algae nightmare

[Meredith]

I should start out by saying that I have been super busy with work and as a result my tanks have suffered a little. I used to have a description of the tanks and fish I have, but since it has changed I guess I will quickly break them down for you.

1 20gal fw with 1 female beta, 2 hatchet fish, 1 bn plec.

this tank is having MAJOR algae issues. I do have a few live plants in there an amazon sword or two, one that I dont remember the name of. At first I wanted this to be a planted tank so I put in a layer of flourite. I don't know if this is the cause of the algae or not. I should mention that this tank is over a year old. I got so fed up with the algae I just let it go. Its a combo of hair, green spot, and black beard, you name it, its in there. No ammonia, no nitrites, Very low nitrates, less than 10ppm.

The other tank I have is ok, its a 50gal semi brackish with a dragon goby and 5 mollys. I didn't really want the mollys but I wanted Something in there besides the goby and they were as good as I could get around here.

SO, any suggestions on how I can get rid of this algae problem for good??
its very ugly.

Thanks

 

[neilanh]

what kind of lighting and how long does it run? How long since you've changed the bulbs? I'd be concerned about the use of the fluorite in a not-really planted tank seeping too many nutrients out in the water and nothing there to consume them. That plus too much light = algae.

 

[Jchillin]

The ironic thing about water tests while you have algae is that the algae is using most of the excess thereby not revealing what the true levels are.

I'm with neilan regarding the lights. Bulbs lose their spectral effectiveness and slowly create ideal conditions for algae to take hold.

 

[Purrbox]

You've got some heavy feeding plants in there with those two swords. Combined with your low Nitrate readings, I suspect that one or more nutrients are bottoming out.

In addition to you lighting schedule and last bulb change, are you dosing any fertilizers? If so what, how much, and how often?