It sounds like Black Brush Algae and once it has a toe hold in the tank it
is near impossible to eradicate. I have battled it for almost a year now,
tinkering with the nutrient levels, bleach dips for the plants etc., all of
which slowed it down but couldn't kill it off completely.
At the moment I am at the mid-point of a 2 week treatment using a product
called Azoo Brush Algae Killer, recently renamed to Brush Magic. The staff
at my LFS confess that it works a treat, we'll see.
Do a Google on it and you will find lots of suggested treatments for it.
Hopefully one will work for you.
Good luck.


"Nikki Casali" wrote in message
...
Well, that says it all really. I think my 330l planted aquarium is going
through puberty. All this yucky black hair is very unattractive.
Definitely needs the full wax treatment.

Suddenly, I've noticed around the edges and tips of leaves an algae that
looks almost like black scraggy beard hair. I've just finished a course of
treatment to cure ich. That treatment lasted over 2 weeks. I checked the
phosphate level directly after and measured 2.75 mg/l. My tap water, by
the way, contains 2.20 mg/l of phosphate.

I'm wondering whether the ich medication had an impact on plant phosphate
uptake?

Today, the phosphate level is 2.07 mg/l. Yesterday, it measured 2.17 mg/l.
I didn't feed the fish between the 2 measurements.

Other specifics a
Nitrate 25 mg/l (tap 25 mg/l)
pH 7.4
CO2 around 18 mg/l
0.75 watts of fluorescent lighting per litre for 12 hours

Algae eating Fish:
2 Otocinclus
6 Ancistrus
5 Mollies
1 Labeo variegatus

Should I stop feeding the fish for further days to reduce phosphates or
would I be better to place a phosphate removing pouch in my canister
filter? Maybe I should reduce lighting hours?

I don't think any of my algae eating fish are interested in the hairy
stuff. Maybe the mollies would be if I starved them?

Any ideas?

Nikki