Amateur/New reefer in Palo Alto

[jozyprabhu]

Welcome, Jozy! The one thing I would suggest, in addition to all the other great advice you are getting, is to check and make sure what you have is truly hair algae and not bryopsis. You can find pictures online, but bryopsis is ferny, and most clean up crew members won't touch it (including a sea hare). I'm a new reefer and misidentified my algae at first, which made the problem worse.

Thank you! Good advice, I am pretty sure it's hair algae, but will re-check.

 

[jozyprabhu]

Welcome @jozyprabhu !

Thanks so much for supporting the club. One thing you'll see is that there's a ton of different ways to keeping a reef tank. The first year of the hobby has the highest attrition rate as bad information can lead to losses. Be careful taking advice from YouTubers or Instagram people since they often have a vested interest in selling you something (along with some poorly informed store employees that only know about your tank from a 2 minute interaction). Most reef books are great purchases for starting knowledge.

I highly recommend creating a tank journal so you can catalog your photos, equipment, livestock, and methodology. Coming here to ask questions is amazing as well and we'll support you. Go slow, don't buy things on emotion, and vet the information provided from all sources to make your informed decision in the end.

Good luck!

Thank you! This is all helpful to know, freshwater seems to have more resources on YouTube and such, but saltwater can be unforgiving, and I'm not willing to take unnecessary risks when it comes to the fish. I will definitely attempt a tank journal!

 

[jozyprabhu]

Welcome Jozy,,
On your next water change which should be done about everiy 7 to 10 days take out a few rocks and scrub scrub in the buck of water you just siphoned out! Just be careful trying not to disturb the sand alot otherwise may get super cloudy and not the best for the fish! If you can remove them without clouding the water alot then scrub them all off!! You should be changing bare minimum 5 gallons of water every seven to ten days maybe more based off your parameters bio load fish poo etc.. Some people change more some less!..Just get a routine and stick with it....cleaning/ testing etc..
What brand salt are you mixing or where you getting it?
Are the lights at 100% what percentage?
How long are the lights on a day?
With no corals your just growing algea !! Fish do not need high intensity and long hours of light..
Inside your HOB filter are you using sponges/ filter floss/ cartridges? And cleaning changing routinely?
Alot of great advise already said here and questions asked of you x2! You kinda now get a picture of BAR's generosity and willingness to help fish and coral lovers succeed in this hobby!
Best of luck!!

Thanks for the advice, and we get our saltwater from the local fish store, and make our own RODI water. The lights are only on for 1-2 hours at night, but I believe the algae is also because the tank is next to our balcony, which brings in indirect sunlight. We're using two filters, one sponge, one hang on the back filter.