Algae problems

[Planterjonas]

Hi Ive had a 5.5 planted tank since around December and things have been growing well. But ever since March I've been seeing this type of algae start to grow all around me tank. I think it is some type of thread algae and it is spreading fairly quickly. Can anyone tell me what it is and how to stop it? Thanks (sorry about bad pics it is hard to focus)

 

[Planterjonas]

I forgot to say that I have tried a little hydrogen peroxide too and it didn't really seem to help

 

[molly100a]

Try Seachem excel or co2 booster, should take care of it.

 

[Planterjonas]

I also use flourish excel everyday at 1ml and this tough algae still grows

 

[molly100a]

I found small tanks are harder to keep, how long are your lights on?

 

[Planterjonas]

I have the finnex ray 2 and lights are on from around 10am to 6pm

 

[Planterjonas]

Should I do a blackout on my tank for a couple days to get rid of it?

 

[MonkeyMonk86]

I got plants from mylasia that were in the dark for about 20 days, so your plants should do fine with a 3 or 4 day total blackout.

 

[clarkm]

The ray 2 on a tank that small is gonna be a algae nightmare. You should look into pressurized co2

 

[Planterjonas]

Ok thanks for the info maybe I should shorten the photoperiod after maybe a 2-3 day blackout

 

[clarkm]

I would cut it back to 6 hours a day. I have the finnex planted + and I do 6 hours a day and plants are growing fine.

 

[Planterjonas]

I would cut it back to 6 hours a day. I have the finnex planted + and I do 6 hours a day and plants are growing fine. View attachment 235911

Wow looks nice

 

[aqua_chem]

With a much larger deeper tank. The same lights in shallow tank will be much brighter.


What's your fertilizer setup? I agree that this is probably a high light/low co2/low fert situation though.

 

[Planterjonas]

I only use flourish excel and occasional doses of iron for my ludwigia.

 

[Rivercats]

I can't tell but are the strands green? Also are the slimy if you try to grab them and pull them out? Some of those long strands look like Spirogyra. Here's a picture of some Spirogyra on some Nana Petite Anubia I got from a friends tank... Aquarium Advice - Aquarium Forum Community - Rivercats's Album: 55g Planted- Nano fish - Picture. They are green, can grow quite long, and are really slimy to the touch. This is also one of the hardest algaes to deal with if you have it. Reason being is it likes the same environment as plants do, light, CO2, and ferts. For starters I would do a 3 day blackout. Once done do a large 50% WC. Then add some screening to cut down the amount of light that enters the tank and only run lighting 6 hours max. Spirogyra doesn't respond well to treatments with H2O2 or liquid carbons and have found over the years that blackouts, reduced lighting, and limited ferts while trying to eradicate it works the best. I've known some people who use Algaefix in their tanks to combat this as well as the above methods but honestly I would be afraid to use it as many have lost fish. It also can't be used with shrimp and snails.

 

[Planterjonas]

Rivercats,
Yes the algae strands do have a slight green tinge to them and some are quite long. Yesterday I did about a 40% wc and started the 3 day blackout. About I week ago I did use h202 and it didn't really seem to help. Thanks for the info should I do another wc after the blackout still? Thanks

 

[Rivercats]

I would do one just to remove the excess ammonia, nutrients, etc. that dying algae can put into the water.

 

[Planterjonas]

Ok thanks for your input