Help! How do i eliminate (or reduce) algae on a saltwater fish tank? please help!!!?

Question

Tank: Bio Cube 29 (I keep 11 hrs w/ all lights, 5 w/ the purples lights & the rest w/ the moon light)

Heater: No (H2O temp. ~58F)

Protein skimmer: yes

Live rock: ~20 lb

Sand: ~1.5" all around

Fish in tank: 2 (rock blenny & yellowtail damselfish)

So I am new at this hobby and I am having a hard time at keeping the water in a "good looking shape". The fish are doing fine, the salinity of the water is OK, the water has been tested by the store and they say it is OK.

The algea problem I have (and by the way, I call algea anything that looks green... sorry by as I said before I am new at this and don't know much) is for the most part is a "green film" growing on the glass on daily bases (I wape it every day). I also have some algea growing on the rocks but that one does not bother me because it looks cool and it is not much, plus the fish eats a lot of it too. What can I do to control that so i an keep developing the tank?

Please help me!!!!

Answer 1

Cut down on lights, light causes algae. Some algae is always going to be present in saltwater fish tanks. You haven't mentioned any corals or inverts. Do you not have an invert clean up crew? Things like turbo snails tend to make a dent in algae.

Answer 2

the first thing you need to do is add a clean up crew if you don't have one.. meaning snails and crabs. about 30 of each for your tank. Also are you using tap water or RO?

Answer 3

Do you have a clean up crew which consists of hermit crabs, snails and shrimps. Marine fish  stores usually sell clean up crew packs for different size tanks, and they do a really good job with cleaning up nusience algae. Also have you checked your phosphate levels because if they are too high then algae will grow at a very fast rate. if your phosphates are high you can buy phosphate removers which can either be in liquid for or as granules. hope this helps but i would really suggest you buying a clean up crew and ask at your local fish store how many, hermits, snails, and shrimps you will need. Also when adding a clean up crew only add a few snails and hermits at a time and see if you will need to add more as if you add too many then they will most likely eat all your algae and then starve to death which is cruel and a waste of money.