buildup on plants..

[hadvisor]

I'm getting a sort of blackish color buildup on my plants in the 20 gallon. Should I be cleaning this stuff off from time to time or am I doing something wrong to cause it to grow. Also, how often and how much should I be using the Flourish nutrients? I use a capfull every week after water changes..
Don[/code]

 

[Chrismac]

Hey Don, sounds like beard algae. Got any Algae eaters?
With the plant food you can tell when you do your testing for Nitrate and Phosphate
if your results are close to 0 you can dose, but if your tests are, Phosphate showing above 1mg/L or when your Nitrate level is above 20 mg/L do not add plant food, your fish may not like it too much. What are you using?
The stuff I get has all that info typed on the back of the container.
Also you may want to give a partial water change.

Good Luck.

Chris.

 

[Guest]

I'm getting a sort of blackish color buildup on my plants in the 20 gallon.

Give me a better description, if you would, please. is it like in sheets of slimy algae, or fuzzy like hair, or what? Many types of algae, they have to be dealt with in different ways.

 

[hadvisor]

Pretty much like sheets of slimy black stuff, I can scrape it off if I grab the leaf and run it between my thumb and index finger. It is kinda spotty in areas, not covering the whole plant. I always do a 10-15% water change every week, once a month clean the gravel(flourite mix). The tank has pretty low light( <=2 wpg) and has some natural light that hits it partiallly during the day. Biowheel and airstones are running all the time. I use about a capful of the seachem flourish plant supplement after every water change, something that I have been doing for about 2 months or so. Temp is always around 75 to 78-have not done any water testing yet...
Sorry if I missed something important, gotta run...
Don
Ohhh wait, I have a digi cam...
Here is a pic of a leaf that I had tried to clean off already..
Thanks guys!