Dreaded Blackbeard???

[Floridapierce78]

OMG! Is this dreaded black beard algea? I hope not! This is my small 15 gal Fluval flex! I love this tank. Ibhave had ghost shrimp last 4 months and still going and a baby bristlenose and all if my plants are thriving. Pleae tell me what to do!!

 

[seangee]

Looks more like the beginning of staghorn to me. Most likely cause is too much light. No guarantees because algae forms when there is an imbalance between light and nutrients.
I would remove as much as you can manually and reduce the lighting (intensity and / or duration). FWIW in my flex 15 I run the stock lights at 50% for around 9 hours. I also have floating plants which further dilutes the light in the tank.

 

[Sgooosh]

OMG! Is this dreaded black beard algea? I hope not! This is my small 15 gal Fluval flex! I love this tank. Ibhave had ghost shrimp last 4 months and still going and a baby bristlenose and all if my plants are thriving. Pleae tell me what to do!!

to get rid of it quickly give the leaves a firm rub and it will come off
this will help the plants win the battle against algae

 

[Byron]

I won't guess on the actual algae species, but that really doesn't matter, because all "problem" algae is caused by the same thing and must be dealt with the same. In planted tanks, this means the balance between light and nutrients; these must be sufficient for the plant species, and no more or no less. Problem algae is then thwarted.

]Light involves intensity and spectrum, then duration. As has been suggested above, consider the light time (this is easiest to fix). And be careful with any plant additives/fertilizers.