Help me with my 25 gallon

[im2smart4u]

Not sure where to post this... it is a algae problem/aquascaping advice/what am I missing thread. I am not sure how I feel about my 25 gallon tank. It has a 24 watt normal T5 fixture, which should give it medium light. Light cycle is approx 8 hours a day, though not on a timer (I bought one, but haven't set it up yet).

I am not sure what plants are in there. The main stem plant (that there are a bunch of) is the one plant that survived when I moved last summer (I didn't set the tank back up for a while). There are 2 sword plants in the front corners that I rescued from my cichlid tank before they completely destroyed them (they looked horrible, with a few mostly eaten leaves and no roots). I have some hair grass in the back right. I recently got a madagascar lace plant, but I am not sure how good it is doing. It looks worse than when I got it. There is also some v. varsicula right in front of the drift woodand 2 anubias near the top of the driftwood.

So, on to to problems. I am having an algae problem. The anubias leaves are constantly covered in a fuzzy algae. The driftwood is also growing algae. I have taken then driftwood out and scrubbed it, but the algae doesn't want to come off. The v. varsicla and hair grass are also collecting a little bit of algae. The sides and back of the tank have a brown algae on them. The stem plants are growing pretty well, though, and the sword plants keep putting out new leaves, though some of the older ones have turned brownish.

So, if you managed to read all of that, can you give me any suggestions? What would you move, take away, add, etc. Should I reduce my lighting? I am REALLY broke right now, so I can't afford any expensive changes. I do have some liquid carbon (like excel, but a different brand) and some Seacham Flourish, but I can never remember to use them (I always think about it at night before turning off the lights, but it would be useless to use them then).

sorry about bad pic, it is from my cell phone

[ronnie6989]

How many t-5 bulbs are you running and what type?

[im2smart4u]

It is a coralife fixture that came with the tank. I think it is 2 14 watt T5 bulbs. One is 6700k and the other says colormax and it has a pink tint to it.

[ronnie6989]

I use 2 coralife 6700k day light blubs...... It works great for me....

[im2smart4u]

Instead of starting a new thread, I guess I am going to update this one. I am still having all the problems mentioned above. I finally put the tank on a timer, so it is getting a consistent light cycle of 8 hours a day. The algae is still running rampant on the driftwood, anubias, and hair grass. The algae near the top of the driftwood near the light has turned from black to green. The stem plants don't show any signs of algae, though

I have also added some new plants. I have added some red lilies, dwarf baby tears (I think) and some other plant I can't remember the name of (front right corner, looks kind of like a val but that isn't what it was called when I bought it). There is also a golden mystery snail. I don't have a pleco or otos in the tank. Do you think they would eat the algae? If so, I would probably get some.

Below is a shot of how the tank looks right now. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

[merritt1985]

I don't know what kind of algae your having trouble with but your best bet is to get in the habit of dosing your tank with flourish and whatever carbon additive you have. If you give the plants the advantage they will take care of that algae. Water changes on a regular basis will also help to keep excess nutrients down. The trick I've found with algae eaters is to get a broad range of them. Some will eat one kind of algae some will eat another. I like Nerites/Otos/pond snails for my tanks but it might be different for yours. If you can get a close up of the algae might be able to tell you more.

[Shawn123]

I bought some amano shrimp and they really helped with the diatoms/ algae on some of my plants. Dosing with the excel will definitely help with the algae, if I skip a few days, I notice it starting to come back in my tank. Plus, I believe dosing right before you turn off the lights is actually good ( that's when I do it) because I read somewhere that light breaks it down.

[im2smart4u]

I have had both otos and amanos in the past, but currently I don't have any. This tank doesn't even have a pleco in it. I have a pair in my 40, but I don't want to split them up.