they have no idea about aquriums

If you restore the balance, it will stop increasing. That is all you can do, because if conditions are right for it, it will appear and increase. But even if it did in three weeks, it can still be remedied then. Change the tube, have the light on a timer for 6 hours daily, make sure the fish are underfed not overfed (once or twice a week is more than sufficient, measure out the food in individual containers one per feed so there is no chance of more going in).
 
Do I have to add my premium nutrition plant care every time I do water change? Maybe it's feeding the black beard.
 
Do I have to add my premium nutrition plant care every time I do water change? Maybe it's feeding the black beard.

Can you post a link to this product so I can see what is in it? In general, I can say that yes, too much plant fertilizer will cause bush/beard algae; I increased my liquid fertilizer and after a few weeks noticed this algae increasing, so I cut it back, and it stopped. Then I repeated as a test a couple of months later, and sure enough it began again. But too little fertilizer can also cause it, because then the plants are not getting enough to use the other nutrients and algae is always ready to take advantage.
 

A reliable (I suppose) company, but they don't list all ingredients and I am always skeptical of such manufacturers. "Contains iron, manganese and vital micro nutrients," leaves me thinking there are no macro nutrients (calcium, magnesium, potassium, sulphur (the other macros will be present in any aquarium--oxygen, phosphorus (from fish foods, more than sufficient), hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen). Iron and manganese are micro-nutrients themselves, and others needed are boron, chlorine, nickel, copper, molybdenum and zinc.

If something is missing, and further not being supplied in sufficient levels by the fish foods and water changes, the plants will not be able to maximize the light. This is the main reason I have used Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium for over ten years with good results; it contains all necessary nutrients (the macros are present but in lower numbers because they usually occur naturally) and in the botanical proportion to each other than most benefits plants. Too much of some nutrients can cause plants to shut down assimilation of other nutrients, creating an apparent deficiency. This is an involved process!

If you do move to the Flourish at some point, make sure it is the exact product named; they make several products under this name.

Also, the advice about small water changes two weeks apart is bad. Every week, 50-60% of the tank volume. And if using fertilizers, it may help to dose them the day following the water change, not at the same time. The reason is that conditioners that detoxify heavy metals will detoxify some of the micro nutrients like iron, copper, zinc, manganese...no point in dosing them only to have them being negated. Seachem suggested this to me and I have been doing it for several years now. Can't hurt.
 

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