Black Patches On Plants

Hi everyone

Hope someone is able to help me. This is my first tank and a couple of weeks ago decided to add some plants. Since then I have had black patches on one of my plants which is now getting worse.
I was originally told that this was probably a type of algae, but now I'm not too sure.
Since this has started I have reduced the amount of time I have the lights on for (a mix of white and blue LEDs) to just 8 hours a day. I currently do not use any fertiliser or co2.
If you have any ideas on what it is or how I can improve the situation as I really am very new to this

Thanks

I had the same with Java Fern - it could be a nutrient deficiency of some description perhaps linked to the tank being fairly new? I left them unless the black patches got quite bad in which case I cut off the affected leaf. I found the new growth was much less susceptible to the black patches.

I had exactly the same with my java ferns but they're growing back green now and I just cut the damaged leaves off apart from one because interestingly a new baby java fern started growing from the tip of one of the damaged leaves 

Yup that exactly it, I'm going to wait until its a wee bit bigger before I detach it. The endlers dived on it when I first added them and chowed down on the brown algae growing on its root system, it was great fun to watch!

I always think it's best not to add anything to the water if you can avoid it.

There's a list of plant symptoms, causes and cures here that you might find helpful, plus a table of nutrient difficiency problems here.