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Black spot algae



Hi. After reading the archives a little and thumbing through the pages at 
the krib, I have a question about waht I'm going to call "black spot algae."
Oddly enough, it's black spots that grow on the leaves of my plants. I'm
assuming I'm applying the proper name to the stuff.

My question (well, really two questions): Is black spot algae green spot
algae in a tough disguise? and Do oto cats eat this stuff from the leaves of
plants?

The plants I'm primarily concerned about are anubias, so they have
relatively tough leaves. Occasionally, I scrape the stuff from the leaves,
but since I seem to continually fight this scourge in one of my tanks, I
feel I need a real answer to the problem - or a more realistic one. I am
partly concerned that one of my favorite fish is the root cause of this
problem: a clown loach. Since he keeps a pretty tight rein on the snail
population, I am curious if your typical pond snails and friendly ramshorn
snails are good at nipping black spot algae problems before they become
problems. My other tanks have snails and no black spots on the leaves.

There seemed to be speculation in the archives about whether black spot
algae is actually green spot algae in disguise, but no clear yes or no ...
unless I missed it. Either way, are oto cats or other algae eaters
particularly good at keeping this foe at bay? I have two SAE, and they don't
seem interested.

-Nathan Wittmaier
Holden, MO