I need help with my 8Gallon saltwater tank

[nemai]

Hi all, here is whats going on with my tank. The tank has been running for about 3 months now and I bought used from a friend and already came with some LR and Live Sand. The first think that I did when I got home with the tank was to do a water change and a good cleaning since the tank was empty just with LS on it. Then I went to the store and I bought a brand new lights bcuz the lights that was there apparently was more than a year old. After a month running and doing water change every week about 2 to 3 gallons each time I noticed for growing a green algae allergies on my tank specially on the LR then I saw growing as well on the LS, anyway. Here is what is my tank routine, I do water change every week or two about 2 to 3 gallons(I buy the water at store) and I don't have skimmer since I do the water changes religiously, twice a week I do the water test(Ph,Ammonia, Phosphate, calcium) all my results look good. Temperature constant at 7.4F. Clean the filter every water change, Feed my fish every other day with dry food( Black occelaris Clown fish and a two Color Benny). All the corals looks very happy and fully open everyday. I do have few red crabs and a turbo snail. I went to a store a month ago and I explain to the store guy whats going on with my tank and I followed everything what him told me what to do. First I did change the LS for Crushed Scleractinia then I'm using a product called TLC Biological Clarifier twice a week. Apparently this is not helping me much because the Green algae still growing all over the place. I try to put it out as much as possible with my fingers but this isnt the solution. Does anyone knows or could help me to solve the issue?? Let me know if I need to give more info about anything. Thanks!!!

[JasonJones]

You are doing a lot of the right things, but I think a few things are causing the trouble.

The clown and the blenny are a lot of bioload for that size tank, especially if it is only a few months old. Plus, at three months, you are still somewhat in the tank cycle and algae is a normal part of that process, especially when you have the bioload you do. Also, not sure where you are buying your water, but not all fish store water is that great. Many stores don't replace the RO membranes and DI resin as often as they should.

I don't think there is a quick solution to your problem. Be very careful with your feedings. Keep dosing the TLC bacteria as it will help eat up some of the extra nutrients. You could try running rowaphos or some sort of other phosphate remover. Otherwise, I think it will just take time for the tank to be able to handle the 2 fish. Clownfish are very dirty and probably way too much for that size tank. Keep doing your water changes.

Also, consider cutting back the amount of time you are running your lights and maybe even do a few days of total darkness.

[Gonzobob]

+1 on what Jason said. You are doing a lot right. Your water changes are a great habit to have and stay with. Probably the first thing I'd look at is feeding. One of the biggest causes of algae breakouts is overfeeding.

Basically algae occurs due to an over abundance of nutrents in the water. The best ways to address are to limit nutrents into the water and remove them (via water changes which you are already doing).