Heather,

You can also do a complete blackout of the tank for 3-4 days, this
will kill many types of algae. You could also get a couple more ottos
to help out, they are supposed to like brown algae. Having a dark
period in the middle of the day cycle is something I remember hearing
about a while ago, personally I doubt it would help much. No harm in
trying though.

Hope that helps
Giancarlo Podio

(Heather) wrote in message . com...
My new tank (20 gallon high) has been getting persistant brown algae
on the plants. I've read that alternating the light schedule for a
few weeks can help cut down on the algae while still letting the
plants grow. Has anyone tried this?

Tank setup as follows:
5 danios
3 ottos
7 ghost shrimp

Flourish 1X a week
Flourish Excel daily
40lb flourite gravel

lighting - 85 watts
plants - 4 swords, 2 sagitarius, 2 mondo grass, 1 wisteria, 1 sunset
hydro, 1 hair grass, 1 banana plant, (2 fake plants (growing very
well))

Tank parameters - taken yesterday
Nitrate - 20
Nitrite - 0
pH - 6.5