its green!!!

Also the typical questions, is the tank near a window getting sunlight? If so, move it. How often do you leave the lights in the tank on? No more then 8 hours is recommended. Is the filter adequate? It should be putting out a minimum 300 gallons per hour, but I usually double it. For that tank, I'd go with 600 gph. Try adding a second filter to go with the first one. Use some filter floss in the filter as well. It's cheaper then the standard filter pads, & helps grab the bigger particles better. High nitrates and excess phosphates can cause an algae bloom. High nitrates are usually caused by lack of water changes. Be sure to do regular weekly water changes of about 20-30%. If you are doing weekly water changes, both nitrates and phosphates can be found in your water supply as well. Best to have your water tested, and if that's the cause, need to use RO water, or try using an additive to remove the phosphates when you add water. Cut back on the feedings, feed no more then once a day what the fish will consume in 5 minutes. Be sure to scoop out any excess. Excess food leftover can also lead to high phosphates. If all the above are ok or don't apply, try adding some plants to the tank. Supposedly they compete with the algae for the nutrients, and the plants win out. It'll take some time, but follow those steps above, especially the weekly water changes, not overfeeding, and extra filtration, I bet it'll clear up for you. One last thing to do, once you get all the above done, do a total blackout. Completely cover the tank with a blanket. Don't feed the fish, and no light, no peeking at all. Do this for about 3-4 days. The lack of light should kill off the algae. I've never had to try this, but I've seen it recommended quite a bit on other sites. Also, stay away from the chemical algae removers. They don't work, because they're not addressing the source/problem of the algae for one thing. Just a waste of money. Good luck!!

There are many factors that contributed to this: Are you not overfeeding? Fish food is a good fertilizer for the blooms. Are you not overstocking? Fish themselves secretes ammonia and contributes to blooms. Is your tank exposed to to much light? When it comes to feeding, fish really don't need that much food as we might think. In fact they benefit from "no feeding" from time to time. We call it feed cycling. It is actually a day of feeding followed by a day of no feeding. There are many variations to this cycle. Since your fish are small you want to try short cycles. I am a fish farmer and I care for big fish and I use longer days for cycling feeding. I suspect you are feeding too much so my suggestion is lower your feedin rate.

These discussions are good ones. The possibility of having the wrong type of bulb in the tank can contribute to the algae bloom as well as the overfeeding. if you do go lwith live aquarium plants make sure that you get plants that have the light requirments that you give them. some plants don't need a lot of light and others that need almost direct sun light. On the bulbs that you get make sure that they are as close to day light as you can get them and also make sure to change them once or twice a year because their light does not stay the same after a long use.You night not be able to see the difference but the plants can tell the difference.