clean up crew help

[xs0dap0px]

hi i have a 50g estabished tank that is starting to grow algea real fast ....i have 4 turbo snails and about a dozen hermits and also a urchin .......my question is what should i get to eat up more of the algea and how much clean up crew is too much

 

[airforceb2]

I would add another 10 turbos.
The real question is why is the tank growing algae. What kind of water do you use? Do you have any phosphates in your tank? What is your lighting schedule?

 

[msd2]

have u added any fish lately? Something is making your water nutrient rich which leads to the algae bloom... meaning something is out of balance, either overstocked, overfed, or poor water.

 

[xs0dap0px]

i havent added any fish lately......i did get a new lighting system and i believe the algea is due to that ........the lighting schedule is from 7 am to 8 pm so 13 hours i think thats way to long also the phospate im not sure what mines at i clean my tank every two weeks so i think the water quality is fine .........and the water i use is r/o water for top off and pre mixes catalina salt water from my local fish store

 

[airforceb2]

How many fish do you have? The bio load is critical in salt water tanks.
Also, what kind of lighting did you get? The lighting schedule is quite long...if you don't have anything that requires light, you can cut them back to about 8-9 hours a day.

 

[xs0dap0px]

let see i have 6 damsels /a feather duster/ urchin /chocolate chip star fish /and a small crab /10 or so hermits /4 turbo snails ....i dont think its over loaded .....im not sure on the lighting that where i draw a blank on saltwater stuff ...i wanna say a 17,000 something bulb