reduce black algae

i am wondering how to control black algae that is starting to grow on my anubias plant. in the past i had green algae and that was usually controlled by golden algae. can i add a flying fox to the same tank as the one which already has a golden algae eater. do they get along? i do have some ram horn snails. they reached a self-limiting number---but not eating the black algae. am i turning the lights too long 10-12 hrs a day? i do have a full tank of plants.

Im sort of having the same problem, but I believe mine to be thread/hair algae and it is black as well. If you read my other thread which is Hair Algae in the planted tank, you will be able to find more information. For algae all the problems are sort of the same, they all have to deal with water conditons.

from my experiance black algea is a sign of poor water quality. I would test your water and see what your chemistry is like. Most lfs will test your water for free if you dont have the stuff to do it your self. It could also be a sign of low oxygen levels but i dont remember if that was black or red algea. I have never had to deal with any other algea then green algea and coraline algea. But thats where I would start.

In addition to the steps suggested by littleman, you should know that anubias plants are a low light, slow growing species. They do not need strong light, especially in a shallow aquarium. Algae growth will also be a problem if the aquarium is in direct sunlight or if it has too many nutrients, or as littleman said, dirty water. Nothing fixes aquarium problems quite as well as partial water changes.

I would have to agree with John on this. I was just at the pet store today and was picking up some r/o recondtioner and ran into a major fish guy that works/owns a place called aquarium depot outside of Baltimore Maryland and he was just telling me to turn down my lights and add more plants. They said that when you have high intensity lighting and not enough plants the light is just too much and algae starts to grow. So, they told me to tun down my lighting to about 6 hours a day.

Also, they told me a trick. They said for corals most pet shops use a low light, this allows the corals to reach more for the light making them larger and more colorful. But then when people bring them home, and they have 3 or 4 watts per gallon, the coral shrinks up and people wonder why.

So to make a long story short, reduce the amount of watts, or amount of hours the lights are on, and do partial water changes, possibly add some more plants to fill the voids and the algae should go away.

Thank YOu All!!! this helps. i have a 24w bulb in my 12gallon tank. which is about 12 inches tall. and i am leaving it on for 12 hrs a day. i thought there wasnt enough light (ha ha). no wonder i am getting all kinds of algae. i noticed today on the java fern there was black and red algae.
i will reduce the amount of time the light is on and see how it plays out. i do have a lot of plants, so lets see.

Java fern is also a low light plant, and a small aquarium is much more difficult to keep clean than is a large one.

Java moss is a good low light plant.

My Wisteria does pretty well without much light as well....