New tank - chemistry and algae

[Overbrook]

Just hoping to get some takes on this situation. I have a 32g biocube - 3 weeks into livestock: 2 clowns, a birds nest (that’s growing like a weed), smallish flat acan, and 6 snails. Doing mostly well bet battling brown algae (consistent with diatoms, at least seems surely not hair or dinos) on the sand bed and somewhat on the glass.

Nitrate (Red Sea) = 1
Phos (Hanna ULR) = 0.02
Salinity = 34
Tunze 9001 skimmer - doesn’t seem to do a ton
BRS carbon
Chemipure Blue
Doing 15 % weekly water changes

I’m feeding the (small) clowns 2x a day with new life spectrum small pellets. They ignore some and and eat some. Probably 10ish pellets fall to the sand bed each day and I don’t notice they are eaten later. I’d love to feed them mysis but the ignore it (but I could prob wait for them to be hungry).

Is this just normal new tank life with the algae or is it indicative of nutrient (nitrate and phos) issues I’m creating (overfeeding?) and/or not adequately dealing with? My tests are low but the brown stuff is eating something.
I’m posting as I feel torn between
1. Feeding less
2. Dosing Red Sea NoPox
3. Turning off the lights for a few days
4. Doing nothing new (chalking this up to new tank life). DIFFICULT as I naturally hate the look of a brown sandbed.
Thanks for the thoughts.

 

[Spare time]

It isa new tank issue, not a waste level issue. You simply don't have enough microbio diversity to out compete the diatoms at the moment. Time will fix it, but something like pns probio or something may help. I think conchs will graze on it too (I like them in any tank) You need to raise your nitrates to at least 5 and phosphates could be a tad bit higher (between 0.03 and 0.1 is better). Not gonna lie im suprised you have a birdsnest alive in a 3 week old tank (make sure to test alk at least every other day till you get a feel for how much you need to dose, same with calcium).

 

[Overbrook]

Thanks for your thoughts. Yeah, the birds nest was a bit of a risk (bought it with the clowns) but it's growing. Tank went 3+ months before fish so maybe that helped.