Algae and lighting question

Hi - I have read the Algae starter articles and just have a follow up question.

I have a 75 Gal FOWLR which I eventually will be changing to a reef - The only reason I hadn't changed it was because I didn't have the lighting. That is going to change on Saturday - I am installing a:

Nova Extreme Ho Light Fixture - 8 X 54w T5ho - 4 Lunar - 48 In.

What I have now is the coralife CF with lunar lights that I bought used (boy was that a mistake - although I only paid 50.00 for it).

Becuase I bought the coralife used, I didn't take into consideration the age of the bulbs (probably a year old) and have been fighting Algae ever since YUCK.

QUESTION #1 - Should I just add the fixture above and see how it affect the Algae? I am assuming the added wattage and especially the added frequency of the new bulbs will kill a bunch of the algae.

QUESTION #2 - How long should I wait to start adding corals? I am afraid with the whole Algae thing needing to die off, corals should wait?

QUESTION #3 - Could high Nitrates be caused by the Algae mess? I do a 10% water change every week with RODI water and real ocean brand (I think) salt. Yesterday after the water change it was still reading in the 40 ppm range for nitrates - Ammonia was 0 and Nitrites were 0. I am using a wet/dry filter and have good water movement from powerheads.

Right now the fish I have:

1 medium yellow tang
2 Saddleback Clowns
1 Blue Tang (smallish)
1 6 lined wrasse (very small)
1 swaltwater cat (3 inches long)

I also have some hermit crabs and turbo snails and a cucumber that might have died in a cave

Thanks for your help - be kind if you need to yell at me

 

Question #1: Adding new bulbs should help, whether they be new Pc bulbs or the new fixture. It's not the frequency of the light but the wavelength that affects algae growth. Older bulbs shift to the red spectrum causing more algae to grow. It won't kill the algae, but make it harder to grow

Question #2: I would wait until you have the algae and nitrates under control. 40ppm nitrates is high for corals, they won't look as good as they can and won't grow well.

Question #3: High nitrates are most likely the cause of the algae. The RO/DI is good, but how old are the filters? Clean the wet/dry, scrub the bioballs, as I have a feeling that is what you have in there. They collect detritus which results in higher nitrates. Also clean any other sponge type filter. With the two tangs and other fish, you have a lot of bioload. How much do you feed? I have another feeling you are over feeding. Cut back on that to help with nitrates. If the cucumber died, that could be a big problem. Some can release toxins that can wipe out your tank. It that's not the case, the rotting flesh will release excess nutrient and ammonia. What are your phosphate levels?

 

Thanks for the quick response... I am not sure on phosphates - just used that phosphate removal stuff this weekend.

#2 Ok thanks for the advice

#3 a few clarification questions: A). I clean the sponge filters regularly (like once a week) but just with water... should I use something else? B). I am not aguing But I heard that you should never clean Bio filter because you kill the good bacteria and make the tank cycle again... did I hear wrong? If so, how do you go about cleaning the bio-balls? C. The cucumber is a brown warty cucumber (not the purple guy) - I haven't seen him in a couple of days - should I pull the rock he hides in (it's fake) and get him out?

 

Oops I forgot to mention - I feed once daily not more than they can eat in 3 mins. too much?

 

I think Guitarman has left site and I hope he does not mind me joining in

rinse the sponges with the old tank water you are taking out at water change time, dont clean the sponges with anything else

Steve