I am having trouble with algae on plants. Would a UV help this?

From what i understand about UV it will clear a waterborne algae bloom but will not clear the algae on your plants. (Correct me if i am wrong anyone).

what are you running? e.g lights, c02,.......

Do you have any algae eaters? I have a 90l planted tank which is running 4 x 24w T5 fluros and a diy c02 system and i am just keeping the algae at bay with two Otos.

If you want to clean a tank pretty quick get a few small BN's. When they are small the love to eat algae in my opinion but when the get bigger the get a bit lazy. I had three when they were young the cleaned the tank nicely but when they got older the decided that they would rather eat the plants.

When we have our UV running the water runs crystal clear... definately clears waterborne algae but doesn't clear it on plants in our experience anyway..

I've got 3 small bristlenoses, I find them good at cleaning slime and algae off the glass but not too much off the leaves.

A few ramshorns might be better, what I do is put them onto the most algae infested leaves straight away and they will start cleaning.

Yeah the snails will work, slowly but surely. The won't last long if you have loaches. Cheap also

otos are good at cleaning plants and they are only small, so if your tank isn't that big they would be ideal.

Thanks all but I have 4 ottos in there at the moment - The plants dont seem to be doing that well and never have - not sure what its all about

how big is your tank? and what lighting do you have?

3 foot - two lights - both say "tropical" - one is "fresh water" and the other "plant growth" ?? I am no expert here!!

how old are the bulbs?

if the bulbs are too old, i.e. over a year, they will lose their intensity (not visible to eye), will help algae growth rather than plants.

If they are new bulbs try shutting down one bulb for a few days or shutting down the whole light for a day or two to break the pattern and interrupt the growth of algae.

is your tank near a window which allows in plenty of sunlight?

not sure how old so may pay to replace. Have I got the right sort? - no its not really near sunlight

how much plants do you have?

if it's just a few than normal flourescent bulbs is fine but if lots of plants the it's better to have something like Arcadia freshwater bulbs, they are expensive though a 2-foot bulb is just over $40.

How long have your plants been in there? How long has your tank been established?

If the plants are new they may have been grown out of the water (emersed). Those leaves would die off as new submersed ones grow in.

(ie: if the leaves are dying they will be more prone to algae growth I think)

Describe the algae That might help determine the source of the problem. Brown/Black/Green? Fuzzy/Slimy/Stringy? Short/Long?