Anubias Nana and Algae

[orroo]

Hi Guys,
I've had a smallish Anubias Nana in my new tank (about 4 months old now) for about 3 months. I've noticed recently that it seems to be gathering quite a lot of algae on its leaves.

The algae is dark in colour, I would say it looks black. The plant is on a large plastic rock decoration which is now covered in the same black algae around the plant. I don't have an algae problem with the rest of the tank other than a bit of green algae here and there, but I think this is fairly normal.

I have a beginner's tank - the Elite 95. It's a 95 litre tank and the bulb is only a 20w 24 inch. That's less than 1 watt per gallon, but the anubias seems to like these conditions as it sprouts at least one new leaf per week - sometimes two. I also have some java moss and java fern which are growing nicely (albeit quite slowly).

I was wondering if there is an obvious cause for this algae, and more importantly, if there is a straightforward way to beat it. I'm planning on upgrading to a more heavily planted setup at some point with better lighting etc, but at the moment I'm not adding any nutrients or CO2 or anything.

I currently have the light on for 12 hours a day, on a timer. I was thinking knocking this down to 10 hours a day to see how I got on but given the seriously low light setup I currently have, I wasn't sure if that would do more harm than good.

As an aside, I have another smaller anubias nana on the bottom of my tank which, although not algae free, certainly seems less affected. My main nana is on a rock and therefore closer to the tank light. I can't really move it as it has attached itself to the rock, but this seems to be pointing towards a lighting problem.

Do you guys think knocking the lighting timer down will help get rid of the algae or are my plants just going to die from lack of photosynthesis? Perhaps I'm way off the mark and there's something else I should try?

Any advice appreciated thumbs2:

[SkipW]

Anubis and other slow growing plants will collect algae under the right conditions. You can try turning the lights off during part of the day or try using Flourish Excel.
Also, do you know the K rating on your bulb? 6700K range is most ideal for plants, as you go higher into the "blue" range (10000K +) is where algae can be harder to control.

[orroo]

Thanks for the quick reply.

My bulb is actually only 4200k apparently. It's not a very good bulb.

Would there be much point in getting a CO2 starter kit, or would that not really make much difference to the algae? My logic says that a CO2 kit might encourage faster growth in the anubias and enable it to out compete the algae?

[SkipW]

I'm not sure there is much benefit in adding CO2 unless you have higher lighting. Adding CO2 becomes a balancing act between Light, Nutrients and CO2 and it may change your water chemistry. Some people may argue that CO2 is always helpful, but IMO it's not worth it unless you're over 2WGP on your lighting and have plants that require it.
I would recomend trying the Flourish Excel and see if you get the results you are looking for.

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/FlourishExcel.html

[kennedpa]

I have a couple of anubias and run co2 and use excel.....they still collect algae. I moved them both into the back corners of my tank and the algae collection has reduced dramatically. I run 6 x 40w t8's. Also, I found introducing SAE's also helped and since then any new growth ( 2 or 3 leaves a week) is algae free and stays algae free.