Best way to contain algae???

Does anyone have any tips for keeping brown algae at bay in their African cichlid tank?

Hey y’all so I have a 75 gallon African cichlid tank with the fluval sky light that I run for 8 hrs a day. I u sweat and that new tanks tend to grow brown algae a lot but is there a better way to control it besides scrubbing off the algae from my live rocks into old tank water? Has anyone tried an internal UV sterilizer. Or should I grab a lot of nerite snails or a pleco?
Also the tank is run on a fluval 405 canister and a Tidal 75 HOB filter.

 

If your tank is relatively new, brown algae (diatom) is common. How long do you leave tank lights on each day?

 

Established about a month ago. I run the lights for 11 hrs.

 

Otto cats maybe ? Just not sure if they’d be ok in Cichlid water

 

Established about a month ago. I run the lights for 11 hrs.

I‘d suggest cutting back the lights to 6 - 8 hours/day. In time, I think you’ll see a difference.

 

Would adding a pleco be a good idea? I heard they had a large bio load.

 

Plecos won’t really fix a problem which is probably easily fix by shortening your light schedule. I keep my lights on for 8hrs using a timer to make it consistent and have no issues. Try shortening your light schedule. I never like recommending a pleco just to fix another problem which shouldn’t even be problem in first place. Because sometimes people forget the pleco is another fish and u will have to take care of it and feed it is own food also. Not just hope it lives on algae. Just my opinion.

 

If this is a newer setup, the brown algae will eventually go away on it's own. If you want it cleaned up now, nerites definitely will help.