Whats wrong with my tank?

[drillsar]

I have a 55gal with a mag 7 for return, 130watts of light I know I need more light, euroreef skimmer, phosphate reactor.

I have ton of algae problems on my sand bed:
Brown, red(cyano im thinking), hair and green slime

I thought it was my phosphates but now since I added reactor the phosphates are 0

My tank parameters:
Phosphate 0
Nitrites 10ppm using salifert 20 ppm using aquarium pharm

Using ro/di water tds meter shows 0ppm

do i need more flow or something?

my friend said it may be because I didnt put rock on the glass, i put sand in first then added rock.. His tank is gorgeous, no problems and im thinking maybe I did mess up..

 

[IworkatPSP]

How long has your tank been set up?

If you are just starting out and have recently finished your cycle, you may just be going through what i like to call "The cycle of algae". it starts out brown(diatoms), then goes red (cyano), then goes greenish and a bunch of everything else. If its that, don't worry, they all clear up for the most part.

good luck,

matt

 

[Macrosill]

If you are getting a reading of nitriates then your tank is not fully cycled. You should have zero nitrites and be reading nitrates.

The rock touching the glass means nothing.

 

[Brenden]

NO2 should be 0 (no gray area on that). If not your tank has not cycled or has a major die off which is causing excess nutrients/cyano.