Beard Alage?

(I posted this originally on General forum but did not get a lot of response)

Hi guys, I need your help with this growth in my tank. I noticed it on a rock couple of weeks ago. It was actually only on one side of the rock and was facing the rear of the tank so I didn't detect it until I moved the rock. I actually liked the look of it on the rock. It gave it a natural look so I left it. But now I can see similar growths starting on some of my plants, specially those near that rock.

I haven't got algae problems up to now (6 months old tank). I only clean the front glass but the other sides are not covered in algae, nor are my plants and wood. Is this really algae? Can I stop it from propagating over the entire tank?

Water parameters:
pH 6.4
NO2 0
NO3 20
NH3 0
temp 28 deg c

Light 1W/gal on for 12-14 hours a day. Came with the kit tank. No fertilisers used yet.

I was thinking of adding extra light to bring it to 2W/gal because I want to see more growth from my plants. Almost the entire footprint is covered in plant but they are growing very slowly. I don't have CO2 and don;t use any fert. I have Aquaclay substrate. Will the addition of the light make it much worse for this algae? I was also planning on start using API Leaf Zone.

Thanks
I do intend to add CO2 as well

What is clado? Can't find anything that makes sense on google.

midiamin said:

I really like that rock in the first pic. It's beautiful. Do you want to sell it as is, algae intact? Going in a 20 gallon with UV and enough leafy plants to do battle with it. How big is it?

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The rock is slightly bigger than fist sized. I picked it up a river some 10 years ago. As for selling it, I wouldn't mind but I live in Mauritius. Thats probably a long way to send a rock. Where are u based?

jmhart said:

Nothing a few amano shrimp can't take care of.

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I tried that. I added 6 shrimps that I "borrowed" from a friend who had a tank full of them in the back yard. They lasted a total of about 15 minutes in my tank and my angels looked happier than usual.