Algae??

Hello!
What is this on my plants? There are lots of black patches and spots on a few leaves in my tank? Is this some sort of algae? Also, there seems to be some debris accumulating on the plants (I don't know what it is) and my nerite snails aren't willing to clean it .
Does anyone know what this is?

The wispy thread-like stuff is algae. The black patches may be nitrogen (ammonia/ammonium) deficiency. Or due to the light. This is a shade plant, floating plants over it help with the algae issue.

Are there fish, and how many, and what tank size? Do you use any fertilizers?

Byron said:

The wispy thread-like stuff is algae. The black patches may be nitrogen (ammonia/ammonium) deficiency. Or due to the light. This is a shade plant, floating plants over it help with the algae issue.

Are there fish, and how many, and what tank size? Do you use any fertilizers?

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On the part of fish and tank size, you will be disappointed. I have 1 leopard danio, 2 rosy barbs and 2 cardinal tetras all in a 40 litre tank. I am considering giving the rosy barbs away but the danio and tetras are very old for each species so will probably die quite soon anyways.
I don't use any plant fertilizer.
Last time I put floating plants in the tank, they were thriving until the rosy barbs ate all the roots and they died. I am not sure if I can decrease the light levels but I'll try to find out.
Oh I thought the wispy thread parts were the structure of the leaf but that area somehow died?

The light does not look all that bright. There may more likely be a nutrient deficiency here. A comprehensive supplement works best. Sparingly though, it too can promote algae. I still think I see algae on leaves. And low light goes with low nutrient level.

Byron said:

The light does not look all that bright. There may more likely be a nutrient deficiency here. A comprehensive supplement works best. Sparingly though, it too can promote algae. I still think I see algae on leaves. And low light goes with low nutrient level.

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Is there anything you would recommend me to do? If I get a supplement, what would it supplement? And will my nerite snails eat the algae or do I need to get rid of it in a different way?

StripySnailGirl04 said:

Is there anything you would recommend me to do? If I get a supplement, what would it supplement? And will my nerite snails eat the algae or do I need to get rid of it in a different way?

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Algae is the symptom of the problems @Byron outlined. Get rid of the problem, and you get rid of the symptom.

I personally can't see any algae, but I can see that it's been damaged...like it's been munched on! Have you tried rubbing the leaf between your fingers to see if the black stuff comes off? Mine looks a little similar to yours...

I can see algae on mine but not yours...and mine have been neglected of nutrients a little while

CaptainBarnicles said:

I personally can't see any algae, but I can see that it's been damaged...like it's been munched on! Have you tried rubbing the leaf between your fingers to see if the black stuff comes off? Mine looks a little similar to yours...
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I can see algae on mine but not yours...and mine have been neglected of nutrients a little while

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I'll have a try tomorrow, thank you!

I would suggest you use a complete fertilizer. Comprehensive means it has everything, but less of the otherwise normally available nutrients, so it supplements the naturally-present nutrients rather than overloading the tank. You're in NA I assume, so there is Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium, or Brightwell Aquatics' FlorinMulti. It takes very little, dosed following the weekly water change. The liquid here, as these plants do not have substrate roots, everything is assimilated from the water column by roots and leaves.