Tropical Fish Forums

[MarktheMuffin]

Hi all
I have had my tank set-up and running now for about six months maybe longer, all live plant, Amazon sword, tall grass, medium grass, penny wort and some broad leaf plants that I can't remeber name of all growing well enough but a few have now got what looks like a dark brown fur on them, what is this and will effect the tank?. It dosnt seam to bother the fish I have even seen two of my Angels laying eggs on the power head but the next day all was gone. Is there something I can do about the fur on the plants or is it normal, I do fertilize once a month (liquid) though I think it is the wrong type for my plants as it says for float grass on the label and all my plants are planted.

Any tips and advice would greatly help.
Thanks in advance
Mark

[unissuh]

What you have is sounds like BBA (black brush algae). It's a type of algae that many people have trouble battling.

The article here may give you some ideas: http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_freshwater_algae.php
_________________
Fishing in the Rivers of Light

[MarktheMuffin]

Thanks for your reply, now that I have read your link it dose look more black than brown so know now what I am dealing with. I have a custom built tank (as in the shape) and when I have to work out the capacity I have to calculate as normal which comes to 464 Ltrs and then take off the corners I don't have so I roughly end up with about 300 Ltrs maybe a bit more. In this tank I have a Red tail but will Siamese Algae Eaters be OK in this large tank, I know the fish don't get on in small tanks

[unissuh]

Size-wise they should be OK.

I can't say whether they will get on with your other fish, though SAEs are usually pretty placid to others.
_________________
Fishing in the Rivers of Light