Is this cladophora

[Potluck]

I have a question, I have what looks to be cladophora algae in my tank (strong strands of hair like algae) it's starting to take over I have to remove it every week, I cant remove it off my more fragile plants like pearl grass or it up roots the plant or breaks it as well as my buceps, I have done research on this type but nothing im doing is working, I've added a 425 gph hydor to go along with my 2 aquaclear hob's on my 55 gallon an (AC 110 and a AC 70) so I highly doubt flow is the issue, I got all the other algae under control by increasing my light intensity and photo period and ferts as well as chemiclean due to my plants weren't getting enough light to grow so the bga took over but that's gone now, but now i have this which is suffocating the plants if I don't carefully remove it and believe me it's a pain to do so. How can I rid of this? I do not use co2, I dose 8-10 ml thrive a week with a 50% weekly water change I don't have any dead undergrowth but I do trim if I see what might be a bad leaf, I know algaefix is recommended but I honestly want to know what I can do to fix it without chemicals as I did also use chemiclean for the bga, I don't have an much experience as many of you as well as as much money invested as some of you I just want to save what I do have, I did plant a wisteria that I topped from the recently added wisteria I added in a spot that will eventually over shadow the buceps and the bad area that has a lot of the cladophora or at least that's what I think it is (even though the spot I planted the wisteria in is far from ideal, it's in the middle of the tank) , can someone give me a concrete answer to what this is and what I can do?

I'm over my quota for pics so here's an imgur link
Cladophora? https://imgur.com/a/O0qcYpQ

 

[Fresh2o]

I wish I had a decent answer for you. I had some in my no CO2, non-fertilized shrimp tank not too long after adding some mini Marimo moss balls. I reduced the lighting period to deal with some nuisance string algae. I removed clado and string algae periodically.
Over time the tank reached a nice balance where the plants were growing well and algae was no where to be found. Then again, it’s a shrimp tank and perhaps their constant grazing on surfaces played a role in the algae suppression. Idk.

 

[Potluck]

I wish I had a decent answer for you. I had some in my no CO2, non-fertilized shrimp tank not too long after adding some mini Marimo moss balls. I reduced the lighting period to deal with some nuisance string algae. I removed clado and string algae periodically.
Over time the tank reached a nice balance where the plants were growing well and algae was no where to be found. Then again, it’s a shrimp tank and perhaps their constant grazing on surfaces played a role in the algae suppression. Idk.

I don't know if it's cladophora or just really tough string algae but it's starting to url me, everything is going so smoothly except I can't get my Ludwigia repens to grow after topping them

 

[Fresh2o]

Have you tried spot treatment with H2O2 or Excel/Glut? I cant recall if it will actually kill it or piss it off.
As for the Ludwigia, did you replant the tops? Are the “bottoms” struggling. I found that after a few trimmings it was best to remove the base as leaf formation slowed down and it became an algae magnet. I only grew those in a CO2 rich tank so I have no experience with those in low tech. Do you have Bacopa caroliniana? I found that it was a resilient and not too demanding of a plant.

 

[Potluck]

Have you tried spot treatment with H2O2 or Excel/Glut? I cant recall if it will actually kill it or piss it off.
As for the Ludwigia, did you replant the tops? Are the “bottoms” struggling. I found that after a few trimmings it was best to remove the base as leaf formation slowed down and it became an algae magnet. I only grew those in a CO2 rich tank so I have no experience with those in low tech. Do you have Bacopa caroliniana? I found that it was a resilient and not too demanding of a plant.

I trimmed the top dipped them in peroxide mixture for bga rinsed and replanted and discarded the bottoms out into my herb garden lol, they aren't getting any taller even with me increasing the blue in my light to cause more stretch, I do have bacopa caroliniana, I have a lot of anubias, 7 cryptocoryne Wendtii reds, 1 Amazon, cryptocoryne spiralis, water sprite, wisteria, brownie blue buceps, rotala rotundifolia, moneywart, Ludwigia repens, pearl grass
Tank https://imgur.com/gallery/gZOVcaB

 

[Potluck]

It actually looks like green hair now that I've researched it, miscellaneous green hair or whatever is called, but it says caused by excess organics/Imbalance in ferts/co2, over here scratching my head because all my water parameters are perfect as usual, filters aren't gunked up I do light top layer Vacs weekly, it also states poor plant health but I see nothing wrong with the plants what so ever, this hobby is supposed to be fun [emoji849]

 

[Autumnsky]

Are you using any Purigen? Phosguard?

What are your TDS? Do you know what the TDS consist of, like organic or Calcium, magnesium?

Sometimes your food selection contribute. What are your foods?

And what kind of light(s) are you using? Old, older?

Do you have a pic of the tank/FTS?

What is the TDS out of the tap?

 

[Barliman]

If it is cladophora, I had good results with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) injected directly into the clump with the filters off for 15 minutes. I never could get rid of it until I started using pressurized CO2, but the peroxide helped me keep it under control.

 

[Potluck]

Are you using any Purigen? Phosguard?

What are your TDS? Do you know what the TDS consist of, like organic or Calcium, magnesium?

Sometimes your food selection contribute. What are your foods?

And what kind of light(s) are you using? Old, older?

Do you have a pic of the tank/FTS?

What is the TDS out of the tap?

I have a phone full Of pics, I did post some of the clad and one of the tank in the links as my photos won't post here because I'm over on my limit, my light is a fluval plant 3.0 running about 60-65% @ 6.5 hours a day, I run my phosphate at 1ppm per 10 nitrate, my nitrate is 15-20 my phosphate is a bit over at 2.5 as phosphate does not cause algae from everything I've read, I have no plant defiencies that I can see or tell of only thing is my Ludwigia repens aren't growing as they were covered in bga so I topped them very short but they are not getting bigger so I'm thinking I need to increase the light more but afraid to as I don't run co2, tank tds is 148 - 155 weekly depending, I feed the fish new life spectrum optimum 4 times a week, I don't know what the calcium is or the breakdown of the tds. I run nothing in my filters except the sponge, floss and media.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 15-20
Ph 7.5
Tds 148-155
Phosphate 2.5
Kh 5
Gh 6-6.5

 

[Potluck]

If it is cladophora, I had good results with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) injected directly into the clump with the filters off for 15 minutes. I never could get rid of it until I started using pressurized CO2, but the peroxide helped me keep it under control.

I won't use h2o2 to many fish deaths have occurred in many tanks when it was the go to for algae about a 1.5 years ago, I also don't like dosing excel as the last time I did spot dosing 2 of my fish died, I cannot say it was the excel as that night I fed freeze dried tubifex for the first time in 6 months so it could of been the tubifex.

 

[ZxC]

I wish I could help, because H2O2 and Excel are the go-to for dealing with this stuff.

Excel will not kill fish if used responsibly. Neither will H2O2 if only spot dosed at SMALL levels. It is an easy and inexpensive way in helping keep algae at bay.

Any pictures of your tank / plants? What are you using for fertilizers? Macros AND micros.

How about grabbing some oto cats? Amano shrimp? Nerite snails? They will help.

You could try a blackout.

Manual removal is best, both algae and any poor looking plants need to go.

If it was my tank, I would spot treat with H2O2, remove as much as possible, perform a large water change. I would then completely black the tank out for 5 days, perform another manual removal / spot treat / large water change. I would keep feeding low, lighting at 4-5 hours a day on a preset "plant" one (low blue, for now) and begin dosing Excel at 1.5 x the rate DAILY. Keep filters clean, and flow at a moderate level. I would buy some oto cats / nerite snails and a literal army of amano shrimps (if no large fish, but you've got tetras and rainbows??? so you're likely fine).

 

[Potluck]

I wish I could help, because H2O2 and Excel are the go-to for dealing with this stuff.

Excel will not kill fish if used responsibly. Neither will H2O2 if only spot dosed at SMALL levels. It is an easy and inexpensive way in helping keep algae at bay.

Any pictures of your tank / plants? What are you using for fertilizers? Macros AND micros.

How about grabbing some oto cats? Amano shrimp? Nerite snails? They will help.

You could try a blackout.

Manual removal is best, both algae and any poor looking plants need to go.

If it was my tank, I would spot treat with H2O2, remove as much as possible, perform a large water change. I would then completely black the tank out for 5 days, perform another manual removal / spot treat / large water change. I would keep feeding low, lighting at 4-5 hours a day on a preset "plant" one (low blue, for now) and begin dosing Excel at 1.5 x the rate DAILY. Keep filters clean, and flow at a moderate level. I would buy some oto cats / nerite snails and a literal army of amano shrimps (if no large fish, but you've got tetras and rainbows??? so you're likely fine).

Are my links I posted in my first couple posts not working? There's one with pictures of the algae and one with how the tanks set up, I ran into issues when I had bga due to my light was not on long enough and was running at to low of intensity, algae photosynthesizes quicker with less light than plants do, my plants weren't growing which allowed the bga to take over, I did increase my ferts as well from 4 ml to 8-10 ml weekly, I reversed what everyone recommended on a different forum than what was given because it was getting worse by lowering the light and by lowering the photo period, I had no plant growth which allowed the algae to take foothold, I don't feel comfortable messing with my light anymore my plants are growing very well they could probably use more light tbh as my pearl grass even though it's growing its not growing as fast as it should where I can trim and replant to make my carpet. I do have excel but I I have a bunch of this stuff so spot treating would take a lot I'll post the links again or I'll try to post pictures right from imgur, it's green fluff algae and possibly cladophora I can't tell the difference, as far as the Otos I am going to get a school of them I just dint think my water parameters are ideal with 15-20 nitrate and high nutrient levels but I'm not sure.
https://i.imgur.com/nNAUou3.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/7Ny5vS9.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/IuFZFvA.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/W9NmwNb.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/U3QHjLs.jpg

 

[ZxC]

Oto cats in a tank that has seen 160ppm NO3, and tons of other ferts:

Luck of the draw with otos, even if a few die, buy more, the strong ones will live.