Hair algae killing my plants - advice needed!

[CiderLovesFish]

Hey aquarium experts,

Having hair algae in my tank and have been fighting them for some time. If I stop the lighting they tends to disappear after a few weeks but easy to come back once I resume the light.  I have plants in the tank so I have to turn my light on. 

Here are my setting:

Light:   4 Hrs per day at night. Super bright LED, some sun light through the window blind during the day

AQUANEAT LED Aquarium Light Full Spectrum for 36 Inch to 44 Inch Fish Tank Light Fresh Water Light Multi-Color
Total 84 LEDs, 60 pcs 6500K white LED, 12 pcs blue LED, 6 pcs pink LED, 6 pcs Green LED
Mode: all lights on and all lights off

Tank Size: 40 Gallon

Temp: around 71F recently

Fertilizer: Easy green twice per week, API CO2 booster once per day, easy green root tabs

Filter: MarineLand Penguin 200 Power Filter, 200GPH

Substrate: Fluval Plant and Shrimp Stratum, gravel and white sand

Algae eater:  7 Otocinclus catfish & 7 mystery snails

Any idea how I could get rid of the annoying algae based on my settings?   

1. Is it because I don't have enough plants to compete?     

2. Should I put on a black tank background paper to block the sun light go through the window blinds?

3. Does water flow have impact on algae grow? Shall I increase or decrease water flow?

4. Do I have enough algae eaters?  Do I have to get some shrimps?

Thank you for your help!

Edited January 29, 2023 by CiderLovesFish
update with more details

[TheSwissAquarist]

Siamese Algae Eaters work quite well, or Amanos. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 1/28/2023 at 8:52 PM, CiderLovesFish said:

1. Is it because I don't have enough plants to compete?     

2. Should I put on a black tank background paper to block the sun light go through the window blinds?

3. Does water flow have impact on algae grow? Shall I increase or decrease water flow?

4. Do I have enough algae eaters?  Do I have to get some shrimps?

1. Yes. Speaking from experience, yes!  Adding plants may make things worse. You need to have a situation where the plants are thriving, not simply in the water.

2.  Yes.

3. Yes, it absolutely does.  Flow seems to spread and attract this algae in my experience. Make sure you don't have dead spots.  Make sure that your have enough surface agitation or CO2 being dosed into the aquarium.  You want to try to remove things, but you also need to keep in mind how spores spread and flow enhances that spread.

4.  They can only do so much.  You have to find out what is out of whack.  Something is out of balance, so determine what is going on and proceed that way.  Cut the lights, dose lean, and make sure you're getting enough CO2.