Ami
Fishaholic
Phil - CFC is right. Adding another fish could adversely affect the bio-load, giving you more waste and thus more algae growth. 
You need to double check your water stats. With regards to your feeding, it's not so much how often but how much you feed your fish. Your friends may feed 4x per day, but could still be feeding less than you. Do you hook out any uneaten food?
With regards to the algae problem, firstly what kind of lights do you use? If they're more to the blue than the red range then this will encourage the algae. Try changing the lighting cycle - instead of having it on 9 hours straight, change it to 12 hours but with a break of a couple of hours in the middle. The algae don't like that and you may see a reduction.
CO2 does benefit the plants more than algae, however if you have your filter agitating the surface of the water you could be losing the CO2 into the atmosphere so these benefits can be lost. Try lowering your filter in the tank and turning it down. Also, don't worry about the airstone - you don't need it.
If your nitrates are at 0 and you're not fertilising the plants and losing the CO2 cos of surface agitation, the algae will have an advantage over the plants.
Please check the planted thread for more detailed advice - GF225 and Jimboo are only 2 of the many people that can help you out there. If you can do all of the above things and still have a problem, the planted guys will be able to suggest some good algae eaters.
Good luck,
You need to double check your water stats. With regards to your feeding, it's not so much how often but how much you feed your fish. Your friends may feed 4x per day, but could still be feeding less than you. Do you hook out any uneaten food?
With regards to the algae problem, firstly what kind of lights do you use? If they're more to the blue than the red range then this will encourage the algae. Try changing the lighting cycle - instead of having it on 9 hours straight, change it to 12 hours but with a break of a couple of hours in the middle. The algae don't like that and you may see a reduction.
CO2 does benefit the plants more than algae, however if you have your filter agitating the surface of the water you could be losing the CO2 into the atmosphere so these benefits can be lost. Try lowering your filter in the tank and turning it down. Also, don't worry about the airstone - you don't need it.
If your nitrates are at 0 and you're not fertilising the plants and losing the CO2 cos of surface agitation, the algae will have an advantage over the plants.
Please check the planted thread for more detailed advice - GF225 and Jimboo are only 2 of the many people that can help you out there. If you can do all of the above things and still have a problem, the planted guys will be able to suggest some good algae eaters.
Good luck,
