red algae that wont go away, is it my light? temperature??

emerald_coast<hippie>

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aquatop 40 gall rimless 5 stage internal filter box system
aquatop BT-PROSKIM 2nd gen for recife eco 24 to 40 gallon

hydra 32hd smart reef led : david saxby AI signature

caluerpa mexicana
caluerpa prolifera
bubble tip aneomone
some sort of zoanthids (not sure)
a green blastomussa frag ( i think its dying)

clownfish pair
blenny
razorfish

cleanup crew:reef safe hermit crabs
turbo snails.

hello there, im new to the reef aquarium game and ive been having a few problems and im not exactly sure what to change or how to fix, i appreciate any suggestion.
its about 3 months old and ive been having the worst time with some sort of fluffy red algae, ive been testing the water almost every few days with the api marine reef and saltwater master test kit and everything has been coming up pretty good, my ph was a little low so i did add a ph buffer and it was back to perfect.
i did add marine snow and aquavitro fuel for reef (some coral growing supplement) and my red fluffy unwanted friends exploded. :smiling-face-with-tear:
my water heather and thermometer were giving me two different readings so i got a HiTauing digital heater and so far it works great.
im not exactly sure if theres a specific light intensity for my reef stage but ive been using the AI signature by david saxby since day one and it may be too strong and burning my corals up but im not sure.
i did have issues with my protein skimmer for a few weeks that basically created a red algae slick in the filter chamber in the back, there was a cap that was blocking a hole on the reservoir of the skimmer that was missing so everything just dripped back into where my biological filtration is but i did get another cap on and it seems to be working again.

any advice or suggestion is welcome.
 

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KrisReef

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Looks like golden diatoms(?) or other muck growing on the glass, looks like a new tank going through the phases. Keep wiping the glass, get a Mr. Clean pad (or generic malamine pads) and wipe the glass until the pad is dirty, and then rinse the pad in a bucket or RODI, repeat so the muck is exported. Could take a month or two to get past the stage but it should mature and other things will grow, like that caulerpa which will take over the rocks fairly quickly and then you will have to trim that and remove the cuttings to export nutrients.

Lowering the light exposure and intensity can also reduce "the uglies" especially if there is natural light hitting the tank during the day? All in all, it looks very good for 3 months and it will likely get worse before it gets better.
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emerald_coast<hippie>

emerald_coast<hippie>

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Yep, theres a pretty big window about 7ft away from it and it was getting hit by the sunlight coming through, I've recently put blinds on it and it's been doing a bit better.
"Gets worse before it gets better" scary
 

Daftendire

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At three months old this system is still in for its share of the uglies unless that's mature live rock. Keeping appropriate nutrient parameters will allow the desired microbiome to out compete the nuisance algae in the long run. You havent listed any parameters, but my guess is that if you're skimming a new AIO system with 3 small fish at 3 months, you might be on the low side of desired nitrates/phosphates.
 

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