Help! Bad Algae Breakout and Lazy CUC!

My tank has been cycling for 3 weeks now using all base rock, live sand, bacteria booster starter, and 2 clown fish. Params are: Ammonia 0.25/ Nitrite 1.0/ Nitrate 0.0. There is greet powdery algae everywhere and even with the large CUC that I just added from Reef Cleaners it still comes back strong every morning, and it does not seem like the snails or crabs are making any difference whatsoever right now. Is the algae part of the cycling process? Does it go away by itself? How long until this happens? I wish my snails would do more, it seems like they just hang out in one spot all grouped together, if they would just get to work, they would have the tank cleaned fast! Any suggestions, or words of wisdom?

 

Until your nitrogen cycle completes you will have algae problems. Don't turn you lights on until you have corals in the tank and your cycle completes. Algae is part of the process though. If you are not using ro/di water then you will have problems because of the nitrate and phosphate levels in tap water. Just wait it out.

 

i am using all reverse osmosis water, but I have the lights on a 24 hour lighting system. Will my clown fish pair be ok with out lighting? Also how will i know when my cycle is complete? If im not mistaken the algae part happens right before the cycle is over right?

 

Clowns will be fine without light. Cycle is over when ammonia and nitrite are are at 0. Some people say when nitrate is at zero but since you have fish in there when the nitrate is around 10 or lower you'll be finished with the nitrogen cycle. Then slowly in crease the lighting to the length you want so your clean up crew can keep up with the growth. Lights don't need to be on longer than 12 hours a day when you do have them on in your DT.