Shoddy planted attempt

[Viettxboii]

Specs:
Lighting: 15 watt spiral screw in cf.
Filtration: Small Boyu HOB rated up to 150l/h - 40gph?
Tank: Standard 2.5 All Glass Aquarium.
Flora: Java moss, hygrophila polysperma
Fauna: 1 Male CT Betta, 2 female juvie guppies, 1 pond snail, 1 malysian trumpet snail.
Date of initial set up: August 5-6
Date of initial planting: End of August lol.

Full tank shot-2 months ago before tank was algae dominated.
when 1st set up (light fixture sat that way up till yesterday)

[ahh fake plants!]
Current:

Yesterday after quite a clean up, didnt do any trimming, more so ripping out plants and moving htem around.
Heres today after a bit of another adjustment:

Sorry for the picture quality, crappy 5mp kodak cam, and i'm a noob at this despite use of a baskets to keep the camera still (seen in reflection of one of above pics )
Lighting differences were me moving the light away from the tank. etc.
Will eventually ( i hope) bang up a fixture for the light, for more even light distribution.

Also this tnak has a LOT of hair aglae, i removed lots and theres still quite a bit, its all over quite hard to remove at this point. also the hygro leaves and the glass have a bit of a fuzz on them, resembles short hair algae i think.
Also how big does this tank look?
Any solutions?

 

[artdale]

Hi Viettx.. You have a lot of light so it's not surprising you have algae too.
Please post your values of ph, kh, gh, no2, no3. Do you have co2? Fertilization?

 

[Viettxboii]

no2 - 0
no3- below 10
gh ph=?
co2 no, but will start dosing excel once i have enough money to get some again (i;m seriously poor atm.)
and ferts no, anything reccomended ferts?
Also i thinking hte close proximity of the light to the tank before may have something to do with it.

 

[artdale]

Try reducing lighting. Use a smaller lamp and/or move the lamp a little away from tank.
Keep lighting on for 8 hours max.

 

[Viettxboii]

i do an 8 hour photoperiod.
the light is raised above the tank about 6 inches right now.
I want to eventually change the substrate in this tank to a the type of substrated used in a walstad type tank, as i will be setting up a walstad type- sunlight 5gal tank for my friend soon.
I also want to dose excel when i get my hands on some.

 

[Viettxboii]

Oh also the moss is going yellow =(
Would some excel help it kick back..?

 

[artdale]

Moss going yellow may be a signal of a potassium deficiency. You have a (relatively) few nitrates so you can try dosing milligrams (a very little quantity) of potassium nitrate (KNO3, salt petre) or, better, potassium sulfate.
Better you use a commercial fertilizer like flourish, for example, if you can (anyhow you would spend some money to buy potassium sulfate and/or nitrate...)
You have a little tank so a bottle of flourish will last a very long time.

Excel is a very good product but it doesn't solve all problems. It's a very good organic carbon additive and is useful (overdosed) to eliminate BBAs.
You might use a diy yeast bottle instead (be very (very, very, very, very) careful as you have a little tank) to give carbon to plants.

I'm not able to help you with low-tech aquarium..

 

[Viettxboii]

Most people have reccomended excel as an alternative to diy co2 to me, and also they said since that with the addition perhaps the hygro and moss will grow faster, allowing them to catch up on the algae, if it werent for the betta, i would have added alot of amano/ cherry shrimps, however my betta is a very optimistic snacker.
So ill be needing a bottle of fluorish and excel, not sure if i can get dry ferts, and it comes in an amount that will be way too much for such a small tank.
Ill try getting my hand on some of those so which of the seachem ferts would i need then?
Also i may move the betta into a 1gallon bowl, despite him being completely happy in the 2.5, but perhaps ill try a small tank for him, unfitlered but planted. Maybe THEN i can add some cherry shrimp to help with clean up.

 

[artdale]

Yes, excel is an alternative to co2 and for sure with that addition plants grow faster.

There is something called "limiting factor". I hope i'll explain well but it works more or less this way: plants need several elements: potassium, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, carbon, etc.. and need these elements according to some proportions. If there is a deficiency of one of these elements plants stop growing and other elements are not used by plants and are no relevant to restart this growing.

All these unused elements are nevertheless used by algae. In fact, healthy plants is the best (only) way to defeat algae.
You may also use flourish excel (double dose) to defeat algae but be sure if you don't remove the causes, algae will spread again once you stop using excel.
And if you have intensive light, unhealty plants and surplus elements be sure you will have algae again.

Elements can be given to plants in several ways: potassium nitrate is alternative to potassium sulfate, for example; seachem excel to co2, and so on...
One of the things to do is to find the "missing" element to help plants equilibrium and defeat algae.
Yellow leaves may be are due to a nitrogen or potassium deficiency. As you haven't zero nitrate (so you have nitrogen) it's possible the limiting factor is potassium that's, on the other side, one of the elements usually added only by ferts.
Again, if you don't have co2, it is possible you have a carbon deficiency too.

Just to make you spend as less money as I can, I told you to buy flourish and to use co2 bottle.
With fluorish you have a complete fertilizer (so you are quite sure you don't have limiting factors any more) and with co2 you give (is the cheapest way I know) carbon to plants, not given by flourish.
Flourish contains all the microelements and also a little macroelements that may be useful in your case.
I don't think you need more commercial products.
Trace elements are expensive and is important to have no "limiting" factor so best use a good product. (Big Al sells flourish 250ml at 5$).
May be flourish will be not enough just for potassium, but potassium sulfate, for example, that should be useful in you case, cost something around 3$x1lb.
Be sure, as you have a little tank, these products will last you a very long time.

 

[Viettxboii]

I have a big als here in teh city, but i'm planning to go vist a really good lfs on my day off from school on friday, i want to go get excel, and some fluorish, however does hte fluorish cover all elements?
I want to dose excel for simplicity as i don't want to mess with a messy DIY co2 set up despite the materials needed being readily available.
Also whats a good fauna for algae control and is easily obtainable? and able to thive in this tank.