Noob saltwater talk (questions)

[Noobreefer90]

Ok so I have a few questions 

start off I have a 14g biocube been up for about a month or little more and here lately I’ve been coming home to a little brown algae on my glass and sand but today I come home to green algae covering tank sand brown and top of water stag what would cause this. I did a big water change and cleaned the sides 

 question 2. I have the thermometer that sucks to be side of the tank I have it ride beside the intake I have the heater right where the protein skimmer goes on the build in sump on the back right where the water comes out of tank 

which would be best location right by where the water goes into filter since the water is circulating past the heater and blowing out. Where I have it I don’t think I’m getting a good reading for the tank because it’s going past the thermometer before it really reaches the tank

3 what’s the best filter media to add under my poly fill to help with all this algae bloom etc 

[Noobreefer90]

Oh and stock in tank is 2 snails forget name the ones that stays under sand mostly 

green star polyps 

hammer 

frogspawn 

hammer torch

purple and green trumpet 

[Tamberav]

Pic? Need to ID the algae...maybe green cyano?

 

Nass snails? Nass don't eat algae if they are nassarius. 

 

I would look into getting a few more snails...cernith..nerite...trochus...ect

 

I just bag BRS rox carbon with a small amount of purigen for my filter.

 

Do you have any fish?

Do you siphon the sand bed?

Where do you get your water?

How much do you feed?

How often do you water change and how much?

 

Need to find a the cause. Adding media isn't magical and stripping too much makes corals unhappy. The tank is small and should be able to run without too much additives.

 

[Clown79]

To help with the algae we need some more specifics like the things Tamberav asked.

 

Filter media can help but it isn't a fix, finding the cause will prevent algae issues.

 

I like to use filter floss changed twice a week, carbon changed every 2-3 weeks, and purigen which is changed when it goes brown.

 

 

For the heater, if you don't have an ato, it shouldn't be in the chamber with the return pump. The water level changes in this chamber and without an ato, the heater will not be submerged in water at all times. 

 

So without an ato, the heater should be in an available chamber.