If this is in the wrong place, feel free to move it, mods.

I have officially hopped on the bandwagon of algae issues.

I've got two different kinds (neither of which I can ID) running rampant in my 30g tank. Can someone help me identify these?

Kind #1. Brownish-grey clumps that are nearly impossible to get off. The "hair" are about half a cm long and are in clumps of about 5 or 6. This algae only grows on my Amazon Sword, the heater, and is all over the driftwood.

Kind #2. Green slimy mats. This is covering everything in the center of the tank - plants, driftwood, rocks, gravel, etc. It is extremely fast growing but easy to remove - I wiped it off a rock yesterday evening and it was back today. Gross.

The water params are:
pH: about 7.0 (I lost the color card, so it's a light-medium blue, which I think is roughly 7)
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Temperature: ~ 72F

The tank is stocked with a bunch of Crypts, a small Amazon Sword, water sprite, a little Corkscrew Val, 2 small Bolbitus, and a Java Fern. It's got 2 Rasboras, a Danio, a Corydoras catfish, and a 3" goldie (I know, I know, it's a tropical tank, he's just waiting until I can get him his own coldwater tank).

Another thing is that I recently replaced the bulb. The old light was pathetic and I'd had it for ages and was no good for the plants at all, so maybe the new 20 watt bulb has something to do with it?

What should I do about this algae? I scrub it manually about once every two days but it keeps coming back, and fast. I am adding plant fertilizer for the plants, which is probably why it's going so fast, but it needs to go so the plants can get some nutrients! So is an algae eating fish an option? I love algae eaters, especially BN plecs and my LFS had Farlowella catfish a while ago that I fell in love with, so I might just get an algae eater whether or not it will help me control the algae. What would you do?

Thanks,
Airwen

How many gallons is the tank? If under 20 then you can get a couple of otocinclus which will eat nearly every type of algae.
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/oto-affi.htm

For over 20 gallons then a bristlenose will eat certain types of algae.

I've got that green slimey stuff in my ten gal.. i know how you feel its awfull, it grows overnight and soooo fast and eeuuuuh yuck! its just killed off half my plants.. my otos dont eat it, they only eat brown algae, so ive got about ten different algaes going in there, its driving me nuts personally, i think its all about the balance of the tank, since my fish dont eat it, and the tank is overstocked.. no idea of the phosphates.. im considering trying a phos-zorb type product in the filter.. im gunna join you in asking - how on earth do you get rid of this slime algae!?

It's thirty gallons.

I had an Oto a while ago, but it died, another goldie of mine tried eating it, it got stuck in her throat, and I had to pull it out with pliers. I don't think I'll be getting Otos again.

Ok so I'm not alone, I suppose that's good to know.

bristlenose plecos stay smaller than common plecos. I have heard they are good with algae. I still want to get a couple for my tanks.

how long have you had the light tube in the tank?
if its over a year, you should change it. For the first year they are designed to promote plant growth, then at about a year the spectrum changes, and algae growth is promoted. Whats more is this spectrum inhibits plant growth.

right now i have floating green algae, meaning green yucky looking water. With 2 large water changes so far it still is here. Have to do another water change today, last one was a couple of days ago.

I just added a new bulb, which I'm sure has contributed. The old bulb I had for two years, so I changed it about 2 weeks ago.

my bulb must be about a year old.. nearly.. i think i might try changing it!

I read that they should be changed every 6 months or so for plants. I dunno if that's correct or not.

ID: I managed to (partially) find an ID for my algae: the one is blue-green/slime/smear algae (it had all 3 names in the article I read), and the brown clumps is brush algae.

However, the blue-green is supposed to indicate bad water, but my water readings are perfect, so what else could cause it?