New to fishtanks

[Khrlkg]

So bear with me here is my issue I have a 75 g tank , recently had a huge algae bloom that covers my rocks , ship ordiment and glass of my tank
My water looks clear , I have had it set up 50 days or so with the following
Marine land 360 canister filter
Aqualife HO t5 4 light on a built in timer
300 w marieland heater
Black gravel substrate

I have a master API and test my water every second day
Besides day 42-44 in which I had 0 ammonia 1.0 nitrite and 0nitrate
I've always had 0 ammonia
0nitrite
0nitrate

I currently have 5 male pladys
5 small angles and 1 common pleco

My question is is my tank finally cycled because of the algea bloom and 2 is there a way to get rid of the algea , I am not sure of the type but it is green and covers everything (I know it's not green water algea)

 

[Khrlkg]

Oh I do biweekly water changes aswell 20% and use prime as my conditioner I did use stability when setting it up by seachem aswell

 

[Bubbles0oO]

Try cutting back your lighting times to starve the algea. It also seems to work in most cases to black your tank out for a few days. Just turn the light off for a day or two then get ready for a clean up water change.

 

[Khrlkg]

Pics of the algea and tank setup

 

[Bubbles0oO]

With that kind of algea i would do what i posted previously and try to rub it off whenever you see it.

So over all:

Rub a bunch off and suck it up with a syphon

Do a 2-3 day blackout with no lights

Then always rub it off when you see it pop up

 

[Khrlkg]

What about my readings do u think its cycled , I herd but have not confirmed algea won't grow less its cycles

 

[Rivercats]

Light is your issue, I noticed you don't have any live plants in your tank and you have high light. 4-T5HO's put out alot of light and with no plants algae is taking off like crazy because of all the light and nutrients in the water and no plants to complete for it. You really only need to be running 2 of your 4 bulbs and with no plants cut light down to 8ish hours daily. You can do a black out for 3 days or so since you have no plants to worry about. Your fish will be fine also. You could also start adding some live plants, easy ones for beginners, but I would still suggest running only 2 bulbs on your hood. If you decide you want to run all 4 bulbs you would need to plant heavily, use fertilizers daily by dosing PPS-Pro or El, and use either liquid carbon or CO2. Oh, something else... what are the "K" ratings of your bulbs? 6000K-67000K-10000K-atinic....

 

[Khrlkg]

I believe my bulbs are marked in my light casing as 1)t5 ho 420/460 54w
2)T5ho 10,000k 54 w
3)T5 ho 54 w purple
4)t5 ho 430/460 54 w
When I bought this I was told I could use silk plants with the intent to switch to a planted tank once I had more experience
I was told the light would not effect my fish

Should I just leave it off for 3 days to do a blackout and also after the blackout what lights bulbs should I use to make sure there's not an excess

 

[Rivercats]

So your tank is 4 foot long? The lights won't hurt the fish but using all those lights without any live plants is what is fueling your algae. Plus if your leaving them on too long that is another issue. In order to keep nutrients down low you need to be doing 50% or close to that much in a weekly WC. You can do a blackout to start breaking down the algae but then you need to go lighter on your lights once you turn them back on.

From what you have listed for bulbs this is a fixture meant for a sw reef tank. Do you still have your light fixture paperwork. My 3x150W 6000K metal halide with 4x39W 6700K T5HO's hood combo from Coralife was for saltwater and I had to buy the correct freshwater bulbs I've got listed (they had bulbs similar to yours). You need to buy correct bulbs and switch them out. On my high light I run my T5HO's 12 hours (I have a deep 220g tank) but can only do a six hour light burst of the halides and I have a very heavily planted tank. T

Giesemann Midday and Aqua Flora T5HO's are perfect bulbs for freshwater planted tanks (if your going that route). There are many brand of T5HO bulbs in various price ranges but you need to try to get ones in the 6000K to 6700K range and one or two of the pink bulbs like the Aqua Flora which gives plant a high red spike.

 

[librarygirl]

I agree, way too much light for that size tank. Does it get direct sunlight at all? Are you vacuuming the gravel regularly as well?

Your tank could be cycled but typically a cycled tank will have some nitrate. What test kit are you using? I'd also increase water changes to 50% weekly with gravel vacuum each time.

 

[Khrlkg]

I am using an API mater test kit , my tank is by a window however it is always closed with blinds , I have my lights down to 8 hours now 4 hours on the white and 4 on the blue then off for the rest