BBA

[fltcrew21]

I have what I believe is Black Beard Algae trying to grow on a couple of plant leaves.

This is a new tank (one month old) with new plants (about a month).

My observation is that this BBA (if that's what it is) only grows on 1 or 2 plants.

It does not grow at all on my Amazon Swords but is worse on what I think are my El Nino Fern or Narrow Leaf Java Fern. I can't remember which is which right now.

My question is are some plants more susceptible to this algae growth or is it only a function of where they are placed in the tank? Close to the glass? Current? etc?

I moved the plant mentioned above a couple of times and it still seems to be the prime target.

Some additional information to consider:

My Amazon Swords are not doing well. The leaves are green but very then. You can see the 'vein' structure.

The tank is cycled with good parameters. (Nitrates less than 20)

I JUST added a new light fixture that brought me from 1/2 watt per gallon to 1 watt per gallon.

For the last 2 weeks I have also been giving the 36g about 5ml or more of Excel Flourish although I'm not sure if I am dosing that correctly. Sometimes I just shut the filter and bubbles off and pour it in and sometimes I use a syringe to squirt it on the plants underwater. (this doesn't seem very effective but who knows)


Thanks for reading all this and for any thoughts.

 

[Hubert90]

I have what I believe is Black Beard Algae trying to grow on a couple of plant leaves.



This is a new tank (one month old) with new plants (about a month).



My observation is that this BBA (if that's what it is) only grows on 1 or 2 plants.



It does not grow at all on my Amazon Swords but is worse on what I think are my El Nino Fern or Narrow Leaf Java Fern. I can't remember which is which right now.



My question is are some plants more susceptible to this algae growth or is it only a function of where they are placed in the tank? Close to the glass? Current? etc?



I moved the plant mentioned above a couple of times and it still seems to be the prime target.



Some additional information to consider:



My Amazon Swords are not doing well. The leaves are green but very then. You can see the 'vein' structure.



The tank is cycled with good parameters. (Nitrates less than 20)



I JUST added a new light fixture that brought me from 1/2 watt per gallon to 1 watt per gallon.



For the last 2 weeks I have also been giving the 36g about 5ml or more of Excel Flourish although I'm not sure if I am dosing that correctly. Sometimes I just shut the filter and bubbles off and pour it in and sometimes I use a syringe to squirt it on the plants underwater. (this doesn't seem very effective but who knows)





Thanks for reading all this and for any thoughts.

I think you are lacking micro nutrient especially magnesium. (When you can see the major veins, it means you are lacking magnesium). BBA normally effect slow growing plants that doesn't require a lot of lights to grow. How many hours do you leave the lights on for? What other plants do you have in there?

 

[fltcrew21]

Lights and Plants

I leave the lights on for about 12 hours per day. Sometimes I switched them off during the day for an hour or so but not usually. The newer lights have only been installed a little over a day so probably no progress gonna be visible yet from that.

I dosed 20ml of Flourish Carbon supplement this morning since I've done a big water change recently.

The only 9 plants in the tank are:

2 Amazon Swords
4 Narrow Leaf Java Fern
1 El Nino Fern
2 small potted Anubius

The Swords and El Nino Fern are in substrate with Flourish tabs. The Anubius are potted and the Java ferns are tied to driftwood.

Maybe it's just me but I can't tell that anything is growing (but it would be very slow, especially with that low light) But the only plants that don't look healthy and green are the Swords.

Hopefully the new lights and a more rigid schedule of Flourish Excel dosing will help.

My next step is to start using Flourish liquid once a week to supplement the tabs. I saw on a video that some plants get nourishment from the water column instead of their roots. But I doubt Swords fall into that category.

 

[Hubert90]

I leave the lights on for about 12 hours per day. Sometimes I switched them off during the day for an hour or so but not usually. The newer lights have only been installed a little over a day so probably no progress gonna be visible yet from that.



I dosed 20ml of Flourish Carbon supplement this morning since I've done a big water change recently.



The only 9 plants in the tank are:



2 Amazon Swords

4 Narrow Leaf Java Fern

1 El Nino Fern

2 small potted Anubius



The Swords and El Nino Fern are in substrate with Flourish tabs. The Anubius are potted and the Java ferns are tied to driftwood.



Maybe it's just me but I can't tell that anything is growing (but it would be very slow, especially with that low light) But the only plants that don't look healthy and green are the Swords.



Hopefully the new lights and a more rigid schedule of Flourish Excel dosing will help.



My next step is to start using Flourish liquid once a week to supplement the tabs. I saw on a video that some plants get nourishment from the water column instead of their roots. But I doubt Swords fall into that category.

12 hours is too long for the kind of plants you keep. 6 - 8 hours is more than enough with a 4 hours break in between, the 4 hours helps with keeping the algae at bay.

All your plants are either root feeders or slow growers so you don't need to dose flourish in my opinion, just the occasional root tabs is all you need. I don't dose anything in my 10g and everything is flourishing.

When did u get your El Niño fern? They are hard to adapt as a fully submerged growth and when if it does it does require a lot of light.

 

[fltcrew21]

El Nino Fern

I got the El Nino Fern about a month ago. It was one of the first plants. It is green and doing as well as the JF's.

I would just like to see them grow or fill out so I know that what I am doing is working.


I am going to set the aquarium lights on a timer and follow your suggestion.

Thanks