Algae on glass

[JL15219]

Okay I want to know whats the best way to keep algae of the front glass of my 60 gal african cichlid tank?
It usually grows really quickly maybe 2or 3 days after I have cleaned it off with a sponge...I tried reducing the duration of the light to about 9-10 hours I try not to reduce it too much because I have some plants in the tank...I also tried reducing the amount that I feed the cichlids...I have even done large water changes...the last resort thing that I tried was adding Tetra Algae Control I Know I know what everone is going to say that I shouldnt add chemicals, but I did so get over it...I was desperate...because I had all types of algae growing everywhere it actually helped quite a bit....but the algae on the glass still grows quite rapidly...so if anyone has any suggestions...maybe a pleco or other algae eaters...or something else (phosphate remover).....

 

[Bk718]

what color is the algae?? brown/green?

 

[JL15219]

Its green...now that i look at it, it kind of looks like really small hairs

 

[Bk718]

Light can be reduced to 8hrs safely without plants suffering. I had a similar problem before but a simple glass cleaning helped, now if they do come back its once a month and its only a few dots.
Hmm phosphate remover? I thought phosphate actually makes it go away.

 

[JL15219]

It comes back with in a couple of day I wish it was with in a month...no it actually causes algae as does silicates

 

[Bk718]

Actually no,
green spot algae on the glass is caused by high light, low co2 levels and low phosphate levels.
So you can reduce lighting to 7-8hrs a day, check co2 (if you dont have one running maybe look into one even diy) and purchase Flourish Phosphate.

Silicates cause brown algae.

 

[Bk718]

btw whats your lighting like?? watts and K rating?

 

[JL15219]

how will the co2 help with the algae...i know it will help the plants

Blue-Green, also known as Slime or Smear algae – Caused by excesses of nitrates and phosphates, this is actually not an algae at all. Instead it is a cyanobacteria. It can spread rapidly, and can cause considerable damage. Good water care will help, but if your water source has phosphates in it, you may have to use special treatments to remove the excess nutrients. Erythromycin is also effective against Blue-Green algae.
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/algae/a/attackalgae.htm
Phosphate is utilised by all plants and consumed quickly by algae.
http://www.thatfishshop.com/aquaticplants/algae.htm

 

[Bk718]

Okay then we are talking about 2 different algae forms..
If you are sure you have Blue-Green algae

and not Green Spot algae

then get Maracyn.
Also causes for blue-green algae are:
Dirty substrates and filters can also bring it on.
Poor water circulation

 

[JL15219]

I was saying in general that most algae use the phosphate as a nutrient...but it is kind of like the spot algae but the spots are alot smaller and the kind of look like like hairs i think it maybe fuzz algae like this one on this website
http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/algae.htm#fuzz

my light is 1.3333333 wpg and it a 6500k daylight bulb