Algae, again

[stef25]

After battling with serious algae and over population, I got rid of some fish and rebuilt my tank completely. It’s a 29G with a fat layer of plant substrate and plenty of low light plants to compete with the algae. I upgraded the lights, I now have 2 x 25W on 9hrs a day and a brand new Eheim Ecco filter. I moved the tank to another room where the curtains are always drawn.

I kept the filter substrate from my old tank and after 1 week ammonium and nitrite were at zero. I do 50% water changes weekly and try to keep nitrates under 40ppm.

Things were looking very good until now, about 4 weeks after setup, when brown algae are starting to appear on rocks, leaves and the rear glass. Green algae is starting to appear in small dots on the front glass. The inside of the glass and tubes running through the water feel a bit slimey. So, back to where I came from

I bought 2 ottos and some java moss. I have two Siamese algae eaters that are always grazing (like cows) on rocks and leaves but they don’t do a very good job at removing algae

Plants are getting covered in brown algae v quickly and I’m guessing it will be a matter of days before they start to die off, just like before. The otto's have only been in there for 24hrs so I guess they havent started mowing yet

What am I doing wrong?

 

[homebunnyj]

For a 29, I think you could have more like six or so oto's. (You might check that, to be sure.) I put six in my 29 when the brown algae was taking over, then later I moved a couple of them to another tank that required their presence. Surely they have started eating already; maybe it is just not in obvious spots.
I bet if you get your nitrates lower it will help. I'm no plant guru, but I believe that nitrate and phosphate are required for algae growth. Nitrates 40 is okay for fish, but I'm not sure that it is low enough to keep algae at bay. Can you fit in any more plants to out-compete the algae? The more the better.
(I'm sure you realize from your previous experience that you'll have to scrape off green spot algae, no fish seem to be interested in that stuff.)

 

[Balance]

one of the best ways to beat algae is to add more light and more plants

with more light, your plants will outcompete the algae for nutrients.

i had alot of issues with planted tanks and algea when i first started the hobby. after setting up a 75g tank with just a few plants and having algae destroy everything......
i finally bought a ton of plants and upped my lights from about 80watts to 200watts and most of the algae went away after a few weeks.

i also used Excel products (fertilizers and plant grow stuff) and this made a big difference as well.....