Help me identify & treat this black algae.

[SqueakyBed]

Hi guys,
For as long as I can remember my planted tank was infested with brown algae. and after months of combating it I finally got red of it but to my disappointment a new type of algae took over my tank and I have no idea how to treat it or whats causing it. It's spreading like wild fire and I am sick of it so I am turning to the aquarium advice community for help.

The algae is black in color but not fuzzy so I am sure it's not BBA. It feels like wet sand paper to the touch and It's incredibly hard to rub off. Most of it is on the plant's (leave edges) and on the rocks.

it's a 60 gallon tank and it gets 6 hours of light + CO2 @ 120 BPS.
Temperature: 76°F.
Dosing: PPS-Pro fertilizer 6ml macros and 6ml micros every other day.

Thanks in advance

Some picture to help identify the algae.















For reference: This is a picture of the dragon stones before the black algae.

And this is what it looks like right now

 

[gemach7]

Possibly black cyano bacteria or black brush algae.

Your rock work btw looks great.

Check co2 first make sure it's staying constant during photoperiod. Low or fluctuating co2 can help bba grow. If this doesn't help try cutting the photo period a little see if reduces at all.


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[Caliban07]

Possibly black cyano bacteria or black brush algae.

Your rock work btw looks great.

Check co2 first make sure it's staying constant during photoperiod. Low or fluctuating co2 can help bba grow. If this doesn't help try cutting the photo period a little see if reduces at all.


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+1

Turn up your co2 or turn down your lights or do both. Obviously be careful not to gas the fish.

Might also be worth switching to EI dosing to eliminate nutrient deficiencies.

What's your flow rate like?


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[SqueakyBed]

Possibly black cyano bacteria or black brush algae.

Your rock work btw looks great.

Check co2 first make sure it's staying constant during photoperiod. Low or fluctuating co2 can help bba grow. If this doesn't help try cutting the photo period a little see if reduces at all.

Yes the CO2 is defiantly running constantly at 120 bps throughout the photoperiod. And light wise I already had to cut it down from 8 to 6 hours to combat the brown algae . I am not sure the plants are going to be happy about that... Well now that I am thinking about it the plants are dying anyway so I guess it doesn't matter. It seems like the plants started dying a few months after the initial setup and my theory is that the plants sucked all the nutrients out of the substrate and blossomed throughout that period and then stopped growing altogether even with water column fertilization.

+1

Turn up your co2 or turn down your lights or do both. Obviously be careful not to gas the fish.

Might also be worth switching to EI dosing to eliminate nutrient deficiencies.

What's your flow rate like?

To be honest I am scared to bump the CO2 any higher, When you look in the tank now you can see a cloud of fine CO2 mist and I am not sure where the limit is.

I am not sure how to calculate the flow rate. I am still learning
I have 2 Hydor Professional External Canister Filters (240 and 345 GPH).
If you ask me I think I have too much flow (for the fish that is) because they have to constantly fight the current.

 

[gemach7]

Yes the CO2 is defiantly running constantly at 120 bps throughout the photoperiod. And light wise I already had to cut it down from 8 to 6 hours to combat the brown algae . I am not sure the plants are going to be happy about that... Well now that I am thinking about it the plants are dying anyway so I guess it doesn't matter. It seems like the plants started dying a few months after the initial setup and my theory is that the plants sucked all the nutrients out of the substrate and blossomed throughout that period and then stopped growing altogether even with water column fertilization.



To be honest I am scared to bump the CO2 any higher, When you look in the tank now you can see a cloud of fine CO2 mist and I am not sure where the limit is.

I am not sure how to calculate the flow rate. I am still learning
I have 2 Hydor Professional External Canister Filters (240 and 345 GPH).
If you ask me I think I have too much flow (for the fish that is) because they have to constantly fight the current.

Do you add trace elements? Deficiencies can cause growth issues in leaves. Anything from manganese to calcium causes some growth issues and these are not always in common ferts. And also expensive to test for.


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[Caliban07]

120 bubbles per second? I think you might be confused. Do you mean bubbles per minute?

You would be surprised how little co2 is actually a) dissolving in the water b) making it to the plants and c) is being taken up by the plants.

Your flow rate is fine. Do the outputs face the same direction and how much surface movement do you have? Big tanks need big co2 bottles in afraid.

A ph meter will help you to get a slightly better than average measure of the co2 you are injecting or a drop checker.


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[SqueakyBed]

Do you add trace elements? Deficiencies can cause growth issues in leaves. Anything from manganese to calcium causes some growth issues and these are not always in common ferts. And also expensive to test for.

To be honest I always thought that the pps-pro fertilizer pack that I bought had everything the plants needed. At least that's what it said on greenleafaquariums website.

• Plantex CSM+B (trace elements)
• Potassium Nitrate KNO3
• Mono Potassium Phosphate KH2PO4
• Potassium Sulfate K2SO4
• Magnesium Sulfate MgSO4

Do I need to add anything else to my fertilizer pack?

120 bubbles per second? I think you might be confused. Do you mean bubbles per minute?

You would be surprised how little co2 is actually a) dissolving in the water b) making it to the plants and c) is being taken up by the plants.

Your flow rate is fine. Do the outputs face the same direction and how much surface movement do you have? Big tanks need big co2 bottles in afraid.

A ph meter will help you to get a slightly better than average measure of the co2 you are injecting or a drop checker.

My bad it's 120 BPM not BPS, And the outputs are on both sides of the aquarium and are facing each other, the one with the CO2 diffuser pointing downward and the other one is just below water level which creates a counter clockwise circulation and causes a lot of surface movement.

This is an older image but it shows both intakes/outputs the one on the left side is the one with the CO2 diffuser.

Do you recommend a specific PH meter?

 

[Caliban07]

2bps is not much in a 60 gallon. I couldn't count the bubbles when I was injecting a few weeks back and that was in a 46 under T5 lighting. Only then did I get excellent growth and no algae.

Ideally you want the flow outlets to be positioned the same way so they are helping each other. Although it may seem that having a counter clockwise motion is helpful, it may be the the flow is cancelling each other out somewhere and creating turbulence and dead spots. Flow is majorly important in a larger tank. Also remember that too much surface movement will out gas your co2.

So to summarise the difficulties you are facing.

1) require more water movement/flow rate due to size of the tank.

2) more difficult to distribute nutrients co2 and oxygen evenly because of the size of the tank.

3) only a small percentage of injected co2 actually dissolves in the water.

4) of that which dissolves a small percentage makes it to the plant leaves before it out gasses.

5) only a small percentage of that which reaches the plant it actually taken up.

6) too much agitation of surface outgasses co2 faster.

7) stronger lighting increases the amount of co2 required.


For a ph meter you just want something like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Accuracy-Pocket-Handheld-Tester/dp/B00FJFEB2O



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