saltwater algae

[Toam]

I've been doing my best to help a friend of mine with his 20 gallon he recently converted to saltwater. I've been doing a 10% water change every 4 days and it's been up and running for over a month now with live rock and cleaning crew, a clown, a 50/50 blemey, and some other fish that looks like a firefish but bigger. Anyways he was away for a week, and I noticed the algae on his substrate has gone from regular looking algae to some fairly long, saltwater version of hair algae? what is the treatment for this? more cleaning crew? larger water changes? or is it something within the water parameters? (I don't have anything to test his water conditions) I just did a 25% change with a gravel vac which picked up most of the algae, but some of the hair algae was to thick and heavy, should I remove this with the net?
any info would be helpful guys, I definitely am not too informed on the saltwater side of fish

he has a 20 gallon
18 pounds of live rock
6 turbo snails/nassius snails(3 of each)
2 cleaning shrimp
1 blood shrimp
1 clown fish
1 50/50 blemey
1 unknown(similar to blemey in appearance)
1 crotea clam
1 finger leather
he ahs an aquaclear 30 on it, and for lighting he runs a 55 watt compact and a 20 watt coralife fluorescent.

 

[aresgod]

um, yea..the tank is probably still cycling...I am suprised the things he has in there are still alive. Not to mention it is over stocked and the lighting is insufficient. He should return everything he has in there and see if the LFS will hold it for him until the tank is done cycling...buy a test kit, there is no excuse not to have one.

 

[Toam]

I've had a hard enough time keeping him from filling it with more. He had it cycle for a month with cured live rock before adding the fish, but he didn't wait long after that before adding stuff to it. He somewhat listens to advice, but I go over there and often find a new addition, such as the crotea clam and the finger leather. There is definitely no way to get him to return anything, but I sometimes can talk some sense into him. What wattage must he have for the clam? he has 75 watts on a 20 gallon, does he need a second compact fluorescent as well? I can get him to get the right equipment, so at least that might help?
Today at my LFS his girlfriend caught sight of a harlequin shrimp, and she wanted it no matter what. it was being sold for $69.99 and the only way I talked her out of it was the fact that they feed on starfish, which they have none of thankfully.
now back to the original question, is the hair algae from cycling? what removes it? simply letting the cycle complete? daily water changes? I would really like an answer to the question I asked and not just a negative response, because I know he's going to have problems, and I can't talk him out of going through with it, but I CAN help by water changes and information, so please, could you give me some information?
and if you need the water paramters, I will try and talk him into a kit, but I doubt it, he's a new aquarist, and doesn't want to have to deal with that part of it yet.

 

[aresgod]

well the algae is being fueled by the large amounts of waste produced by that inhabitants in a tank that small. large water changes will help, but really only a larger tank is the best option, for now he should buy a protein skimmer.