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I would put the lights on a timer. But that's just me and my .02

It's cyano. try some chaeto and adjusting lights so cheato thrives and this doesn't. Light out will help. look for a molly miller blenny my .02

Yes you can have a very nice 10g. to the reef guys it's called a nano and I believe the have a forum here for those. I was start with a refugium, best and external one but it could be just an partition made from 1/4" square plastic grid (egg crate). that's sole as lighting diffusers for...

looks and sounds like cyanobacteria to me. What can happen is nitrates are reduced by low oxygen bacteria but not so for phosphates. So after some time (usually 6-9 months) the tank can become nitrates starved. especially at the top of the sand bed and on rocks where there is low oxygen...

yes you can and I highly recommend you not use any water conditioner especially dechlors and ammonia locks. In the case of ammonia, the locked ammonia still tests positive for ammonia in most test kits so there is a temptation to keep adding more and more. They also lock oxygen so fish can...

B R S did a study a few weeks back and chaeto really took off with blue/red led lights. Some on ebay were only $20 or so. But macros also grew in that test with many different kinds of lights including cheapie hardware store pig tail compact fluorescent screw in incandescent replacements. they...

As a test take that rock out and put it in a bucket covered with saltwater and circulation. Cover the bucket to keep the rock in darkness. You'll be surprised how quickly (days) it becomes algae free. my .02

Kill your lights. the algae will die off. Add chaetomorphia or caulerpa Prolifera macro algae to consume the nutrients. (best to protect the macros with a partition (egg crate) to keep livestock and macros separated. Once you get the algae you like (macros) growing and in control the uglies...

Sand will settle down as it matures. FWIW I would add macro algae in a refugium which could be just a simple partition. my .02

by starting the tank with an in tank refugium with macro algae: egg crate $12 (4'x2') 2 2 tube utility shop light fixtures behind tank. ~40 with 6500k tubes. something to hold the lights behind the tank. ~$20 or so. play sand 2 50# bags from building supply places $7 limestone rocks from...

The api kit measures 160ppm but ~60ppm-160ppm are various slightly different colors of red. When my nitrates finally fell, I didn't really notice differences until they got under 30ppm or so. or into a more orangy type color. Once there in only took a few days to drop to unmeasureable. my .02

yes not good for pods. If you could get the skimmer to work in a separate chamber for the 20g sump that might work better. But than I don't know. I don't use skimmers. my .02 ps my wife does have a skimmer. LOL

IMHO the separate 20g refugium draining into the 20g sump is a very good idea. That way the refugium can run basically all the way full and the sump is where water level varies with evaporation, power outages and so on. my .02

any chance you could put the long dimension fore and aft with the back end sticking out of the stand? I did that once and it formed a direct plumbing path for the drain. my .02

+1 On my old 55g I Just crammed in some egg crate 3" in front of the back glass. and added 2 4' two tube 6500k shop lights 4" behind the tank pointing forward. Costs with tubes $25-30 or so. (+$10 for the egg crate) and put chaeto and caulerpa between the back glass and egg crate. nitrates...

make it a display refugium for various macro algae and/or sea grasses.

The only real problem is the livestock eats the macros. Hence the reason for a refugium to protect the macros. That said thriving macro (or other algae for that matter) is very good for any closed environment and our tanks are no exception. I put some chaeto behind the rocks on the wife's 60g...

I simply do not understand why it would be slow. Afterall the macro algae in immediately balancing out and stabilizing the system and represents more effective conditioning than live rock. I guess if the rock has been in water for 3 years and is covered with algae that would work almost as...

can't help. I don't use skimmers.

Yes. but as the intervening posts illustrate that is not the popular method. IMHO you can use rocks from your local limestone quarry (my cost was $20/ ton) and play sand from building supply stores ($3/50#) and still have stable and successful reef tanks. my .02