black fuzzy stuff on leafs

[Lady G]

I have a amazon sword (new) and it now has black fuzzy stuff on the edges of two of the leaves. Is this normal? I know when I was looking at different types of plants there was one or two I read about that said if it gets icky looking stuff on it to leave it in the aquarium and it would clear up would this be one of those plants or do you think there is something wrong with the plant/water/anything?

Thank you,
Gin

 

[phanmc]

Its BBA (black beard or brush algae) and is usually the result of excess phospates or iron. What is your tank size, light setup, and fertilizing routine if any?

 

[Jay]

Its BBA (black beard or brush algae) and is usually the result of excess phosphates or iron. What is your tank size, light setup, and fertilizing routine if any?

I tend to disagree; BBA in a planted aquarium is almost always the result of erratic CO2, not enough Co2, too little PO4 or both.

IME Iron supplementation or high PO4 has never caused me a BBA outbreak.

A break down of current tank stats, water stats, etc. would not hurt and would allow others to advise by being more fully informed about what is going on.

Regards
Jay

 

[phanmc]

erratic or insufficient CO2 leads to poor plant growth which will allow many forms of algae to gain a foothold. However, you can still get BBA even with a CO2 level of 25ppm if there is a nutrient imbalance. Its more common to have a high PO4 than K or N, though I suspect that any excess of those nutrients will aid BBA growth.

I've read that people were able to induce BBA in their tank by overdosing on iron. when the stopped dosing iron, the BBA eventually went away.

 

[Lady G]

Ok lets see if I can answer these questions, I haven't added anything to my tank, I did order some liquid fertilizer stuff and and plant food from big als online, I ordered it Friday so it should be here soon thought it would be here today but no so hopefully it will be here tomorrow. I can't remember what the name of the stuff was (flora something or other I think & Big Als plant food?)

I do have low lighting..15watts/30/g tank. I just replaced the bulb today (What a difference that made). The one I got said it was ideal for a planted tank and it's a whole lot brighter then my old one was. The one I had came with the tank (my Aunt gave it to us) so I'm not sure how old the bulb was.

As far as Co2 or CO2 or PO4 or N or K I have know idea what any of that is so I can't tell you any thing about my levels on that.

I just wanted to get a couple plants I could put in for my fish I have 2 amazon swords and 3 grass like plants (they didn't have the name on them) and a small Wisteria. I will be getting a new tank soon (55/g) so I just wanted something to get by till then. When I get it I planned on going full blown planted and figured I'd learn a lot more when the time came so far I know I will use florite (I think that is how its spelled) for my substrate (I like sand so I was going to see if I could mix them) and I will make sure my lighting is much better (had to work with what I had for now).

Anyway once I get my stuff from big als and add it to the tank do you think it will help or do you think I'm going to loose that plant? Should I take it out? Will it harm my fish/water?

Thanks so much,
Gin

 

[Lady G]

what I ordered

Ok I went to my confirmation shipping email invoice and this is what I have coming:
Kordon Amquel
Seachem Florish
I looked at so many different things I couldn't remember what I ordered, I realize I could use more stuff and when I do go full planted I will get all the stuff I need but for now I have to watch my spending so I am looking to get buy till I have the money for bigger and better.

 

[phanmc]

A 15w light over a 30g tank is a very low light setup for a planted tank. The amazon sword and I'm pretty sure any grasslike plants will need more light than that. The water wisteria are really hardy plants and it may survive for a long time in low light.

With the lack of light your plants aren't growing and absorbing the nutrients in the water, allowing the algae to take hold. You'll need increase the amount of wattage from 15w to around 40-60w for your plants. Until the light is increased, all the talk about CO2 and nutrients won't matter.

 

[Jay]

Until the light is increased, all the talk about CO2 and nutrients won't matter.

Now that we have a little more information I agree, Light, Plant Mass, Nutrient Supply etc need to be in balance (you need to research what that means). CO2 is nice but needs to be used correctly.

If you want to move up to a 55 gal. planted tank and be algae free you will need to do some research on the requirements, equipment, techniques, substrate, etc. etc. This forum is loaded with good information to adsorb, before you frustrate yourself.

Your current setup is an algae farm waiting to happen, but I think you can head that off with some inquiry and reading which will get you on the right track.

Jay

 

[Lady G]

Thank everyone

Yes, I knew my lighting was very low for plants, I had read on a few sites about low light plants being anibias (spelling?), crypts, java fern and java moss, but I couldn't find any around here and for this tank I really didn't want to spend a bunch with shipping and handling and everything else with ording online, I guess I would be able to add it to my new tank though when I get it. This was one of those it was there, it looked nice, and thoughtlessly I bought them :thud:
I definately plan on learning alot more about everything before I start my new tank, I have learned alittle about the substrates and hardy, easier plants (which I plan to start with), I already have my driftwood ordered thought if I started it in the tank I have now it could be established by the time I get my new tank, (I'm about half way there just alittle more time now :dance: ). This site is definatley TOP of my list for information, I'm sure when I do finaly get my tank you will see a few more post from me!!
BTW should I just remove those plants then and go back to my fake ones :sad: ?

Thanks so much,
Ginger