Is this early beard algae?

[Maduro]

I've been keeping a brackish puffer tank for about 2 years now. I have a school of Mollies that keep the glass totally algae free. Over the last 3-4 months these black spores have populated on one piece of driftwood and seems to be spreading. That specific wood has been in my tanks for almost a decade. I'm not concerned if it is beard algae...I actually think it would be cool if it grew and flowed like hair. I just have not seen anything that looks like this online.

 

[FJB]

Yes, it is black beard algae. The term to use should not be spores, as those are minuscule colonizing bodies (microscopic). What you have is more like clumps, which for some reason, are keeping very short and circular-like. BBA can grow in different forms in different flow regimes and circumstances. What you have is not rare, but not the most common. I don't know what triggers the appearance of the different forms.

 

[Maduro]

Yes, it is black beard algae. The term to use should not be spores, as those are minuscule colonizing bodies (microscopic). What you have is more like clumps, which for some reason, are keeping very short and circular-like. BBA can grow in different forms in different flow regimes and circumstances. What you have is not rare, but not the most common. I don't know what triggers the appearance of the different forms.

Interesting! Thanks for helping me identify it.

 

[Fishyboy🐟🐟🐟]

I've been keeping a brackish puffer tank for about 2 years now. I have a school of Mollies that keep the glass totally algae free. Over the last 3-4 months these black spores have populated on one piece of driftwood and seems to be spreading. That specific wood has been in my tanks for almost a decade. I'm not concerned if it is beard algae...I actually think it would be cool if it grew and flowed like hair. I just have not seen anything that looks like this online. View attachment 1521752

Yup looks like algae to me