HELP !! algae and star thing

[RoachCity]

so i have a 32g biocube about to turning 1. a month or 2 ago i started seeing a little algae growing on the rocks and thought nothing of it but now its getting out of control. large dark green bushes all around. what is this and how do i get rid of it???
also i now have a ton of these little skinny star fish looking things. what are they , are they good or bad and how do i get rid of them ?????

 

[Reef Trends]

The mini brittle starfish are not bad they are detrivores but their recent numbers are probably related to the algae outbreak. Basically you have too much nutrients going into the system most likely from over feeding and uneaten food. Have you tested your nitrates and phosphates recently? Now granted testing alone might not give you accurate readings as the algae will consume some of this. There are a few things to try to combat this:

• Reduce amount of light duration or even go lights out for 48hrs.
• Increase or move flow so less 'dead' areas for detritous to settle.
• Reduce or change the food you are giving.
• Manual removal of algae.
• Chemical methods to combat such as running chemipure elite or gfo.

 

[ourcoralreef]

+1 on reeftrends
And you can also get fish or invert that eats it like a tang, blenny, snail or crab look for the types the eat hair algea because thats what you have
On the starfish i personally see them as a pest and would get rid of them some people like them and keep them as part of their cleanup crew
You should still follow reeftrends advice buy a test kit (probably best price from reeftrends) and test your water too see what it the underlying issue

 

[salpet]

water changes will help a lot i would start with 15 gallons since your tank is not that big and follow it up with 7 to10 gallons a week, and the starfish are fine they don't bother anyone and they do clean the tankadd

 

[RoachCity]

my nitrates are normal. i haven't tested phosphates. i got some gfo from the lfs and am running it in a bag right by the filter for now to see if that does anything. its been a week and ive seen no change. i have been doing regular 5 gallon water changes every week. is 5 gallons not enough ?

 

[SI REEF]

Are you using tap water for salt mix?

 

[ourcoralreef]

5 gallons is ok
What is normal nitrates
What tests are you using to get your results

 

[smallreef]

new tank phosphates leaching from rocks, algae blooms, water chemistry, All part of the tank doing its biological process to mature which just takes time. can always use some GFO or similar, run refugium. Watch phosphates and nitrates but with good husbandry will resolve itself

 

[RoachCity]

i use the API reef test kit. nitrates have been pretty much 0 every time.

when i first finished cycling the tank i had a huge algae outbreak so i went no lights for a few days then everything went back to normal.

could this still be a new tank syndrome a year later ??

i have a bit of coral spread out around the tank so i don't want to go lights out now cause they wouldn't be happy.

anyone use gfo in a bag maybe i'm doing something wrong. i read that it should be wrapped tight so the gfo wont tumble but then i feel like if it is too tight the water wouldn't pass through it.