Algae in nem tank

[shermoen]

Hello all, this is my first post but have read many on here, and it's been an absolute help!
So I transferred all my bubble tip nems to this 14bio cube (along with a pair of clowns) as they were starting to take over my temporary display tank and stinging all the coral in it. They have been in this tank maybe a month and I am having issues with green hair algae.
Now the gha is only growing on the bottom glass (it is bare bottom) and starting to grow on the equipment. The rocks have no gha on them at all. The rock was removed from the display and placed in this tank and they had been in the display for at least a year maybe longer.
My question is why is it not growing on the rocks? And will it eventually start growing on the rocks? Could my lighting be to strong ( chinese black box on the lowest of settings)? The tank was cleaned with vinegar water for a few days, but does vinegar cause algae problems?
Anyway I am going to do a big water change after I post this and will update my params after that.

 

[ScottR]

Hello all, this is my first post but have read many on here, and it's been an absolute help!
So I transferred all my bubble tip nems to this 14bio cube (along with a pair of clowns) as they were starting to take over my temporary display tank and stinging all the coral in it. They have been in this tank maybe a month and I am having issues with green hair algae.
Now the gha is only growing on the bottom glass (it is bare bottom) and starting to grow on the equipment. The rocks have no gha on them at all. The rock was removed from the display and placed in this tank and they had been in the display for at least a year maybe longer.
My question is why is it not growing on the rocks? And will it eventually start growing on the rocks? Could my lighting be to strong ( chinese black box on the lowest of settings)? The tank was cleaned with vinegar water for a few days, but does vinegar cause algae problems?
Anyway I am going to do a big water change after I post this and will update my params after that.

1 Looks like normal film algae. I wouldn’t be concerned.
2 Vinegar will feed bacteria as a source of carbon. Perhaps beneficial to combat algae.

 

[Ubergroover]

GHA = Nutrients in water are too high, PO4/NO3. Make sure you use RODI water for everything. When nutrients are dropping it will die off. The other issue is the algae consumes the nutrients so when it does die-off you will have to be diligent in cleaning it. If not you could suffer a very high spike in levels.

 

[shermoen]

So I finished cleaning and 50% water change 2 hours ago, just tested [email protected] and NO3@20PPM.
I dont know if those would have been my problem. The reason I say that is because my main display ran PO4@1-2 ppm for months until I finally got it under control, NO3 Was anywhere from 20-60 ppm. All that and I've never had gha in my main display and it has been through 3 different tanks in the last 2 years.
Is there any other reasons hair algae can bloom?
Here's the tank after the clean and thanks for the replies.