# anubias/java fern - defficieny or algae



## mitko1994 (Dec 13, 2012)

Hey everyone,

I'm confused as to what the stuff on the leaves of my anubias is? Some people say its BBA some say it's some sort of a deficiency. Today I took out my anubias driftwood and treated it with hydrogen peroxide(10-15 sprays) to remove the supposed algae. While rinsing it I wasn't able to rub off any of the build up so I just put it back in the tank thinking it wasn't algae. I posted some picks of the anubias and fern. Notice how most of the anubias leaves are kind of missing their edges(no fish is picking on them) and look to be stunned and not fully developed. What do you think? Could it be that it's getting too much light(28PAR at 18") considering I don't dose any form of CO2? I've recently started doing 4on - 5off - 4on for a total of 8h/day. My nitrates are pretty high at about 40 ppm and ammonia is at 0.25 ppm. My only plants are anubias, java fern and java moss. I'm guessing the plants I have are not enough to soak up all the waste from the fish load.
















Thanks


----------



## walzon1 (Jan 28, 2014)

anubias and java are slow growers that sometimes will do this in a new environment, this is normal. It can take months for them to adjust, leave them be and they will be fine


----------



## kman (Dec 11, 2013)

Possible you damaged the leaves by spraying h2o2 on them?

As to the algae, it's a little hard to tell.


----------



## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Hard to tell. Closer picture of Anubias would help but like said the fern especially will look bad from the move till it gets new leaves.
I would use the calculator in the fert section to make sure it was getting the correct amount of Phosphates(KH2PO4) and also look into getting the nitrates down some.
Could be from over feeding/too many fish but the ammonia being there to me indicates your bio-filter is taxed, not enough of. I can't tell the difference between two of the measurements on that card for the nitrate test so I go by what was suggested to me a while back...yellow is too low/orange is correct/red or redish is too much.
The difference between 10-20 and the difference between 40-80 I can't tell them apart.
Rinsing the prefilter better may be all you need. Not the bio part but the part before that. And in tank water which you took out when you change water.
Larger water changes or done each week may be enough also.


----------

