New tank - never raised plants before...

[red devil]

...at least successfully for the long term. My friend gave me a fully planted tank with an algae eater 10 neons, a rose minnow a corry and a redtail shark (brown). I put a heater in it and gradually filled it with water - it had been half emptied for the moving. At first I left the light on for 18 hours a day, but noticed that algae had started growing. I cut it down to 4 hours and it has stopped. I will put in a stone and air filter as soon as it arrives. It has a hot tank with some kind of sponge filter that seems to only do mechanical and biological filtering. Also there is some kind of "slick" on top of the water. I am concerned that it keeps air from entering the water. i have enclosed a short video of the tank. I have not raised fish in more than 15 years, and never such a fully planted tank. All advice is welcome. Is it possible to upload video here?

 

[fishorama]

18 hours is way too long! 4 is too short long term. I try for 6-8 hours...but I only grow low-medium light plants.

The surface "slick" can be removed by gently laying kitchen paper towels on the surface & removing it. It can take several tries to make a difference. Be careful not to overfeed, the oils in fish food can be part the problem. The surface movement from the airstone can help but may not fix it.

Will you have a HOB or canister filter soon? What size is your tank?

You've been on AC for a long time, you should be able to upload pics or videos. I think you need to use a hosting site but I don't know, it's not something I do.

 

[NoodleCats]

Upload to YouTube and post the link here

Also, 6-8 hours is a good time frame for plants, no less than 6 though, or else the plants won't get enough light either.

Id love to know the tank size, you've got some stock that need some improvements but would be good to know the tank size first.
And what kind of "algae eater"? This could be a whole ton of problem depending what it is haha