Best Method For BBA/Thread Algae

[PrettyFishies]

Looks like my tank is being overrun by BBA and thread algae. I use Co2 injection, dose 3x a week and have too many fish in my tank... (breeding swordtails).

What's the best method of fixing this problem? Yes, I'm trying to give away my extra swords and I keep the Co2 around 35-40ppm using the kH/PH method of measure.

 

[Purrbox]

Have you double checked the CO2 level of your water when all the CO2 has been gassed off? If there is buffer present that is messing up the KH/pH relationship you may have less CO2 than you think.

 

[Burks]

Reduce your micros and up your macros. It worked for my thread algae problem.

Also look into treating the tank with H2O2, that has worked well for many people (including myself).

 

[7Enigma]

Depends on how bad it has infested your tank and how easily you can remove the plants to treat.

If its still in the early stages you can remove the affected leaves. If its covering your plants your best option is to remove the plants from the tank and do a bleach or hydrogen peroxide dip. Your third option for plants you can't easily remove is treatment of the problem IN the tank, but this carries several downsides and needs to be carefully done.

How long do you plan on keeping the tank overstocked? Do you have an algae cleanup crew in the tank already, or plan to get one? SAE's are well known for being one of the few that will eat this stuff. I think American Flag Fish are also known to eat it but SAE's are pretty docile and probably won't cause problems in your tank. My last Oto just recently bit the dust (I realized I hadn't seen him for a couple days and during my weekly 50% PWC think I found some less edible parts of him). In my tank a fish can bite the dust and I'll never even know due to all the plants! Anyways my plan is to get a couple SAE's in the next couple of weeks to help keep the tank pristine. Unfortunately I only battle staghorn algae which I am unaware of any fish that will eat it....

Can you post a couple of pictures so we can get a better idea of how bad the problem is?

 

[Alshain]

I'm glad you posted this thread, I have had a similar problem with a very similar tank (swordtails and all). My thread algae has been driving me nuts, I don't have BBA yet though (knocks on wood). Its all over the plants, and most of my plants are crypts or delicate stem plants so taking them all out is a bad idea. I just don't know what to do anymore. I've tried all kinds of changes in my dosing regimen to no avail, if I manually remove it, it comes back next week. I use DIY CO2 which I replace 1 of 2 bottles every week and the PH/KH don't falter much, in fact I have high CO2 (about 48ppm).

 

[7Enigma]

I've heard the thread algae is common with high dissolved organics. Once that stage is set I would get it when I was dosing Fe at a higher level then I am now (and not seeing the thread algae). It's not caused by a fert per se, but if your water has high levels of dissolved solids it exacerbates the problem. Also our DIY CO2 can always play a role with fluctuating CO2 levels, even with the 2-stage system like both you and I have.

I'm switching to pressurized shortly due to this fluctuation. The main problem for me is we don't have central air in our house. So we pretty much only turn on the air in individual rooms when we are in them. The tank stays pretty consistent as long as the room isn't let go for several days, but the CO2 bottles which are much smaller drastically change output levels when the room is 90F compared to 70F. And I'm too lazy to insulate them (they are positioned up on a container and it would be tough to do).