# "Threatening Threads" Thread



## ncy (May 18, 2008)

Hi everyone, I could use a little guidance on a thread algae issue I'm having.

You see, the problem is that it's threatening to take over my tank... well it mostly has already I guess, but I think (hope) I can beat it with a little help.

I'm trying to get my tank balanced and at the same time do a lot of manual removal of the algae.

It all started when I upgraded my light from 28w to 40w (over a 10 gallon). I believe I may also have been adding too much FE. (was dosing flourish iron but I stopped)

First I got a mild staghorn outbreak, which I believe I got under control by manually removing the algae (thank you tweezers) overdosing excel, and trimming/pulling infected plants.

Well now it's thread algae.

It's been about 2-3 weeks since this algae has shown up. Last week I did a major "hack job" to get rid of all that I could. It was really bad. I trimmed the plants down hard, scrubbed the glass and in-tank equipment with a toothbrush, and did a major water change.

This week I've been adding ferts as normal and the stuff just keeps coming back! I'll probably have to trim the plants again soon, but I don't wanna mess 'em up too much.

I'll give my tank specs and today's H20 test results.

Pics at the bottom. 
Any help is appreciated - Thanks!

Tank: 10 gallon
Light: 40W CF (6700k/10000k)
Photo-period: 7hrs
Substrate: ADA Amazonia
Pressurized C02 (drop checker is yellow/green, KH/pH test falls somewhere between 20-40 ppm)
Filter: Eheim 2211 + Tom Rapids mini filter for extra circulation along substrate
Ferts: Dosing PPS Pro method (added about 1 hr before lights on)
Currently overdosing excel to ward of the staghorn (3ml/day)
Tank is approx 12-15 weeks old
Water change schedule... well I don't really have a schedule for that.

H20 Test Results: Taken at end of photoperiod

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm
Phosphate: 0.1 - 0.2 ppm (very hard to tell)
ph: 6.5 - 6.8 (somewhere in there)
KH: 4 degrees
GH: 6 degrees


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## Crispino Ramos (Mar 21, 2008)

It could be too much light, over feeding your fish, and you need to do a 50 percent water change weekly. You might have to do a 3 day blackout.


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

28W of light is perfect with a 10 gallon and will any plant. The 40w will work with faster growth but it leaves no room for error.


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## ncy (May 18, 2008)

Yeah I was kind of on the fence about moving to 40W but my plants all seem to be much lusher now. Unfortunately the algae is too! 

I don't think I'm overfeeding... wouldn't that lead to an excess of nitrates? At this point it seems like maybe I could use more nitrates?

Has anyone had luck with killing thread algae with a blackout?

I might cut back the photo-period by an hour to see if that helps.


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## bosmahe1 (May 14, 2005)

You might want to try cutting light back to 6 hours, at least till things stabilize. Whenever algae starts to increase in my tank, I reduce photo period to 5 hours and gradually increase it again after the algae subsides. It slows things down until things back to normal. Phosphates could be higher - 2 ppm.


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

Cutting back the photo period will work. However you plants should have 8-10 hours of light so even thought the will grow with six they will grow very slow and not flourish like they should. I was a big believer of the six hour period until I still had bba that would not go away. I finally listened to what I was being told and went with the eight hour, the plants had what they needed and took over. An army of amano shrimp will gobble that up almost over night, but that is treating the symptom not the cause.


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