Soak it in a bleach solution, 1 part bleach to 19 parts water. Scrub again. This could fade it somewhat but "should" kill the algae. I have heard that some have had no luck with this, but that could be because the algae came back because the source wasn't eliminated. They just cleaned the ornament to be recovered by the algae. Just to make sure it is a "black" hair like algae? or BBA Black Brush Algae

i dunno if its hair algae... looks like someone dry brushed black paint on the coral. its all over my blue peice and my yellow peice but i've got an arch that is drab in color and i didn't notice any algae on it. algae isn't picky about the color of its surface is it?

Is it possible its just a chemical reaction with the color they used to dye it or the paint? Sometimes your water can have high element levels in it. Manganese will stain things black for one. I guess is it stained, or a type of slimy or fuzzy growth?

important thing about using bleach. After dipping and soaking in a bleach solution, rinse well and let air and SUN dry. The sun will take care of ridding any remaining toxic properties of bleach.

I would toss it out not worth the effort to clean.

Keith

Keithgh,
'I would toss out not worth the effort to clean'

Sounds like some of the stuff in my fridge! haha

When I had a fish only marine tank I would take the white coral out and bleach it clean with almost half and half bleach and water and soak it overnite. Then I would rinse it a bunch of times in clean water and then soak overnite again in freshwater with a bunch of chlorine remover added. Bleach is basically made of chlorine (chlorine bleach) and will dissipate with the chlorine remover. Left my corals bright and clean and never lost a fish.

Lee

Hi, just to let you know I tried the toothbrush thing for quite some time on that tough black algae -- never really did the job. I don't like to use bleach -- had a bad experience with it, even after letting some plastic plants "air out" over a week long.... So now I use a finger nail brush cleaner that I bought at Walgreens. It has short, hard bristles, and is pretty cheap. It works GREAT !!! My plants look better than new, and I don't have to scrub them hardly at all. Good luck!