# Black algae



## sinadyan (May 14, 2008)

Does hair algae turm black on plants? I am getting a lot of it on my plants. My nitrates are 40ppm . I have a 55 gal tank with a lot of sword plants and some wisteria, I am not overstocked, and my tap water test at 5ppm for nitrates. CF lighting is 130 watts kept on for 10 hours a day, I feed lightly once daily, when you black out a tank for 3 dats to kill algae do you need to cover it, or just leave light off? thank you on advance


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## Little-Fizz (Aug 19, 2007)

If you have plants I probably wouldn't do a black out. But I had that algae.. I started just using my nail and taking it off the plants that way... But now its growing on my gravel.. So I'm interested to see what someone tells you.


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## PDXfishy (Jul 15, 2008)

Are you talking about staghorn? If so, it can be easily removed with Flourish Excel, a CO2 fertilizer. You can spray it directly on the plants using a syringe or you can just overdose it for your whole tank. Kills a variety of algae really well - unfortunately it is also known to kill some plants and shrimp really well. Do your research first.[/code]


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

wait a fertilizer will kill algae? I have the same back stuff on my plants that my otos seem to take a chunk out of once in a while. But it grows faster then the chunks ebign taken off so tis still a problem for me


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## okiemavis (Nov 10, 2007)

The reason you've got so much algae is because your nitrates are 40ppm. They really should be kept under 20ppm, so I'd recommend doing more frequent water changes.


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## sinadyan (May 14, 2008)

So if I do more water changes and get the nitrates down to 20 ppm or less the black algae will die and go away. or do I need to OD the excel, and if so , how much?


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## PDXfishy (Jul 15, 2008)

First CONFIRM the algae type. There is an effective way of killing most algae, but messing with Excel can be very dangerous! Excel is not your standard fertilizer, it is organic CO2 (can be used to provide small tanks with CO2). It is known to kill some plants and possibly shrimps.

Here is an excellent page on algae: http://www.theplantedtank.co.uk/algae.htm


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## Elahrairah (Feb 16, 2007)

I second Excel. I can't believe how well this stuff works. 

I took the standard weekly amount to use and dosed 3x that for 3 days in a row. Algae all turned brown and died off within a week.

Only side affect was a huge plant bloom. When I pruned, I had more to dispose of then was left in the tank!

Best product out there for the $$.

Be careful to check side effects of your fish types.


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## sinadyan (May 14, 2008)

I have mostly sword plants in my tank. My fish are Angels, platties, some glowkight, a pleco and cory. Is excel dangerous to any of these, Thank you for the help


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## PDXfishy (Jul 15, 2008)

No, they should be fine. If there are only isolated outbreaks of algae, spot-treat the areas; if that would be too complicated, just double the recommended Excel dose and kill those suckers. BLAM! DIE, YOU $#%@#^, bwahaha!!! :twisted:


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## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

Does it look like this?










It's cyanobacteria aka blue-green algae if it is. Ugh...get it all cleaned out as much as you can and get your nitrates down. Add some really quickly growing plants if you can to eat up the excess nutrients in the tank. This stuff gets outta control pretty quick.


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## sinadyan (May 14, 2008)

No, that is not the algae I have, What I have starts out as a white looking hair, then it turns black, It seems to concentrate on the edges of the leaves, but is also in the lift tubes of the filters also


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## Little-Fizz (Aug 19, 2007)

I know this picture sucks but does it look anything like this?


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## beccakatewebb (Aug 16, 2008)

i also have that sort of algae, all mhy fish seem to be nibbling at it though. i regularly clean the tank and ornaments but cannot get rid of it completely, i have increased water changes whcih does seem to be keeping it at bay. if this flourish excel stuff is used will the problem go away completely? is it worth risking the fish


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## Little-Fizz (Aug 19, 2007)

beccakatewebb said:


> i also have that sort of algae, all mhy fish seem to be nibbling at it though.


I've seen this too, I can't answer your flourish question because I have never done it myself.


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## sinadyan (May 14, 2008)

that appears to be what I have. but much more extensive, It is mostly on the edges of my plants and also on the lift tubes of my filters. I will try to get some pics and post them


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## sinadyan (May 14, 2008)

here are some pics of my algae


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## Elahrairah (Feb 16, 2007)

This is exactly what I had. Excel 2x dosage for three days and after a week, it was all brown, and another week (with a water change), it was gone. I have a lot of Otos, a Pleco, Hillstream Loach, so they may have helped. But once it turns brown, you know you won.

It is not really black (I think), it is just very dark green.


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## SinCrisis (Aug 7, 2008)

isnt that BBA? I have it in my tank too. I read that a CO2 injection and more water movement helps. Also, for me, my peppered corys started to munch on the stuff recently and it seems to be keeping it in check.


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## Elahrairah (Feb 16, 2007)

I hear bristlenose plecos, american flagfish are good choices as well for this. Unfortunately, the only BN I could find were albino and no AFFs, so I tried Excel and I only wish I got it earlier.


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