# Please identify and why is it only on a couple of leaves?



## TeaHausCanada (17 Aug 2021)

Hello from Canada!  Hope everyone is staying well and healthy.  I have a heavily planted 60P tank, CO2 injection, very little livestock (shrimp and otos) and have been having pretty good success with plant growth and health.  Until this week.  I noticed that on a few leaves of my trident fern, there is some type of algae forming.  What kind of algae is it and should I remove the affected leaves so it doesn't spread?  I've included a pic which hopefully shows what I'm referring to........the fern itself appears healthy and has a whole lot of babies forming on the ends of many leaves.  I'm assuming that means it's happy.  Any advice is appreciated.


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## Kezzab (17 Aug 2021)

Hi, looks like staghorn algae. It's a pest and sign something might be a bit off and that's affecting plant health.

I'd trim off all the affected leaves, water change, filter clean, check co2 and ferts are all on point. It can be quite persistent in my experience, so give yourself a few weeks of keeping everything spot on and hopefully it'll stay away.

K


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## TeaHausCanada (18 Aug 2021)

Thanks for the reply and advice.  I've done a bit of reading and am wondering if it could be a flow issue with the CO2.  Those leaves seem to be in a spot where I don't see many CO2 bubbles.  Maybe I'll remove the worst leaf and move the plant a bit.  Have never had staghorn algae.


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## Kezzab (18 Aug 2021)

Hi, it could be an issue with all sorts, but if you are fertilizing well and keeping the tank 'clean' then co2 is possibly the place to start. Certainly once I properly got co2 at the right level (repeated PH profiles and tweaks to injection rate) and improved flow plant health and growth improved dramatically.
K


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