String algae has ruined my life.

[Lil' Swimz$]

String algae is causing me to break down. I love my tank so much and coming home from school seeing all the plants smothered in string algae breaks my heart. I cleaned out most of it and all the plants' bottoms are completely dead. What happened! Things I changed differently:

~Switched out a 6500k to a 10,000k, so now I now I have a 6500k and a 10,000k.

~Added some plants, that quickly melted. Have been doing waterchanges every other day since then.

And that's it! Please help me. What should I do! I'm going to switch out the 10,000k for a 6500k because I am afraid it was that that caused it.

EDIT: Forgot to mention I run co2 way above what's tolerable by fish because I don't have fish at the moment.

[10gallonplanted]

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

[DarkCobra]

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?

[steven p]

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

[gnelahc]

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.

[Lil' Swimz$]

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?

[HD Blazingwolf]

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

[n00dl3]

Originally Posted by HD Blazingwolf

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?

[Lil' Swimz$]

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

[Lil' Swimz$]

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.

[DarkCobra]

Do you know the tank pH?

[uberape]

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.

[happi]

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

[wheatiesl337]

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?

[Lil' Swimz$]

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.