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Hello, its been a while, busy at work and i still didnt get internet for my house. I have this algae growing in my 30 gallon. It only grows where my hornwort is growing at the surface. It eventually spreads to all of the hornwort after a while. I try to remove most of it every time i do a water change which is 1-2 times each week. It is very dark green and holds together like a mat. I even have some water aphids on top of the mat of algae. These guys came in when i got my frogbit. That died as it was consumed by the algae. this happened once before, as soon as i removed the hornwort the algae was gone. Any ideas? Could this be cyanobacteria?

Is it soft or is the texture more coarse and what does it smell like? Cyanobacter has an earthy smell and it feels very soft. Most algae also form individual thread-like structures, while cyanobacter is one mushy mat.

It is soft and does not smell like anything. When my dad had it in his 75 a little bit, it smelled sweet.

Hi,
Without actually seeing it it's hard to say what kind of
"algae" you have. Growing in a mat, especially if it is
a very dark green, almost a blue, and slimy, is the text
book definition of BGA or Blue Green Algae. Frequently,
if it is growing along the substrate or the sides of the
tank, when you pull it out of the tank, it will have a
odd smell to it, not a healthy tank smell.

Hornwart concentrates huge amounts of nitrate in itself.
Some call it a nitrate sponge. With all that nitrate,
and growing in thick mats, it would easily offer BGA a
home. BGA enjoys areas with little or no current, and
because of the lack of current, those areas will also
be almost stagnant in that there would be very low oxygen
content in the water. All those options would be found
within a mat of hornwart.

You might alter the surface currents, thin out the mat
(hornwart) and perhaps add some surface agitation.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

add some airstones or increase the flow of your filter...

take out the hornwort and get some new plants...

i have hornwort and it isnt the best plant to keep if algaes are threatening...

also keep an eye on the water perameters...

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Thanks frank, it sounds like BGA, will have to thin it out, its getting to be really thick at the top.