Need some help with algae

Was on holiday for 2 weeks...lol...yes while all of you were working..
But lets leave it there...
Got back and found the tank over grown with black algae.
The lights was on a timer to give it about a 12 hour light/night cycle.

Would just cutting the light down drastically do the job or is there something else i can do?
It also looks like the pleco is not touching it...
Might a second pleco help or don't they eat this sort of algae?

I know bigger regular water changes will help, but don't want to change the tank cycles.

Any advise out there?

 

12 hours is quite a lot of light, even though it mimics daytime / nighttime.
I would suggest shortening the light cycle to possibly 6 hours.
I also have my lights (and pressurised CO2) on a times, and lights come on at 06:30 till 09:30 and again from 17:30 till 20:30.
That way the lights are on when there is someone around to enjoy the tank in the morning and again in the evening.

You could also try either spot treating with H2O2 or Seachem Excel.
If you have sensitive fish I would not recommend going the Excel route, but with hardier fish a good dose of Excel should do the trick.
My tank has a variety of Rainbowfish, Harlequins and some Ancistrus, and they weren't bothered by a double dose of Excel.

Alternatively you could try to black out the tank for a few days.
Plants may suffer as a result of that though.

Good luck, and let us know how things progress.

 

As a newby can I make a suggestion? I have a few Algae eaters and they are great to keep the Algae in control. It's also better to never have your light on for more than 8 hours.

 

The algae eaters wont eat the BBA unless it is something like a SAE blackout and H2O2 spot treatment may do the trick though.

Regards.