Newbie Alert - Cyclling Tank Green Algae

[rodstar]

Hello World! This is my first post here. I have been reading like crazy for the last 24 hours and there is ton of information in all of these forums, but I am starting to worry about my new little tank.

Let me set it up for you. I am a newbie and my tank is about 2 weeks old. I have an Oceanic Biocube 14g. On December 29 I made and added my water and 20lbs of AragAlive. On December 30 I added 12 lbs of live rock. All was good. Tank started to cycle and the rock was awesome. Some minor die off, nice purple color, things started popping in a day. I even have some plant life growing and recently saw what I think are feather dusters (though only about 1/2 cm at this point). I started to get some brown algae and my cycle was moving quickly. On January 3 I started to have a lime green alage on the glass. The brown algae was disappearing. On January 5 I added 6 snails and 6 hermit crabs. On January 6 I added another 5 snails (lost 1 Saturday morning - no idea) and 1lb of live sand from my LFS supply. Immediately saw tiny white dot things on the glass (I understand these are good (carpepods?) and I have a few tiny worms (also good). My ammonia and nitrites had both dropped to zero and nitrates are at about 20. These numbers have stayed pretty constant. Water is about 80F. pH and alkalinity seem normal (8.2 and 250, respectively). SG is at about 1.023

My problem is that I have a ton of this lime green algae. The snails are getting some, but it is bright and seems to be ovetaking the tank. It is on the glass, the sand and now on the live rock! Help!!!

The Biocube has 2 blue LEDs that simulate moonlight and I leave them on 24/7. It also has a 10,000K 24 watt bulb and a 24w actinic that i have been running from 2pm-1:30pm. The tank also seems to be getting some partial sun for about an hour every day.

My LFS has been great with education and they actually keep me from going too fast. However, they are also 40 miles away so they are a not-so-LFS. I was sold the initial cleaning crew with hermit crabs by another LFS that was much more local, but apparently not so edumacated

So, here are my questions:
1. I hear that hermit crabs are bad, especially if I want a
reef tank. True?
2. What do I do about the algae? Can I fix it or does it need to run its course. Seems to be getting worse and worse every day.
3. Next steps? The good LFS says a chromis next week and then nothing for a while until we see how he does...

Thanks in advance for your help!!! I am going to try to keep a good log here, so you can check that out (I think a link is in my signature.) I am a few days behind right now, but trying to catch up.

[Sleepy Clownfish]

To answer your questions:

1. No, not all hermits are risky for reefs. Many larger hermits (larger than Hawaiian Zebra Hermits) are risky because of their threat to both fish and corals. Typically anything larger will prey on small fish or defenseless (I use this word loosely) coral.

Blue-legged Hermits, Scarlet Hermits, Hawaiian Zebra Hermits, and a few others, although these are most commonly found in tanks, are safe. Do research before picking up any hermits as part of a clean up crew.

2. For your algae problem I would suggest one of two options: 1.) wait it out and hope your water parameters balance out enough to solve the problem on its own. Although they are photosynthetic, after a period of time the hair algae will die off and become manageable for your clean up crew. 2.) do what I did.

Step 1 - Turn off all of your lights and timers.
Step 2 - Cover your tank in a large, thick blanket to keep light from penetrating the tank.
Step 3 - Wait 4 - 5 days.
Step 4 - Uncover the tank. If the hair algae is still lush green and not opaque, repeat step 3.
Step 5 - Begin your normal lighting cycle and add a clean up crew.

The reasoning behind is this that green algae is mainly photosynthetic. By removing it's main food source (e.i. light) you starve it rather rapidly. This causes mass die-off and can spike your ammonia or nitrates a bit. That being said it wouldn't be wise to have any live stock in the tank during this time and it would also be wise to test your parameters for two to three days after this to see if a spike has occured.

3. Do not add fish to your tank that you do not want. People add damselfish to their tanks to help cycle a tank, or to start a cycle in their tank. This is cruel and inhumane. It's similar to placing a dog in a car with the windows rolled up. Ammonia, Nitrites, and Nitrates will spike causing the fish stress or death. There are other alternatives to cycling your tank then using a fish. Talk to your local fish store about them. Be firm.

Best of luck and I hope this helps.

[rodstar]

Thanks fo rthe help. I guess, based on your response, that my only choice is to wait it out. I can't turn off the lights and cover the tank because I have live rock and snails and hermit crabs in the tank. So, I will have to wait.

Just to clarify, I am not adding the chromis to cycle the tank. I am adding the chromis as my first fish and he is hardy so in case there are any issues, he will hopefully survive.

I am now at SG: 1.023
Temp: fluctuates between 78-80
Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates: 20
pH: 8.2
Alkalinity: Between 180 and 300 based on the test.

So, I think I am ready for my first fish.

[Sleepy Clownfish]

Snails and hermits will survive the die-off phase. I was more concerned about corals, shrimp and fish.

You can still go ahead with option two.