# String algae has ruined my life.



## 10gallonplanted (Oct 31, 2010)

Has to be the bulb change. Try switching back and id even go as far as throwing all the plants out.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

10,000k may not be exactly optimal. But I'd say if it caused this big of a problem, then it was just what pushed the tank over the edge; and you have other, more severe problems.

Did you replace the ferts you removed with all those extra water changes?

Why are you running CO2 so high? What's your pH?


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## steven p (Jun 22, 2012)

Lack of nutes from all the w/c's? Caused an imbalance?


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## gnelahc (Nov 14, 2012)

I too ran 1 6500k bulb and a 10000k bulb and did have a small outbreak of string algae. I pull them out whenever they grow long enough to pull but the growth had slowed but is still present. It's either the 2 dufferent bulbs or maybe excess nutrients as I do have 3 other types of algae in there do I would also like to know what it is.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

To answer questions: I ran co2 so high because I'm afraid of algae lol.
Yes I did replace ferts after water changes. I thought it would help slow or stop the algae!  What can I do to kill the algae that is still there?


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## HD Blazingwolf (May 12, 2011)

How do u know the co2 is too high? This is 90% of all algae issues. So the question has to be asked


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## n00dl3 (Jan 26, 2008)

HD Blazingwolf said:


> How do u know the co2 is too high? This is 90% of all algae issues. So the question has to be asked


1+ co2 is usually culprit for algae. Have you always have algae in the past? Does ALL your plants sway? even the lower leaves?


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Snails suffocate in the tank and yes the plants sway and I use a 4dH drop checker and its on yellow.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

I have had 0% algae and great plant growth up until now. So it has to be the light I didn't even think of that.


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## DarkCobra (Jun 22, 2004)

Do you know the tank pH?


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## uberape (Apr 17, 2011)

hair algae thrives on high oxygen i think. I have quite a tall 30g so i need to pump oxygen for some dwarf cichlids at the bottom, but the hair algae just devestates all around where the bubbles are breaking the surface. ive got this plant that helps out compete it a little and it has thin leaves and grows like a mother f,, ill try to find the name, its like purple'green, with needle leaves. my 2 cents. i bloody hate that algae though, hate it.

i found this online havent tried it but will: Barley emits a certain type of enzymes that suppresses the growth of string algae. You can for instance use barley bales or barley extract. Since it only suppresses the growth of string algae, barley will never remove existing algae from the pond or aquarium. Don’t loose heart if it takes some time for the barley to start showing results; it can take several weeks before the enzymes have been thoroughly distributed to the entire pond or aquarium. You can increase the speed by placing barley in parts of the pond or aquarium where the current is strong.


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## happi (Dec 18, 2009)

how is the flow? i can also agree on brighter light causng this algae along with extra doses of Fe.


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## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

I would posit that too much light is the cause of the majority of algea issues.

You only posted color temp on your lighting, so it makes it hard to judge, but you could be blasting your tank with way too much light. Access to a PAR meter?


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

pH is at 6.2 and the gH and kH are both at 2. Light is a 2x T5HO 24" and I think 24watts each and are 16" above the bottom of the tank. On for 8 hours a day.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Just to post: I have proceeded to use AlgaeFix to kill it. I know this may seem like a poor excuse to not keep up husbandry but I have keeping planted tank for almost 2 years now and regular tanks waaay before that so I understand proper husbandry and I can you it's not the cleanliness.

From reading it sounds that after the initial bloom it doesn't really stop unless eradicated. So hopefully this will put it to an end seeing as everything else is growing extremely well and other algae are non-existant.

Forgot to mention; Prior to the new 10,000k bulb, I was running lights for 12 hours a day (but was doing this for 2 weeks by then) and maybe it was just building up for it and when the 10,000k came in, which was going to have more PAR since it was a new bulb and maybe better spectrum it just went over. I do miss 12 hours a day lighting as the plants grew so well and a very nice red but it's not anything to me to risk it over another algae break like this. I am going to try the 10,000k again after the dying algae is completely gone.l


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## vvDO (Oct 18, 2010)

Took a look at your journal and have to say it's looking great. I also noted the time you started mentioning the algae soon after you had purchased new plants. It's possible you may have introduced it then and at the same time you made some changes to your layout.
Hope algae fix works out and the string doesn't come back.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Thanks! that makes feel better!  

I didn't take pictures of it at it's worse, I should've though.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Definitely shorten your photo period. The light intensity is causing yor algae to flourish...


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## ADAtank (Jul 26, 2011)

did you fix the problem?


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## nyxkitten (Jul 24, 2012)

Ditto. Did algaefix work on string algae?


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

Lil' Swimz$ said:


> pH is at 6.2 and the gH and kH are both at 2. Light is a 2x T5HO 24" and I think 24watts each and are 16" above the bottom of the tank. On for 8 hours a day.


I have my pH at 6.0 at a KH of 2 FYI.
Same light period, likely 2x more light.


Yes, algaefix will eradicate the algae in question here.

I've not seen it NOT work yet.

Still, I've also had other tanks I've exposed my arm that had spores and threads of hair algae on it.

Some tanks got it, some did not. I noted one tank got it 2-3x, it had less CO2 than the others curiously.

Same sediment, same water, same ferts, a little less light but same type of lights, similar effects on water changes. You can prune your way out of hair algae and carefully attack and clean it out, it takes a weeks though and a lot of labor.

So back to good care and focus on the plants.

Your CO2 is not that high also.About 38 ppm.

Hair algae also prefers certain plant species.
These tend to be fine needle and fast growing weeds.
Less light can also help stop new growth of hair algae.

Which also suggest a CO2 issue.
Fast growing weeds will consume more of the CO2 than other plants and if the concentration changes during the day or much over time, then they will be the 1st to respond.

Food for thought.

So trimming the weeds more often can also help.


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## Lil' Swimz$ (Jul 24, 2010)

Sorry for the delay! I didn't realize there were more posts.



ADAtank said:


> did you fix the problem?





nyxkitten said:


> Ditto. Did algaefix work on string algae?


Yes! It did kill it. I dosed every day for a week and it turned black starting on the 4th day, I would siphon it out as it died.

It worked good, I was impressed. I had snails in the tank a they weren't affected. Only thing I noticed though was that some of the tips of the plants were kinda stunted, but not all were affected and that was easily fixed with a trim.

It's not something I would want to use often and get overly relied on it but it worked good for me in a pinch.



plantbrain said:


> I have my pH at 6.0 at a KH of 2 FYI.
> Same light period, likely 2x more light.
> 
> 
> ...


REALLY appreciate the response. Since the whole ordeal I have bumped the co2 way up. It definitely helped that I removed the cherry barbs since they were so finicky with it. It's now up to a little less than yellow with 4kH fluid that I just changed and tested too. (sorry, that definitely does not sound scientific at all!) Have also increased the surface agitation and the fish seem okay really.

Also, I have had this weird algae pop up on this rock almost the whole entire time I've had this setup... it just started to spread about 2 weeks ago, not bad, just more on the rocks and a few sections on the HC (that I trimmed off) and since then hasn't grown but removal of it is near impossible! It does not react to H2O2 and I can't scrub it off either!

Here is a photo:









Also: here is some pictures of my tank so you can see that it is Hair Algae free! The second picture is it after a trim.


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## plantbrain (Dec 15, 2003)

That's BBA, common after a CO2 issue.

You can spot treat with excel when you do a water change.

Keep the Blyxa hacked back, it's a weed and can take over.

Less plant biomass= less CO2 demand, but.....there's a balance there, you do not want feast and famine. Best to trim a little often.


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