Green and purple hair algae problem

[Grimxxz]

I have a 29 gallon marine tank. After cycling the water properly with live rock and live sand, I noticed a rapid overgrowth of algae. I leave the light on for only 8 hours per day. Turbo snails, hermit crabs, and manual removal of the algae have not helped—it grows right back! My ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite levels are all within normal range as well as my pH and salinity. Does anyone know what to do to control this nasty stuff? I have attached a photo I took after cleaning up a little.

 

[Brew12]

That red is cyanobacteria.

When you say your nitrate is in the normal range, what is it reading?

 

[Grimxxz]

The reading is 0 ppm.

 

[Brew12]

The reading is 0 ppm.

That is too low and is likely why the cyanobacteria is thriving. I would recommend raising it to 5ppm to 10ppm. That should help. Fortunately, problems like this become less common as a tank ages.

Oh, and Welcome to Reef2Reef!