green algae??

[jcdsog]

hello all. new to this forum. i have a little problem with my tank. it's like a green algae film on my sand on the bottom. my tank is rather new. about 4 months old but has been doing fine until like 2 weeks ago. its a 55g. have 1 clown, 1 lion, and had damsels until yesterday. the baby lion ate one so i took the other back to the store. i noticed that i didnt have this problem until i put my lights on a timer and i quickly took them off. i bought 4 hermits about 5 days ago. they seemed to be productive the first few days but look like theyre just walkin around now (besides their attraction to the live rock i put in). i had my water tested and all was good, even phosphates. having read in here, the only thing i can think of is possibly some snails. will they eat off of the sand tho? oh, i have a wet/dry and did a water change about 2 weeks ago but i haven't got a protien skimmer yet. i plan on ordering the coralife 65 within the next few days. i believe that may help alot. other than that, ive been scooping as much out as i can on a regular basis and it seems to be subsiding slowly. any other reccomendations or tips? here's a fast pic off of my phone.
thanks,
j

 

[dnorton1978]

Is this another pic of Lens tank???? :lol:

 

[jcdsog]

Is this another pic of Lens tank???? :lol:

um no. just mine.

 

[Anonymous]

:welcome:

Looks to me like you have cyano bacteria not just an algae bloom. Scoop as much out as you can then cut down your light time. Get yourself a protein skimmer ASAP.

How many powerheads do you have? You need to get some flow going in there.

Do you have any corals? If not, get you some Chemi Clean. It will clear up in no time.

If I think of anything else, I respond more. Do a search on Cyano, there is alot of reading.

 

[jcdsog]

thanks for the reply. i have a pretty nice powerhead (cant remember exactly which one) and no coral as of yet. i do have a few pieces of base and live rock. will that chemical effect any of the fish or the live rock? and ive cut back on the light to like 4 or 5 hrs a day.
thanks again,
j.

 

[Anonymous]

It will not affect your fish or rock, but it can do harm to corals (one person had that experience on here).

Just a suggestion, why don't you get a couple of smaller powerheads instead of one big one. You want to keep the water moving in your tank. If you have any stagnant (sp?) areas, the bacteria will come back.

NEVER USE TAP WATER. Make sure your water is RO/DI. Keeps alot of the bacteria and algae problems under control.