Black brush algae..excess phosphates?

Dick wrote in
:

My only problem is pruning the excess growth. I hate throwing out
perfectly healthy plants.

Pruning is part of keeping a plant healthy; without it the plant will look
untidy and being to suffer and die back as it chokes itself out.

In the wild it is natural for a plant to become damaged for one reason or
another. The damage allows the plant to branch and spread. Healthy plants
respond to pruning by producing new growth. Growth unchecked is actually
unnatural.

How much are you pruning? Local aquarium societies often trade plant
cuttings amongst themselves. If you are pruning an enormous amount of
healthy growth, your LFS may be interested in providing you with a small
store credit for your cuttings. 99% of the Java moss we sell comes from
customers or from our own display tanks. I can't remember the last time we
had to order any in.

Dick wrote in
:

160 watts over 55 gallons is almost 3 watts per gallon. I use 1.5 w/g
or lower as the definition of "low light." I don't know what happens
when low light plants are exposed to "high light" conditions. Could
this be a problem?

Yes. Excessive light will damage low light plants and cause algae
problems.

If your tank is extremely low in macro-nutrients you may not see much algae
from excessive light, but the light still may still burn out the
chloroplastid cells and shock or just dwarf the plant.

Even bright light plants may become overrun with algae if it isn't balanced
off with sufficient CO2.

Anubias and Madagascan lace (Aponogeton madagascariensis) are prime
examples of plants that don't fair well and/or become overrun with algae
under very bright direct light.

The only way I know it is destroyed and prosperity Excel, you need to perform the initial dose, then every day thereafter, make a 2 or 3 times the dose 2 weeks. When you put something in the tank, it is direct injection into the algae - it would die in a couple of days, and then to red and white.