Black Algae on live plants

[Moonstruck]

I've had trouble with this weird, fuzzy black algae growing on my decorations, plants and even the snail's shells! I have taken everything out of the tank and washed it, washed the substrate, washed and disinfected the decorations and even gently scrubbed off the snail's shells, but the problem is the live plants - the one with large, firm leaves I was able to scrub most of the algae off of, but there's a fern that I obviously can't scrub down, and I'm worried that if I put them back in the tank the algae will spread again. Is there a fish and plant safe way to get rid of this particular kind of algae without having to tear the tank apart again or throwing out the plants that have it on them?

[Cory]

What you're experiencing is called black beard algae. Usually the easiest way to combat it is using a fish that will eat it. Like a siamese algae eater. We have articles and videos on different algaes you can reference. One thing to be on the watch for, is with everything getting cleaned like that you could see a disruption in your beneficial bacteria and could have a sneaky ammonia spike.

[Moonstruck]

I'll see if I can find one, thank you! Do the siamese algae eaters do better in small groups or individually, and how many would you recommend for a 20 gallon tall tank?

[Streetwise]

I have two in a 16 and two in a 20. They are now my largest fish.

[Moonstruck]

Is there a place you would recommend getting them? The only petstores anywhere near where I live are petsmart and petco, neither of which I've ever seen siamese algae eaters at (and I question their fish anyway), and the only online stores I've seen charge around fifty bucks or more for shipping.