Lighting Questions. and Cyanobacteria?

[TheTrav13]

Lighting:
24" Nova Extreme 4x24watt (6 Months Old 3/7/11)
T5HO 2-10k/2-460nm actinics
96w total wattage

I purchased this lighting system as a part of a package in the new aquarium I bought. I'm starting to get the purplish red bacteria growing on the sand. I've been doing weekly water changes. My water levels are perfect, I'm wondering if I'm running my lights too much. They are set to run 8 hours a day. The actinics come on an hour before the others and vice versa for turning them off. Is 8 hours too much?

I should also include that I have:

Inverts:
1 Condi Anemone
2 Peppermint Shrimp
3 Turbo Snails
1 Tiger Tail Sea Cucumber
Flame Scallop
Emerald Crab
Corals:
2+ Kenya Tree
1 Mushroom Red
3 Green Mushrooms
Pagoda


because I need to make sure that they're getting enough light...

 

[westy101]

Leave your lights of for 3 days straight I did this and perfect ?

 

[melosu58]

We have an excellent article on cyano in our Sw articles section. Eight hours of lighting should not cause it but you might have to do less because you have it now. It`s about excessive nutrients and how flow is through your tank. Cutting the lights out for a few days might work but if your tank parameters are out of wack as far as nutrients then you`ll just get it again.