Beginner Question, Live Rock Or Not

[lastduke]

20G Fish only Tank, 2 damsels, one clown fish, one fire fish and one cleaner shimp in there.
Aquaclear 150/30 filter, heater. That's all I put in the tank. And the sun light hits the tank direclty about 2 hours in the afternoon (i have no where to place the tank).
The tank was cycled and the brown algae is blooming up these days.
I went to LFS and asked them to fix the brown algae. They recommended me to purchase the live rock to prevent from the algae, they told me the my filter/filtration system is not good enough. Live rock will help me to filtrate the water. Brown algae will not be removed from the Fish Only tank because the filter/filter media I have is not good enough.
Are they correct? Because it is my first salt water tank, I tried to set it up as easy as I could.

 

[STD]

20G Fish only Tank, 2 damsels, one clown fish, one fire fish and one cleaner shimp in there.
Aquaclear 150/30 filter, heater. That's all I put in the tank. And the sun light hits the tank direclty about 2 hours in the afternoon (i have no where to place the tank).
The tank was cycled and the brown algae is blooming up these days.
I went to LFS and asked them to fix the brown algae. They recommended me to purchase the live rock to prevent from the algae, they told me the my filter/filtration system is not good enough. Live rock will help me to filtrate the water. Brown algae will not be removed from the Fish Only tank because the filter/filter media I have is not good enough.
Are they correct? Because it is my first salt water tank, I tried to set it up as easy as I could.

I wouldnt run a Marine tank without live rock

Also do u use RO water?

 

[lastduke]

No I am not using the RO water.
It seems that there is no solution to get rid of algae in fish only marine tank without live rock. It is the time to bring tons of rock home

 

[scorphonic]

How about blocking the light from reaching the tank for a few days. Cover the tank in a cloth. The fish are not going to be harmed and when you uncover your tank you will just need to clean all the dead algae and there ya have it...an algae free tank (so long as you reduce how much direct sunlight you have entering the tank.)

 

[n3ont3tra]

If you aren't using RO water, what kind of water are you using?

Adding some kind of phosphate remover to the filter may help.

Also, if you have high nitrates, that's probably causing some algae.

I don't really think the sunlight is too much of a problem. It's more of with the bioload and filtration.


EDIT:: Almost forgot - Welcome to the forum!

 

[lastduke]

After some discussion, I decided to change my FO to live rock tank (coral later, practice the live rocks first).
It seems the live rocks help the filtration system a lot, doesnt it?

My quesiton is :
should I add 5 lbs LR once at a time to make the cycle process restarted slowly or add 20 lbs in a single time?
I am considering the fish I have......

BTW, I am using the tap water mixed with Ocean Instant Salt.

 

[scorphonic]

If the rock is cured then maybe there is no problem with putting the whole lot in one go BUT...from alot of what is said on the forums it seems its better to add piece by piece to allow for any die off that you may have in the rock. At least this can minimise the ammonia that will be produced from dying matter in the rock.

 

[lastduke]

I am going to put 10 lbs this weekend. Do I need to buy some lighting stuff?

 

[STD]

If you have a nuisance algae problem condider using RO water

Also a phosphate remover like ultraphos

 

[norite]

Also, is this LR going to be cured or not? If it is uncured, you'd better put those fish somewhere else for a few weeks, coz they will very likely all die as the rock cures. You're meant to put the LR in before the fish...

 

[n3ont3tra]

I would strongly suggest getting cured live rock. If you do, you can add it as slow or as fast as you want. If you get uncured, you should probably move the fish somewhere else and add it all at one time. If that's not an option, try curing it in a trash can or something.

 

[lastduke]

all LRs I can find in local area are cured LF, hopefully, they told me the truth I am going to buy 20lbs this weekend