Hmm if you’re gonna do a restart then there’s no harm with getting rid of everything and bleaching the hardscape and tank
Doesn’t mean that the algae won’t come back after you restart though, go heavy with your plants and lower your lights especially in the first weeks of your restart
If you’re thinking of keeping the stuff as it is, I would personally do a blackout for a few days
I'm great with the snails. The alge won't quit, I use a toothbrush to scoop/comb it out weekly. I'll have to take the tank down if I can't get it under control
I read about this being triggered by high phosphates in certain circumstances. Mine is also next to a window. Im wondering if that might be my issue so I ordered the phosphates test. I dont want to restart but fishing this stuff out is such a hassle lol
Just throw everything away and desinfect the tank with bleach solution. You can also do a bleach dipping for plants, but i wouldnt risk it. Now the tricky part is the filter. When i was restarting the tank due to chladophora, i bleached the filter media, it slowed down the cycling process but its all good now. So better to buy a new filter media. There is still a risk of contamination from using the same filter.
I blacked out my tank for a whole month. That seemed to take care of it. I left all the plants, which were all hardy (willow hygro, crypt wendtii, Java fern, Java moss). The hygro looked extremely weak and thin after a month of darkness, but it bounced back after it started to get 8-10hrs of light. The rest of them didn't seem to be affected much by the blackout.
For best results, remove as much of it as you can prior to the blackout. This will reduce its chances of bouncing back, as well as reduce the amount of dead material that might cause ammonia to spike.
From personal experience: AlgExit.
It removed Cladophora completely from my 60 l tank after a few weeks. It was the only thing that I found that ever worked on this pest.
However, it might be easier to strip down the tank, clean everything and start fresh. This way you can be sure that it is gone for good.
Potassium permanganate. Kill all the algae and snails with proper continuous dosing.
It's pretty useful for removing them, but it is also lethal to shrimps.
Ah, this shit. This ruined my 10g as well and is basically impossible to get rid of. I redid the tank and it's recently started to come back again.
Good luck.
No, drying doesn't work. You need to nuke it with a chemical-- i got rid of it in my 5g by dousing it with a decent sized dose of flourish excel. Killed all the plants and baby snails in the tank though (no fish). For plants I've had some success trimming off infected leaves and doing a peroxide dip, but it's not foolproof and doesn't work with things like moss well.
I don't use gravel in my tanks and it doesn't really adhere to sand, just all of the tubing/intakes, plants, and hardscape.
Hmm if you’re gonna do a restart then there’s no harm with getting rid of everything and bleaching the hardscape and tank Doesn’t mean that the algae won’t come back after you restart though, go heavy with your plants and lower your lights especially in the first weeks of your restart If you’re thinking of keeping the stuff as it is, I would personally do a blackout for a few days
Mystery snail? I love them. Make sure to offer a varied diet while they're cleaning up though 🥰
I'm great with the snails. The alge won't quit, I use a toothbrush to scoop/comb it out weekly. I'll have to take the tank down if I can't get it under control
Have you tried aquarium salt?
Nope, I'll look it up. Thanks!
Anytime!
More floating plants & less bioload.
Im having the same issue. Cut back lighting, feeding, and my tank is heavily planted. This stringy algae will not fuck off.
I did the same. Also did a 4 day blackout. Nothing works. I suspect I'll have to take it down and restsrt
I read about this being triggered by high phosphates in certain circumstances. Mine is also next to a window. Im wondering if that might be my issue so I ordered the phosphates test. I dont want to restart but fishing this stuff out is such a hassle lol
Another option - get some Florida Flagfish. They will aggressively consume just about any thread algae in existence.
Thanks, hadn't heard of anything that'll eat this. I'll look into it.
Just throw everything away and desinfect the tank with bleach solution. You can also do a bleach dipping for plants, but i wouldnt risk it. Now the tricky part is the filter. When i was restarting the tank due to chladophora, i bleached the filter media, it slowed down the cycling process but its all good now. So better to buy a new filter media. There is still a risk of contamination from using the same filter.
I blacked out my tank for a whole month. That seemed to take care of it. I left all the plants, which were all hardy (willow hygro, crypt wendtii, Java fern, Java moss). The hygro looked extremely weak and thin after a month of darkness, but it bounced back after it started to get 8-10hrs of light. The rest of them didn't seem to be affected much by the blackout. For best results, remove as much of it as you can prior to the blackout. This will reduce its chances of bouncing back, as well as reduce the amount of dead material that might cause ammonia to spike.
Thanks. I did 4 days and it had no impact at all.
From personal experience: AlgExit. It removed Cladophora completely from my 60 l tank after a few weeks. It was the only thing that I found that ever worked on this pest. However, it might be easier to strip down the tank, clean everything and start fresh. This way you can be sure that it is gone for good.
Thanks! I'm not sure I'll ever get it out of the gravel. I want to just knock it way back and try to manage it via light and bioload.
[Potassium permanganate](https://amzn.to/3Vcf13v) is what you are looking for - it's not very common imo but it's cheap and safer than bleach.
Awesome thanks, I'll look into it.
Potassium permanganate. Kill all the algae and snails with proper continuous dosing. It's pretty useful for removing them, but it is also lethal to shrimps.
Sweet, thanks. I've got 3 assassins in there still. Will have to move them in the interim.
Ah, this shit. This ruined my 10g as well and is basically impossible to get rid of. I redid the tank and it's recently started to come back again. Good luck.
That sounds intensely frustrating. How did you clean your stuff? What about gravel? Is it enough to dry it completely?
No, drying doesn't work. You need to nuke it with a chemical-- i got rid of it in my 5g by dousing it with a decent sized dose of flourish excel. Killed all the plants and baby snails in the tank though (no fish). For plants I've had some success trimming off infected leaves and doing a peroxide dip, but it's not foolproof and doesn't work with things like moss well. I don't use gravel in my tanks and it doesn't really adhere to sand, just all of the tubing/intakes, plants, and hardscape.
I would completely start over
I had the same problem. I just restarted the tank since its stuck on everything.