black fuzz on my amazon sword

[Ramrebel]

I know this sounds like a personal problem but I've noticed the above and the sword seems to have stopped growing.

Any ideas/suggestions?

Ed

[malkore]

Not enough information to reply to this problem.

We need to know lighting - what kind and many watts?
CO2 injection?
Fertilizing regimen?

I assume this is a 20 gallon tank?

(BTW an amazon sword will totally fill a 20gallon tank in under a year...it's a tankbuster plant)

The short answer is: you have a nutrient imbalance...probably the phosphates are too high..but it could also be too high a level of nitrates. We'll need test results for both of those as well as what I mentioned above.

[fishlung]

Might be black algae. Most fish and quite a few plecos won't eat it. Flying foxes will, though. Mine do, at least.

[Ramrebel]

will do tests

1) What's a flying fox?

2) I've had it for a year and I'd figure I'd just remove part of it when it outgrows the tank

Thanks for the replies.

Ed

[Ramrebel]

afterthought - I put in an antibiotic reccommended (I hat espekking that word) for my sick fishies prior to this

probably has something to do with it, huh?

[Ramrebel]

btw , I did my flying fox research
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/gfox.html

[malkore]

If you've had a sword in the 20gallon for a year and it hasn't out grown it, it's not getting enough light and nourishment.

an antibiotic won't cause algae...but it can kill your beneficial bacteria and throw the tank into a mini-cycle.

[Medusa Head]

Be careful... the Flying Fox (Epalzeorhynchus_kalopterus) will not eat black brush/beard algae. It is the Siamese Algae Eater (Crossoheilus_siamensis) that will eat the Black Brush Algae. The confusion is in the common name... the Siamese Algae Eater is sometimes called the Siamese Flying Fox.



Flying Fox



Siamese Algae Eater aka Siamese Flying Fox


http://www.hut.fi/u/lsarakon/akva.html


edit - the board will not allow the images to be displayed. I'm not sure why the admins would do this unless someone has been abusing it.

[Ramrebel]

my clown loach is munching on the new sprouts that just showed up

I have the stock hood and light on the tank - should I get a better bulb or invest in a new light?

[Ramrebel]

my japanicus shrimp seems to have taken care of the black algae - green is still there though

[Aquathumb]

Your stock hood and light would be a good place to start. If you have glass in your hood, it is filtering out the U.V. before it even hits the water. Also, fluorescents lose their ability to create U.V. as they age. If your lamp is on more than six hours per day then you should be changing the bulb every six to eight months. Both of these factors could also lead to increased algae growth as lower plant forms will thrive when the environment will not promote other plants like your sword from doing as well.

[Ramrebel]

AT, I viewed you gallery - what's in the 125g?