Some Sort Of Black Algae

[scotty]

i have what looks like some sort of black algae on one of my plants,its a low level sort of grass plant,the algae seems to be coming out of a small black dot,and branching out,any help appreciated.seems to have came about since i removed my diy co2 kit,it was causing my ph to crash,not affecting any other plants or anything else in the tank
thanks
scott

 

[lljdma06]

i have what looks like some sort of black algae on one of my plants,its a low level sort of grass plant,the algae seems to be coming out of a small black dot,and branching out,any help appreciated.seems to have came about since i removed my diy co2 kit,it was causing my ph to crash,not affecting any other plants or anything else in the tank
thanks
scott

I would put back the CO2. The ph crashes do not effect fish, if memory serves, something else does. There was a thread a while back, not in this section specifically, but in TFF. The information presented was quite good. I just can't remember it as this moment.

llj

 

[scotty]

i have what looks like some sort of black algae on one of my plants,its a low level sort of grass plant,the algae seems to be coming out of a small black dot,and branching out,any help appreciated.seems to have came about since i removed my diy co2 kit,it was causing my ph to crash,not affecting any other plants or anything else in the tank
thanks
scott

I would put back the CO2. The ph crashes do not effect fish, if memory serves, something else does. There was a thread a while back, not in this section specifically, but in TFF. The information presented was quite good. I just can't remember it as this moment.

llj

but does the ph crash affect the bacteria?

 

[kaivalagi]

but does the ph crash affect the bacteria?

mmmmm, it would affect a fish-less cycle somewhat if too low but I think if the bacteria is well established and the pH is 6 or above it should be fine on the basis people keep black water / acidic biotopes running just fine

When you say pH crash, how much of a crash?

Big fluctuations in CO2 can cause algae blooms...

 

[lljdma06]

but does the ph crash affect the bacteria?

Why would you worry about bacteria levels in a planted tank? You wouldn't be doing a fishless cycle anyways.

Yes, big fluctuations in CO2, like having it and then not having it, would cause algae blooms.

 

[scotty]

cheers will put co2 back on,in the meantime how do i get rid of the algae,and why is it not affecting the other plants
cheers
scott

 

[kaivalagi]

You wouldn't be doing a fishless cycle anyways.

Sorry if I didn't make it clear what I was getting at. I was only trying to make a contrast between how low pH can affect bacteria growth in a fishless cycle but shouldn't disrupt the bacteria colony in a tank that had been running properly for sometime, as in scotty's case. I figured knowledge of the fishless cycle was why scotty was so concerned about the pH dropping...

cheers will put co2 back on,in the meantime how do i get rid of the algae,and why is it not affecting the other plants
cheers
scott

Could be where the affected plants are there isn't so much water circulation or is more than elsewhere...the plants may also be more susceptible to it.

We don;t know what the algae is but I am guessing it is something like BBA (black brush algae)...have a look here: www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm

For BBA it says:

Description
Often grows on leaf edges of slow growing plants, bog wood and mechanical equipment. Also sometimes it grows in fast flowing areas of the tank. Grows in clumps or patches of fine black tufts up to about 0.5cm long.

Cause
In a high light tank it is an indication of low or fluctuating CO2 levels or not enough water circulation around the plants. In a low light tank it is often due to changing CO2 levels.

Removal
In a high light tank you will need to increase your levels of CO2 and/or improve water circulation around the plants. Scrub and cut off as much as you can first. Increase levels slowly to 30ppm or more but watch the fish to see if they are respiring heavily. Make sure you have good water flow around the whole tank along with some good surface movement. Adding a powerhead may help.
If you have a low light tank without CO2 injection then not doing any water changes will help. This is because tap water often has lots of CO2 dissolved in it which causes CO2 levels in your tank to fluctuate. The algae respond to this a lot quicker than the plants do.
Siamese Algae Eaters are known to eat BBA so can be used to control this algae.
Overdosing Flourish Excel will clear it up.
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[scotty]

going get flourish excel,that seems to help the ph from crashing when used by co2,it says to overdose it with flourish excel,but how much would be correct.
cheers scott

 

[kaivalagi]

going get flourish excel,that seems to help the ph from crashing when used by co2,it says to overdose it with flourish excel,but how much would be correct.
cheers scott

Your guess is as good as mine...I guess the recommended dosage will be something like 1-2 caps a week...so half a cap a day maybe?

Definitely BBA then?

 

[scotty]

thought it might be staghorn,but not too sure,here is some pics

 

[kaivalagi]

Yeah, probably is staghorn

Let us know how you get on.....

 

[scotty]

would i be better use flourish excel and easycarbo together and stop my diy co2?

 

[scotty]

would i be better use flourish excel and easycarbo together and stop my diy co2?

do people agree with this,or should i just remove the affected plant altogether?

cheers
scott

 

[kaivalagi]

Clean the plants of the algae first I think, take them out of the tank maybe to get them good again. Ideally you want to stop fluctuations of CO2 in the tank, which are what probably caused the algae to develop...

It might be best, if you don't want to reintroduce the CO2 as before, just to clean all the plants the best you can and feed them with excel to combat the remaining algae a bit before things settle again...but I am guessing here.

 

[scotty]

was maybe thinking about blacking the tank out for 48hrs and overdosing with flourish excel to get trid of staghorn algae,will my plants and fish be ok??