Algae issues…

[Louise]

Okay…. 
 

This is my 55 gallon aquarium. It’s been up and running for around 3-4 months and it’s stocked with 1 electric blue jack Dempsey, 1 jewel cichlid, and 1 butterfly pleco for now. I have a pretty good amount of plants in as well, about 1/2 root feeders and 1/2 water column feeders. I recently have had problems with brown diatoms, a little algae on the glass, and hair algea on the output of my filter. I decided to starter fertilizer to help my plants get the upper hand before it go out of control (seachem root tabs and easy green liquid). I dose easy green twice a week with a water change on the day of the second dose before I put it in. The algae as a whole seems to be getting worse…. Should I cut the fertilizers to once a week?  My lights are probably one too long: sunrise 5:30-8:00 and sunset 5:30-9:30, what should I set them to? My biggest problem is the brown diatoms because it’s covering the leaves and killing my plants. Any advice appreciated

Edited August 2, 2021 by Louise

[Louise]

Also, tested my nitrates today and the were between 10-20 ppm

[Mmiller2001]

Is that a window to the outside? And a 4 month old tank is pretty new and it's going to take time for the substrate/tank to balance. I would wait it out as the diatoms eventually disappear. Adding snails and shrimp can help too.

If that's a window to the outside, you may have an unsolvable algae problem with the tank in contact with outside light.

[Fonske]

Brown diatoms love new tanks... and slow water. Improving water circulation might help a bit. 

[Louise]

Yes, it’s by a window but most of the time the blinds are closed so little to no light gets through. 
 

unfortunately my fish are serious about eating any snail they see. Before I put them in there I had probably 50 bladder snails and with in a day they were all gone. I was hoping the pleco would help but I haven’t seen any change since he got into the tank

[Jeff]

Is your schedule 5:30A - 8:00P? If so, that's too long. 
 

I would reduce it to 6-7 hours max. Too much light without pressurized co2 can cause algae. 

[Ragnarok12]

I wouldn't be too afraid of diatom algae, I agree with Mmiller2001 that it tends to stablize on its own over time if you have enough water circulation. Just keep doing water changes too, that will help. Are you seeing any other kinds of algae?

[Louise]

I reduced my lights throughout the day, I’m hoping that will help. I am also seeing hair algae on my water output and the plants surrounding it.