There isn't much in there. It is a 10 gal. tank with 2 watts per gallon at
the moment

That is your problem.

Could be I just need to get more living things in
there to compete?

Yes. Specifically, you need more plants.

IME, you can't put extra lights on your tank, and then put just one plant in
it.
There's a reason why the standard tank hood has so little light: more light
encourages algae. So if you add more light, you must plant heavily, or you
will have algae.

You should add some fast-growing stem plants. Cabomba, Hygrophila, Limnophila,
Bacopa, babytears, etc.

Algae-eating creatures will help, too. Amano shrimp would be good. (Don't get
ghost shrimp. They are too predatory to keep with bettas.) Or snails.

With 2 wpg, you may need to add a commercial fertilizer, such as Flourish or
Tropica Mastergrow. Or at least a liquid iron supplement, like Tetra
Florapride.


Leigh

http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/halloween/881/