algae problem?

[tonyg]

Hey Folks,
I've been seeing more and more ugly algae growing on my live rocks and sand. The tank is only a couple of months old, and I want to make sure I do everything possible to get this under control. I just beefed up my cleaning crew by adding 10 tiny blue leg crabs, and a few more cerith snails. I was also running the metal halide that came with the biocube for about 8 hours a day. Realizing that little to no algae was growing where there were shadows on the live rock, Im going to cut that back to about 3 or 4 hours. Is it ok to have a light like that turn on for a couple of hours twice a day?

Looks like my main problem is diatom and hair algae. Check out the pics!

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! I have most of the info about my setup here https://www.livingreefs.com/1st-tank-t37957.html

 

[Smitty]

Sound like a plan to me...it'll be ok to cut back on your lights for awhile, also, make sure you're not over feeding your tank, or using tap water. Don't forget about your water changes also, if you aren't already doing them.

 

[JoeG]

red sea has a algae management program its like 13 bucks for 500 ml and u dose 2ml once a week works good for my nano cube also a lawn mower blenny and turbo snails would love to eat your algae as well

 

[tonyg]

I have been using boxed seawater for small water changes of around 10 - 15%, and topping off the tank with distilled water. All of the tests I have read pretty much perfect.
Food wise, I give a pinch of flakes to the two clownfish, and a few small pellets to the shrimps. I turn off the pumps when I feed them and everything seems to get eaten fairly quickly. Sometimes I wonder if Im feeding them enough, so ill give a second feeding of some more flakes and occasional frozen shrimp. Too much? Any feeding advice to help avoid algae?
I'm really surprised there is soo much algae. When I first added my cleaning crew the destroyed the algae in a few days, now its all grown back and they dont seem to be eating it as much. I've got many snails and crabs and such. Including a fuzzy chiton. his rock is always the cleanest, but he moves soo slow.

Could this be the "new tank syndrome?"


Thanks!

 

[tonyg]

Just a quick update.

Beefing up my cleanup crew and cutting down on the light made a big difference. The amount of algae has decreased dramatically.

Thanks for the advice!