Help with water flow, nitrates, and cyano/algae

mltran

New member
I have a few things I need help with. My tank is only about a month old and I've had 2 Osc. Clowns for a little over a week now. I only feed them once a day, and don't feed more than they can eat. My tank info is in my signature.

1. I have a 56g column with a maxi-jet 1200 (new model w/ circulation mode) that puts out 1300gph. Is that enough water flow?

2. I am getting red/brown algae or cyano on my sand. It seemed to show up after I got a new light setup. I went from a standard florescent light to a T5 with 2-24w bulbs. What can I do to get rid of it and what is causing it?

3. My nitrates are at 20ppm and aren't going down. I have done a 10% water change and that didn't change it. How do I get my nitrates down?

4. Can I add a clean-up crew yet? If so, what should I get?

Water parameters:
Temp- 80
Salinity- 1.024
pH- 8.0
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20ppm
 
sounds like u r at end of cycle did u test parameters before u added fish when tank cycles u get elevated levels then algae then it all clears up and ur good to go i would stop doin water changes and let it cycle before adding anything else stopp runnin ur lights or keep it to only couple hours a day and wait till nitrates go to zero before goin any farther
 
sounds like u r at end of cycle did u test parameters before u added fish when tank cycles u get elevated levels then algae then it all clears up and ur good to go i would stop doin water changes and let it cycle before adding anything else stopp runnin ur lights or keep it to only couple hours a day and wait till nitrates go to zero before goin any farther

I tested the water before I added the fish. I told the lfs store my water parameters and they said since the ammonia and nitrite were zero I was okay to add fish.

Will the clowns mind not having the lights on?
 
The LFS is out to make a buck. Take what they say with a grain of salt.
The information you get here will not be based on that fact.
Your fish will do just fine with a short light cycle.
 
new tanks go crazy with algae, im just getting over diatom>hair algae. It is posssibly silicates in tap water if thats what you used. Thats what happened to me, i asked many people in my city that keep quite prestine and elaborate tanks, they said our tap water is some of the best around, (our city is using a river which is mostly run-off from the mountains, it gets a very minimal treating vs most places in Canada, and especially US, since the populations are much greater) and alot easier than ro/di, its just the initial 100% of the silicates/nutrients vs 15% of it at a time through water changes.
 
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