Black Brush Algae!

[Sursion]

I turned my light on and to my surprise, there's black brush algae all over my plant. It's not infested or anything, but there is quite a bit of it considering there was nothing yesterday.

I googled it and apparently it's caused by nitrate. Do you think my recently deceased snail caused an ammonia spike, leading to huge nitrate readings? How do you get rid of it after I do some water changes? Will CAE's eat it?

[MCHRKiller]

It can also be caused by low CO2 levels. Water tests will confirm if nitrate is a factor, if not I would place the blame on low CO2 and buy a bottle of Seachem Excel :22:

[smaug]

There are always multiple causes for bba. I have never seen bba show up over night,could you post a pic of it? I do know from experiance that it will thrive with iron rich water with incorrect lighting spectrum with lights to high in blue. I truly doubt it is being caused by a high nitrate level. No, cae will not eat it,sae will nibble on it and can keep a tank from having it get a foothold but rarely eat enough of it to eradicate it. You don't have enough tankn for sae anyway,or the cae for that matter.

[CassieLEO]

Yeah, I want to see a pic of it too.

[Lady Hobbs]

I get in there with my scissors and cut away all the BBA I can find. I also will again be dosing with Excel. But keeping it cut away helps before it gets a chance to spread everywhere.

[Sursion]

I'll try and take a picture, but it's right in the middle of a really dense plant. No garuntees. It looks just like black cat fur tangled around the plant.

[smaug]

Bba looks like tufts of bristles.it is not long,nor does it easily come off.

[Sursion]

What could it be then? It looks like hair, not bristles. My cat doesn't go near the aquarium (it's approx. 1.5 meters off the ground), and even if he did, fur would float, wouldn't it? The mystery hair is about mid-level.

[smaug]

Is it just in 1 small area?In one plant?

[CassieLEO]

BBA Looks like those hairbrushes women use with the black bristles all together and sprayed out in sections.

[smaug]

And Cassie WOULD know. She has some she just adores.......bba that is:1luvu:

[CassieLEO]

I loooooove my BBA :D lmao!!!

[Sursion]

Is it just in 1 small area?In one plant?

Well there's a huge tuft of it in one area, then the rest of the top of the plant is covered in little tiny black spots.

[Sursion]

I tried taking a picture but it just came out as a brown blur. I did some searching and it looks a lot like this: [Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

I read CAE and Apple snails eat it. My apple snail JUST died the night before it appeared, and my CAE has ignored it. A lot of the leaves aroud the tuft are turning brown with little fuzz on it.

[CassieLEO]

My snails NEVER eat the BBE. I have yet to find anything that shows any interest other than my Ramshorn snails...

[Sursion]

Maybe my snail actually was holding it back, that's why I didn't see it appear until the night after it died :O

In any case, my CAE is ignoring it. Should I buy algaefix or something? I guess I'm not in any rush to get rid of it.

[CassieLEO]

Just cut the leaves off of the plant that that has it bad...try to scrape the tiny spots off the leaves that arent too bad...

[Sursion]

It's a plastic plant :11:

[CassieLEO]

Boil it in a mug or container of water in the microwave for a few mins, then scrub it. It will loosen up and kill it for you and you will be able to scrub it off easier.

[Sursion]

Hmm, alright. I'll try that out if it get's any worse. My ABF calls that plant home, I'm scared if I take it away he'll get stressed out and jump out of the tank.

[CassieLEO]

Well, then maybe just dont worry about it. The spores are already in the water for it, so its not like if you remove it you will prevent it from spreading. I would just leave it. But then again, im the one who looooves it LOL!!

[smaug]

If that is what it looks like [ac link ] then that aint bba.Simply take the plastic plant out and run hot tap water over it for a minute.Your abf will forgive the temporary intrusion.

[Aeonflame]

A little soak in hydrogen peroxide will also nuke any bba on it.

[Lady Hobbs]

It's a plastic plant :11:

Well, saying it was plastic would have saved a bunch of posts.
:hmm3grin2orange:

Clean your plastic plants in mild bleach water then soak them in dechlorinatored water or allow them to simply dry out completely. Best way to also remove diatoms from rocks and plastic.

[Sursion]

It's exploded! There's tons of it now. Very hairy. I think I'm going to clean it today. That's for the help.