How should I stock my 28 gallon saltwater fish tank?

protein skimmer is what you need first of all the algae is a cycle that all salt tanks go through it is an ammonia build up due to no protein skimmer cut down your lights and do not add any nutrients to the water keep your salt and ph at the right levels at all times use crushed coral instead of sand this keeps the ph levels up the more rock the better it also keeps the ph up i never did water changes due to the fact that the temp and ph and salinity will change to rapidly it is pretty small of a tank for a reef invertebrates leave a lot of waste behind and cannot tolerate any heavy metals such as copper sulfate commonly used for ick treatment for fish or ammonia build up your best bet is leather corals and mushroom polyps tree worms and soft corals such as brains will not survive for long in a small environment look for rock with purple coraline algae on it this is healthy rock you will on occasion get red or brown algae blooms this is a cycle and with the proper care will not last long don't over feed your fish it is a major cause of ammonia build up / hence algae blooms protien skimmer is the most important piece of equipment you will ever need