The algae is spreading across the bottom third of the front of the tank. It is brownish, almost invisible but makes the glass look smudgy (no, it's not really smudgy - it's the algae. Promise.) I have the back side blocked out - not a problem. The front of the tank is facing a big south window but it's probably 20 feet away.
I am wondering if the the fluorescent might be hitting it and also bouncing off the gravel. I started fertilizing last week, once, a very small amount. The plants haven't responded majorly. I also added 4 Pristella Tetras for a total of six, but I feed them once a day and very sparingly. They are the only fish in my 10 g tank, plus a population of pond and Malaysan Trumpet snails. The lighting is one 18" 17W Radeon that came with the canopy - I am told the color temperature is 8,000 K, if you can believe that. Water temperature is 78-79F. The tank was started 2-3 months ago.
I really don't want to get into scraping the front glass every time I do a water change, but I would really like some suggestions about how to get rid of the algae. Probably the first one should be, "Get more plants!"
Thanks for the help,
Steven
I am wondering if the the fluorescent might be hitting it and also bouncing off the gravel. I started fertilizing last week, once, a very small amount. The plants haven't responded majorly. I also added 4 Pristella Tetras for a total of six, but I feed them once a day and very sparingly. They are the only fish in my 10 g tank, plus a population of pond and Malaysan Trumpet snails. The lighting is one 18" 17W Radeon that came with the canopy - I am told the color temperature is 8,000 K, if you can believe that. Water temperature is 78-79F. The tank was started 2-3 months ago.
I really don't want to get into scraping the front glass every time I do a water change, but I would really like some suggestions about how to get rid of the algae. Probably the first one should be, "Get more plants!"
Thanks for the help,
Steven