Little red algae blooms

[Twcsmom]

Hi all!
I just started my 40g tank in August. Added 2 ocellaris clownfish in October,3 pajama cardinals in November, and a scissor tail and fire goby in January. As cleanup crew I have about 20 blue/ red hermit crabs, about 7 asteria snails, 4 turbo snails, and 1 tiger conch snail.
I am using an led light during day of 920 lm 18 watts. I have about 20 pounds of coral base rocks- but no live coral. I’ve got a protein skimmer and filter.
I had thick green gunk on glass, but between my scraper and the snails it’s looking good.
just this week,I had little blooms of red algae popup on my rocks and a little along the gravel rock base.
Any suggestions? I’ve read about phosphate cleaners- I’ve read about taking rock out and cleaning it.... There are small blooms currently and I want to get it under control!!!

thank you!

 

[jeffchapok]

That's just part of the new tank uglies -- probably cyanobacteria. Before I started adding any chemicals to my tank, I'd try more CUC. I prefer natural solutions whenever possible. I believe cerith snails will consume cyano.

 

[burnetb1]

Agree with cyano. I always had it in my tank, but it got manageable once my fuge was working well. I would remove as much as I could using a small hose and strong siphon when doing water changes. I had an emerald crab that would munch on it a little but never enough to get rig of it.