Green/Brown Algae on glass and it SMELLS!

I have a 10 gallon tank with a single male betta. I moved the tank home from my dorm about 2 months ago and did a complete cleaning (scrubbed all decor, washed gravel) since the tank was COVERED in the greed/brown algea. I added all new water with water conditioner and starting bacteria. I even added a java fern. Now two months later, the algae is back. It always starts to grow along the glass near the gravel and usually only on the front or back, not the sides. The water smells like rotten eggs too. I can't run my undergravel filter with air pump because it makes the smell circulate throught my room. The lights usually are on during normal daylight hours. So while I was on vacation for a week I left the lights off completely with only the small amount of light it indirectly recieves from a window on the other side of the room. The algae hadn't spread but it wasn't gone either. I tested my water and all my levels were normal. Today I bought Tetra Algea stuff in hopes it will fix the problem but I would like to find the cause as well as a cause and solution for the horrible rotten eggs smell. Thanks

 

Well, as you stated, without the lights, it did stop growing. So I would say its definitely a lighting issue. Do you have a light on in the tank hood along with the room lights? I have a 5 gallon betta tank that will get algae growing on the side about every two to three weeks, due to indirect sunlight. But I never use the hood light on the tank, as the room light and indirect light are plenty. I just clean the algae as it comes. I also got a mystery snail for the tank too. It literally cleaned off about a 4 inch spot of algae in a few days.

As far as the smell, I've never had that issue.

I would also suggest staying away from chemicals.

 

There's hardly any light coming naturally through the window. I had a mystery snail that wouldn't eat the algae and would produce so much waste my UGF couldn't keep up and all my water perameters would rise. He died right after I brought the tank home.

 

If you use Prime as a water conditioner it does have a faint rotten egg smell to it, but that's completely normal. I only notice it in the tank water when I have to do frequent water changes like I've been doing this week.

 

I dont

 

The one and only time I have had a baaaad smell from my tank was when I had a hugely clogged filter. I washed it out (discarded tank water only) and it was fine again.

Prime really stinks, and it gets more pungent the longer/more frequently the bottle is open. Another good reason to buy in bulk and decant into a smaller bottle!