Tuning based on growth color, types, and patterns. Is there a FAQ on what to expect?

[b4tn]

I thought I had seen a waterfall scrubber thread explaining what to do if your screen looks like "this" or is a certain color, etc. but can't find it. I'm trying to determine how much to increase light or decrease light and time. Below is what my screen looks like after about 3 weeks lit for 18 hours. The screen on the Inside of the slot pipe where there is no light is a mix of green algae and what looks like cyano bright green slime. Any suggestions? Is there a thread on how to tune and maintain after building? Here is my screen so far.

[SantaMonica]

Simply looks like a new screen, or one that is on a cycling tank, or one that is way oversized for the amount of nutrients available.

[b4tn]

I guess I am unsure if I should leave things as is or make any changes. When I was researching the ATS build I ran across a thread that had all the stages of the screen growth along with notes on light cycle tweaking, possible causes and fixes for unwanted situations, etc. I cant seem to find that thread.

My tank is a 2 month old 75Gallon that had 70 lbs of dry rock and about 10 lbs of cured live rock added at start up. It also has a 40 breeder sump that has a Reef Octopus 150INT skimmer. All of my water parameters are right where they should be but I do have a few small places with Bubble algae, hair algae, and brown algae is covering all of my rocks despite phosphate being low enough that its unmeasurable. Additionally I have to clean the brown algae off my glass daily, it literally grows in a matter of hours. I only use RODI water that is reading 0 TDS and do 5% water changes weekly.

Growth on the screen dramatically increased over the past week since adding a Foxface, Coral Beauty, and a Corris Wrasse. Along with those I also have a small clown and a chromi with a few LPS and soft corals and about 200 assorted snails. I feed a 3x3 inch sheet of nori and about a half cube of homemade food that is made from blended fresh seafood daily. All my corals and fish seem very happy.

My scrubber is self contained in the sump and has a 4" x 8" screen that is powered by a MaxiJet 1200 pump and has the flow dialed down a bit. I am using two 75 watt CFL 2700 bulbs on each side for 18 hours a day.

Based on that info and the picture of my screen am I on the right track? Should I increase lighting time? Decrease lighting time? Leave it be and continue cleaning the screen weekly? I am wanting to get enough growth the out compete the algae in the DT but I am not noticing much of a difference.

[SantaMonica]

4 x 8 = 32 sq inches. Your 75 equivalent CFL is probably 13 real watts, so 4 x 13 = 52 real watts, which is plenty for 32 square inches.

Need pics of the rocks.

[b4tn]

Sorry for the delay. The scrubber seems to have went from zero to 100 in a matter of days. My maxi jet 1200 is now turned up to full flow over the 4" screen. My rocks however are getting deeper and darker brown by the day. Sand is relatively white. The rocks are BRS dry reef saver rocks. Could this be phosphate leaching out? I put the dry rocks direct into fresh saltwater and started the cycle by adding live sand and a few pieces of cured live rock.

[b4tn]

Also, since the scrubber has taken off my glass stays cleaner for days now instead of hours.

[SantaMonica]

Looking good. The rocks are getting the first layers of periphyton; after a year or two they will be fully naturally covered.