wierd growth in my aquarium

Question
I have a 29 gallon tank with 5 small rams and one geophagus juripari and a pleco.  My water is crystal clear with my two stage filter(charcol and bio filter). I have this strange black growth in my tank.  It is plant like with one inch long spikes.  I use well water when I change ten percent once a week. What can I do to eliminate the growth?

Answer
Hi Steve;

It is probably beard algae. It is a tough one to get rid of. Most fish don't like to eat it either. You have to simply pull it out and throw it away. It isn't harmful, just weird-looking. For all types of algae, water changes really help. I would suggest 25% weekly. It will remove the "food" in the form of fish waste that helps algae grow. This is a better water change amount for any tank anyway. 10% is often not enough.

Some fish such as Gold Barbs eat it. Your tank looks pretty full though, so it's up to you. Your Geo and Pleco can get pretty big.

Followups welcome

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

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