Algae problem

[Grangers710]

So I think my tank is starting to have algae come about. My gravel is turning greenish, I'm seeing greenish/brown residue on the glass, and I'm seeing these little tiny green sprout looking things that are tiny and connected to the glass and like a few mms long. Look like little plants growing off the glass (never seen these before). Now I bought a nicer light fixture for my live plants that's like 216 W and I'm guessing this is part of the reason.....I'll be taking pics shortly and posting them as some of the leaves on my plants are turning black/brown....any input is greatly appreciated as to how to fix this issue as I've never had an algae problem before....

[Brhino]

This is stuff you've probably all mentioned in your journal, but just for reference can we get the following info for this thread:

Size of tank
type of lighting (bulb type and spectrum)
amount of time lighting is on
fertilization/root tabs/etc used, if any
CO2 used, if any
Length of time tank has been running

[Grangers710]

75 gal
day 28 of cycle or so
216W lighting, 2 54 W T5 10000k and 2 54 W T5 Blue lighting
Lights go on at 7:00am and off at 10:00 pm
No CO2 and only use leaf zone once a week

I'm guessing the lights are on too much?

[genocidex]

"In lighting, the color temperature of sunlight, expressed in Kelvins, is 6700K, which is a bright, slightly yellowish light. It also is the color temperature that allows terrestrial and aquatic plants to photosynthesize the sugars the plants 'eat'. Conversely, aquatic algae prefers a blueish light, as the color blue transmits through water the furthest. "

straight from the algea primer im guessing kill the blue light

[Grangers710]

Few photos I tried to capture....

[DylanisHawttt]

How long are you leaving the lights on? Sometimes algae grows because of excessive lights and/or nutrients. Also the brown algae may be diatoms, but I dont have a lot of experience with algae.

[Grangers710]

Lights are on roughly 15 hours a day

[genocidex]

15 seems a bit high. drop down to 10 untill you have some fish in there maybe?

[Grangers710]

I've got fish in the tank and several live plants (see my thread in the General section) for photos. Got 14 fish and some shrimp in it while its cycling...will definitely drop the light time down....should I buy anything that will assist? I just read the algae primer, sounds like my blue lighting might be part of the issue like you said.

[funkman262]

Put the lights on a timer to run for 10 hours a day. You can do it for 10 straight hours or run it 5 on 2 off 5 on. This supposedly helps to reduce algae growth but more importantly helps to reduce heat. You can either remove the blue lights completely or replace them with 6700K bulbs. If you replace them and continue to run 216W of light, I would highly suggest installing a co2 system. By the way, the plant in your last pic looks like the non-aquatic type that Petsmart sells.