LED light not enough? Brown Algae

[Posivated]

So I'm wondering if my Marineland Double Bright LED 24" is just not enough for a 20g long aquarium. I've got brown algae all over my plants and wood and can't seem to figure out why. I leave the light on about 8 hours a day and feed my fish once a day. I do 40-50% water change same day/time every week and I no longer have live plants either.

 

[Rivercats]

How long has the tank been set up? Also can you post a picture so we can identify exactly what type of algae you have?

 

[Posivated]

Best picture I can get, don't have a good camera anymore.

 

[Posivated]

Been reading around and I think it's beard algae and brush algae, but I just want to figure out why its happening.

 

[Rivercats]

How long has that tank been set up? I swear it looks more like detris buildup on a bit of some type algae which I can't make out. Is there much water flow/current in your tank? How often do you do WC's and how much water do you remove each time? Have you considered just taking out the plants and washing them off? Also try only running your lights 6 hours for a while.

 

[Posivated]

Been set up for over 6 months, there are some debris because I just fed the fish. I have an aqeon quietflow 50 and I do a 40-50% water change every week. I've taken the the plants and wood out to clean them, but the algae just comes back in a short time.

 

[Rivercats]

Its hard to tell from the pic but there might be some BBA starting around the edges on some of the plants. What light and bulbs do you have on the tank? Do you know your nitrate level?

 

[Posivated]

Marineland Double Bright LED 24" and Nitrate is around 15ppm.

 

[Rivercats]

Well then I suggest either running lights 6 hours or run them 4 hours, off 2 hours, then on 4 more. A timer works best for the second option.