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i have a 10 gallon tank as well as a 55 gallon tank.
i have never had an algae problem in either tanks until i wanted to try out a planted tank in the 10 gallon. that was months ago.
at first things were going ok, and then the blue-green algae hit. i tried water changes, i tried just leaving it and trying to get out as much as i could but as people who have had that slime it's very fast spreading!. so i got so sick of the whole thing and just discarded all the plants (since they were dying anyways from the suffocation from the slime) and took out everything and scrubbed the whole tank (not the filter). aah, nice and clean. then it started again. and it got SO bad, weeks passed. and then seriously in a matter of a couple of days it was ALL gone. then all of a sudden i noticed i was getting some hair algae. i try and get some out once in awhile but it's still pretty overpowering. and then on top of that i notice that there is a little bit of brush algae going on and also the blue-green algae is coming back!!. the whole tank looks pretty awful.
the things that are in there are 1 betta, 6 small penquin tetras and 2 lemon tetras.
i would think that maybe the light is the problem as i have 2-13w bulbs in there that were from the plant days. i don't want to put incandesant bulbs in there because i've had that before and all it does is heat up the water during the day. but the lights have been on only about 9-10 hours a day. there are no plants in there right now at all.

it's making me nuts though because the algae is all over the place. and scrubbing the whole tank didn't seem to solve any of the problem before.
any suggestions? and i would REALLY like to NOT treat with a medication (fish medication) to kill of the algae either because i don't want my ammonia to sky rocket, plus i am sure it would come back anyways.
i am pretty sure all my readings are fine.

Blue-green algae occurs naturally (in waterways) under high phosphorus and nitrate conditions. Normally, any algae bloom is due in part to these to factors, and then due to the amount of concentrated sunlight the tank is recieving. I suggest you try testing for nitrates first, then possibly get some data on your local water supply phosphorus content, or testing your tank.

Also, what substrate are you using? This might be contaminated with one of the above mentioned chemicals, or be an ideal 'hiding' place for the algae. I also suggest you move the tank to a position where it receives less direct sunlight, and see how that goes along with closely monitoring the tank parameters. You might also want to try increasing the disolved oxygen in the water by adding a vigorous air stone or large surface aggitation.

How is the tank currently stocked?

All three of my cynobacteria outbreaks have been caused by the nitrAtes dropping too low. First tank was a 6 gallon that only had a few pieces of hornwort, next a very lightly stocked 10, then most reciently an under stocked 20. In every case increasing water movement (not necessiarily surface agitation) as well as increasing nitrAtes to 20 ppm took care of the cyno problem.
BGA as many people refer to it as is not just an algae it's also a bacteria, and treating for it as if it were an algae will only lead to failure. Increase the stock of the tank or manually add nitrAtes. A compleate blackout of the tank, not just lights off, but compleatly covered as well...followed by manual removal of as much cyno as you can then increased water movement and nitrAtes should take care of it for you.

See also [link=this thread]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/48334.html?200410071209" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link].

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*

babelfish's advice has helped me out quite a bit. basically if you get your plants growing, and take care of THEM, the BGA will starve. it sounds counterintuitive at first to be adding algae "food", i.e. getting nitrates up, but remember it's also plant food and if they're growing algae wont be able to outbreak big time (i think you're always going to have a little...)

im personally finishing up my blackout tonight, so we'll see how that went. i plan on upping the stock in my tank too (46 gallon with 6 tiger barbs...) over the next few weeks, but understocking doesnt seem to be your problem. i guess it just takes discipline to get it under control and keep it there. (whoever said beign an aquarist was all fun and games? )

and cheers for not wanting to go the erythromycin route. the "nuke first, ask questions later" approach isnt all that appealing to me either.

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Back in the saddle!

cheers for not wanting to go the erythromycin route.

Ditto.

Without addressing the root problem of the cyno, you'll never get the upper hand on it....Just like turning up the heat when someones left the window open in the middle of a blizzard.

^_^
*Proud member of the Committee for Sig Line Restoration*

thanks everyone for the great advice.
i haven't been on here to check since i posted but the past few days i have been leaving the light off for a lot longer than i usually do, so the light has only been on for about 6 hours or so. that seems to have helped it quite a bit (the tank doesn't get any natural light either), still not gone but the hair algae has died down a little bit. i haven't tested my nitrates yet as i keep forgetting. i really do think a big part is the lighting i have going on right now though, but i don't really know how to change that as i haven't seen any lower wattage bulbs around and the iridescent ones just raise the temp in the water. i wouldn't be surprised though if my nitrates were low as well.