Stubborn algae cure

[Coryking]

So for a while I have been suffering with this algae. From what I can tell there's a mixture of green beard algae and I think thread algae. I have tried manually removing it however it doesn't come off without damaging the plants. I have also reduced my lighting to about 9 hours a day. This hasn't made a difference. I'm using two sansi 10w grow bulbs for lighting, I'm not sure if this is causing it. Does anyone have any tips to remove it?

I'm doing weekly 25% water changes and not fertilising. There's no co2. I do have a flash pleco and twig catfish however theyre not interested in it.

 

[gwand]

My 20 gallon tank is next to a window. In order to control my algae I had to limit artificial light to 4 hours a day. I keep the lighting dim. My Amazon swords and cryptocoryne still flourish.

 

[GaryE]

There's no "cure" for algae, since it's a natural part of any tank. There is algae management. The first thing I notice is your lighting. I have experimented a bit with inexpensive growlight options, and they sure do a good job of growing... algae. Every single one has done so - strips, reddish light, clearer light, LED bulbs. I've admitted defeat with them.

I've noticed the ones that do best growing terrestrial plants and seedlings are also the best green hair algae growers.

 

[Coryking]

There's no "cure" for algae, since it's a natural part of any tank. There is algae management. The first thing I notice is your lighting. I have experimented a bit with inexpensive growlight options, and they sure do a good job of growing... algae. Every single one has done so - strips, reddish light, clearer light, LED bulbs. I've admitted defeat with them.

I've noticed the ones that do best growing terrestrial plants and seedlings are also the best green hair algae growers.

Thank you for the information.
I currently am unable to change the lighting on the tank. I do have another tank using the same lights without a problem so I am unsure if there is an imbalance in nutrients or something I am doing wrong.
Do you have any suggestions to help combat it?

 

[Ceez]

Ive used hydrogen peroxide in the past. It works great. There's tons of videos on how to safely use it on YouTube. There's certain plants that are also sensitive to it so do your research.

 

[MaloK]

After a manual removal as much as possible.

You can kick in with a week of darkness. Check if the plants don't suffer too much and bring the light on if it's too harsh. Don't feed during this period.

If you can raise your water changes to a little over 50% per week for a couple months. This will reduce the phosphate and potassium from the water layer.

Adding activated carbon will also participate by removing iron, some trace elements and many dissolved organic compounds used by algae.

Keep feeding and light period at minimum until you see the invader recess.

 

[Coryking]

After a manual removal as much as possible.

You can kick in with a week of darkness. Check if the plants don't suffer too much and bring the light on if it's too harsh. Don't feed during this period.

If you can raise your water changes to a little over 50% per week for a couple months. This will reduce the phosphate and potassium from the water layer.

Adding activated carbon will also participate by removing iron, some trace elements and many dissolved organic compounds used by algae.

Keep feeding and light period at minimum until you see the invader recess.

Thank you for the information. I'll try the black out and increase my water changes. Hopefully it works.