Toning down the whites or shortening their on time is advisable. As an example heres the schedule from my 32g biocube. Very low intensity on the white channel which is the blue line. In regards to coral growth, yes some white is good but too much I feel is worse than none at all. Many a big name aquaculturist use only blue or just a few hours of white in the mixThanks! As a fellow newbie good luck! It's a lot of fun.
Yes, the patience part is probably the best learning lesson for me in this hobby . I think I'm going to get a single turbo snail to start in the spirit of going slow, see how it looks, and then get a second if needed. I think I'll get an emerald crab along with the mexican turbo snail so the emerald can tackle the bubble algae. With that said I would still appreciate any first hand experience with emeralds in case I should stay away since I would prefer not to put any destructive cleaners in my tanks.
With regard to the light, my schedule is currently on a simple timer from 2pm-10pm. Do you think I should shorten this to limit algae growth? I would prefer not to do anything that would also limit my coral growth. Or would it be smart to turn the white light off towards the end of my light cycle, like at 8pm or 9pm? Realistically I don't think I would do this consistently since I would have to manually turn off the white light as the two lights run on a single electrical plug but just want to get your thoughts. Thanks!