Help With Brown Algae

[marieukxx]

I have an algae problem in my tank. It's been set up for about 4 years now and everyone in it is happy and healthy. This tank I did out to match the room and it's all fake. I love it as it looks really nice at night with the lights on but OMG is it a nightmare to clean. It's only 60 Litres and it takes 2.5 hours to clean each week. This is because every single thing in there is covered in brown/black algae and I have to take each piece out and put it in boiling water and scrub and scrub to get it clean.
 
I have tried everything to get rid of it. I thought maybe it was too much light so I only have the lights on for about 4 hours in the evening. I thought it was overfeeding so I cut that right back. Now I am reading lack of light can cause it!!!
 
The light I have is a Hagen Power Glo T8. How many hours should I have it on?
 
 

 

[NeonBlueLeon]

I am no algae expert, but here's what I think is going on.  Perhaps you have a lot of nutrients in the water, and no plants to consume them, thus algae grows freely.  Live plants are competition for nutrients. 
 
Brown algae, or diatoms, is a sign of nutrient imbalance.  In planted tanks, I believe they go away (get under control is probably a better expression) after a while.  I have a mix of brown and black algae in my tank, but it stays in control because of my plants.  Or at least I'm assuming that is what is controlling my algae growth.
 
Why is your tank all fake, if I may ask?  Algae consumes all the nutrients in the tank with nothing else to consume them.  That's what I think is going on.  You mentioned you've tried almost everything, so I'm guessing you've tried a variety of algae eating fish and inverts?

 

[marieukxx]

You may be right. I have two planted tanks with no algae problems. The fake tank is fake because it's in a room that is pink and black so it's done out in all pink and black. Sounds horrible I know but it looks really nice all lit up at night. Everytime I clean it I consider just taking it all out and planting it but then after it's all cleaned for that week and I switch it on at night I love it so much I decide not to plant it.
 
I did get cherry shrimps but they were babies and were never seen again! I just got a bristlenose pleco the other day to see if that helps. I know he needs bogwood and have actually bought a bit to go in there for him.

 

[marieukxx]

 

[theDutchess]

If you do have a diatom algae problem (I can't really see in the pic) then I would strongly recommend getting one Otto cat, it will take care of the issue FAST in my 15 gallon covered in the stuff it took 2 days for two of these guys to eat it all away, the only down side is once they take care of the algae they need a food source provided by you, mine don't like algae rounds so I feed balanced asparagus. Hope they take care of the problem!

 

[levahe]

I agree, Otto's are a good idea. When I had just fake plants I had the same brown algae problem and the way I got rid of it was less light and more/bigger water changes.
How long is your light on for? You could try reducing the time its on and/or remove the reflector if it has one
I forgot to add, installing a better Filter helped too
I should read properly you have your light on for 4 hours lol