Newby on salt

Howdy, new to saltwater and converted my 30 gallon fresh to salt. Have three damsels and two clowns. No rocks just live sand and a couple of fake corals. It's been up and running for three months and (cross my fingers) haven't lost a fish. My concern is the algae growing on the sand. Is there a way to keep it off? Trying to vacuum the sand, during water change sucks. When and/or should I get a "goby"? I was reading on the site about them and I still don't understand what to feed them or how they get the natural food they crave. Does it grow on it's own or do I need to cultivate something in the sand for them?? The threads seem to inform people that know something about them, but what about us real dummies????

 

Welcome to 3Reef>>>>> What kind of clean up crew do you have?

 

What kind of algae, cyno? diatoms? If you post a pic. we can identify it. Also, when you say "goby" do you mean mandarin? Most gobies are sand sifters, but will eat prepared foods. Mandarins almost exclusively only eat copepods. Some do eat frozen food, but it is rare. Copepods will grow naturally in your aquarium, however you don't have any live rock, so your aquarium may not have any. Lr usually introduces them as hitchhikers. In a 55, if you have 1, the pod population can keep up with the demand. But mandarins eat alot of them so you may need to supplement with artificial ones, or grow your own.

 

Algae aside for the moment, you may want to consider some base rock in your tank. At this point, LR would initiate a cycle, but base rock will really even out the stability of your tank.

 

How do I insert photo?

 

I love all the answers but what is base rock? I don't have any sand cleaners that's why I'm asking for help. I don't want to remake the wheel just make and keep my tank healthy.