# Need help identifying algae



## NayrP (9 Mar 2020)

Can you guys help me out in identifying the algae that I am fighting with?  It's been popping up no my hardscape and on my carpeting and slower growing plants (Anubias, buces, S. Repens etc.) And also on most leaves that are slightly shaded. Have my CO2 cranked up as high as I safely can with my fish and have been dosing EI with double the PO4 since I was also having GSA issues. Can't seem to beat this one though. Let me know if you know what it is! I am thinking BBA but am not positive. Thanks in advance!


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## Dr Mike Oxgreen (10 Mar 2020)

Lovely tank!

Yes, I agree it looks like the beginnings of BBA along the edges of leaves. There are two massive threads about what the cause(s) are, and no definite consensus.

If your CO₂ is good, and your fertilisation is generous, then the next thing I would try is 50% water changes every other day (possibly increasing your nutrient dosing a little further to compensate for the lost nutrients). One theory with BBA is that there’s a symbiosis going on, whereby certain types of heterotrophic bacteria break down excess dissolved organics into ammonia, and possibly also into vitamin B12 - either or both of which can be used by BBA. The extra water changes are to keep the level of dissolved organics down. Perhaps look at your O₂ exchange at the surface, because greater oxygenation will favour the “better” autotrophic bacteria.

So I’d do 50% water changes every other day for a couple of weeks, and try to make a little more surface agitation.

What lighting do you have, and how much of it?


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## NayrP (11 Mar 2020)

Thanks for the input! I will try upping the water changes and see if that helps. I am currently doing 50% water changes every week as per EI recommended and am running Seachem Purigen in my filter to try and help with dissolved organics. About a month ago I added a power head to help with flow and CO2 distribution and an Eheim Skim 350 running on about half power to help keep oxygen levels up.

As far as lighting goes I am running two 45W T5s. Trying to slow everything in the tank down a little so i have about half of each tube blocked to reduce the lighting intensity as I find this helps control the GSA that i was getting on the hardscape. Just can't seem to get rid of this BBA. I changed out my substrate from inert gravel to Tropica Soil about 3 months ago and have noticed a big difference in plant health, but recently some new issues have been popping up here and there. This hobby will keep you busy!


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## kilnakorr (18 Mar 2020)

can you take more photos? I'd like a close up of the anubias leaf. It looks more like staghorn on the picture but hard to tell.


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## Bryce (18 Mar 2020)

Looks like staghorn to me.


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## NayrP (6 Apr 2020)

So for the past 2 weeks I have been doing 2-3 50% Water changes and have been really getting inbetween the plants and siphoning everything I see out of there. What I have noticed now is that I am getting really pale growth and on my Hygrophilia Polysperma some brown spotting has started to appear, and the leaves are almost clear. I added an UpAqua Inline Atomizer to try and improve CO2 distribition around the tank. What i discovered when doing all of this though is that my Auto Doser was somehow set to dose everything 3 times per day instead of the 1 time a day that I had planned on to calculate the amount of nutrients that I am dosing. So i have been pretty much dosing 3x the required EI amount of ferts.. (65ppm NO3, 12ppm PO4, 60ppm K, 1.8ppm Fe). Could this be causing the problems that I am seeing? I have heard that Rotalas don't like super high NO3 values, and that elevated Potassium values can influence NO3 uptake which could explain the yellowing, which was leading me to think I was dosing too few nitrates. I attached a few pictures of what I am talking about. What do you guys think? I adjusted my Auto-Doser back to 1 time per day dosing. So I will have to wait and see if that makes any difference.


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## NayrP (6 Apr 2020)

Sorry, it posted my response twice. See above


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## NayrP (12 Apr 2020)

Here is an up close picture of a leaf from my hygrophila polysperma. Thin, brown spotted and very fragile...


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## NayrP (20 Apr 2020)

So I am not having any luck getting rid of this problem or figuring out what is causing it. It seems to appear on every plant regardless if in the light of in the shade and even on new leaves after 3 or 4 days. Any ideas?? It looks just like really thin spots that uniformally appear on the leaves. Is this a CO2 issue as it seems to be structural?


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