Not enough algae?

[Mark9]

A week ago, I was getting algae on the rocks, and the sand was getting discolored.
So, I cut back the lights to 3 hours a day.
using the actinics for 4 or so, and the LEDs for something like 5.
the tank gets some indirect light for a couple of hours.
the algae is gone,but can the rocks be too white?
I have 5 snails, don't want them to starve.
now I'm not sure if I should increase the light.
I'll post a pic when I fire up the PC.
just what should I strive for?
"some" algae?

here's what i mean, quite white

 

[thegrun]

Well it does look a little sterile. Most of us with coral run their main daylight bulbs for 7-8 hours and the actinics for around 11-12 hours. I'm assuming this is a fairly new tank and the algae/diatoms you were seeing are a natural part of the tank's maturation. I would increase the light durations and not worry too much about the algae until you start to see loner hair algae growth.

 

[robotman]

A week ago, I was getting algae on the rocks, and the sand was getting discolored.
So, I cut back the lights to 3 hours a day.
using the actinics for 4 or so, and the LEDs for something like 5.
the tank gets some indirect light for a couple of hours.
the algae is gone,but can the rocks be too white?
I have 5 snails, don't want them to starve.
now I'm not sure if I should increase the light.
I'll post a pic when I fire up the PC.
just what should I strive for?
"some" algae?

here's what i mean, quite white

do you have any fish in the tank? usually the hours you want to run the lights is about 8.

the algae you saw that was a brownish tint is more then likely +1 on the diatoms

 

[Mark9]

do you have any fish in the tank? usually the hours you want to run the lights is about 8.

the algae you saw that was a brownish tint is more then likely +1 on the diatoms

I had been running the lights for about 12 hours, algae was getting bad, so i got 5 snails and cut back the light.
I think it's swung too clean now.
I'm going to add back an hour or 2 of full light.

I have 3 fish in the tank, probably moving a bit fast, but that's it for now.
My plan is to have 5 fish in there, adding a yellow watchman (currently in QT) and a royal gramma.
This is my avatar picture.

 

[nynick]

Don't combat algae, especially in a new tank, with light starvation unless it is one of only a handful of types where this is effective long term.

Basically the food for it is in your water and probably coming out of your rocks and sand along with your live stock. Turning off your lights will only slow down your tanks cleaning up. You can have the algae now or later and if you choose later you will possibly have a build up of nutrients in the water.