3 Rapidly developing algae issues

I am rapidly developing some serious algae problems in both my tanks first is my 220l planted community tank and second is my 30l betta setup both are getting brown patches across the glass which is easy enough to remove however, in the betta system its starting to cover all the plants. It looks like a reddish brown mud. Any idea what it is and how to stop it?

Second aalso in both tanks is a green slime that is spreading across the substrate. Its kind of ok in my betta tank since the substrate is dark so you dont see it but my community tank has white sand so it looks quite gross imo. Again any ideas what it is and how to stop it?

Last issue is confined to the betta tank. White slime is growing on all the rubber suction cups I have tried taking it of but it just grows back and looks worse than any algae I have ever seen kind of like gooey wet toilet paper floating around.

Filtration on the community tank is a 1200lph external canister filled with sponge then batting then ceramic rings then A/C. Water returned through a submerged spray bar. The tank is only half stocked so more than likely not a bioload issue. Substrate is pfp/chemicult capped with fine grain silica. No CO2 or water colum fertz.Lighting 30w boyu pink tube and 2x 30 cool whites. Tank has been running since end of october.

Betta tank has a medium platform filter filled with batting and a ton of ceramic rings. substrate is fine black sand. No fertz or CO2 but has a lot of plants. Light is 2x 11w cfl tank is very new only been running since december.

 

What's your photo period? Nitrate and phosphate levels? First one sounds like Diatoms

 

Agree with Neil... how long are lights on. What is your Nitrate reading?

Google "diatoms" and see what it looks like... or click here and confirm that it is Diatoms. This usually occurs with (1) new tank or (2) new silica sand substrate. It will eventually go away after a few weeks with regular water changes.

Do you vacuum the gravel? As far as I recall from chatting to @Rudi, that green slime algae is from low nitrates. He can confirm.

You might have your lights on too long. You might also not have enough plants to absorb the chemicult, and find it is leeching into the water column.

 

This could be the problem.Many people,it seems,does the PFP substrate but they always plant to lightly.
Green slime= cyanobacteria
Cause:
Imbalance between phosphates and nitrates.

@FishRMan,
If your tanks are lightly stocked,you probably have a phosphate problem.Try adding floating plants or any fast growing stem plants.
Also,what's your maintenance regime?
How much water do replace with water change and how often?

 

Ok looks like one type is definately diatoms. What I do find wierd is a vacum the tanks twice a month changing at least 30 % of the water and have done this since october surely it shouldn't still be around. My lights are on for about 11 hours a day since I don't have the most intense light I extended the length.Nitrates and phosphate I will have to get tested at lps on wednesday

 

Your lights are on far too long.

Cut it down to 7 hours. If you have a timer, have them on for 3 hours in the morning, a 2 hour break, and then 4 hours in the evening. (Feed only in the evening). This should help with the algae growing, but you still need to try and remove as much as possible

 

What do you mean by vacuuming?
If you vacuum the sand by pushing the gravel-vac into the a sand,stop!!
If you vacuum the sand by just waving your hand over the sand and then sucking up the debris,perfect.

 

Just to add to this... (sorry @Rudi)... there are a few people that believe that if you push the vacuum into the gravel, you are (1) disturbing the bacteria in the gravel and (2) releasing unnecessary gases. Whilst I am not completely convinced of these facts, I think the main reason Rudi was warning against this is because you would be disturbing the PFP and releasing huge amounts of chemicult into the water column... which basically equates to excess nutrients which the algae will thrive on. The main purpose of the vacuuming is to pick up excess muck off the surface of the gravel.

I also have another suggestion you can try... add a small internal pump / filter into the tank to create a little more current in the tank. A lot of algae prefers still/stagnant water, and by creating currents you will prevent the algae from growing. Just don't go overboard, you don't want your fish plastered against the other side of the tank.

 

With my fine substrates sticking the vac into the substrate is impossible! I will post some more details I have been thinking about. Postin off my blackberry is a bit of a mission