Algae control while cycling

[keansor]

Hello,

As I posted a while ago, we have started fishless cycling of our 30G planted (first!) aquarium. All is going quite well, our ammonia dropped to zero yesterday (only 10 days after we started, YAY!). Now, as we are feeding our new bacteria colonies with their ammonia and waiting for our nitrite to peak and start falling, we have had something of an algae outbreak in our tank. Two of the artificial rocks and three of the plants are covered with dark brown algae with short black hairs (diatomes?) and the front and back walls of the tank are starting to get covered as well. We also have a small amount of green algae on the rocks and some six inch long threads of green algae floating around as well.

On a side note, today I spotted two wee tiny little snails in there as well; I guess they must have come off the plants from the LFS, but I'm shocked they survived the ammonia as our levels were initially WAY off the charts.

My question is, should we begin cleaning up the algae before the cycle is done, or should we leave it until the fish can take care of it? Or is there something else we do to control it in the mean time? My worry is that it will get entirely out of control in the next week or so before we can add fish, especially since our nitrates are already off the charts (over 110), and my understanding is that it is unwise to do a water change during cycling.

Thanks in advance for your help!

[BigMomma]

Turn off your lights and keep your tank away from direct sunlight.  Don't bother cleaning it, once the cycle is done you tank will be a bit more stable and things should manage themselves out without your intervention.

[charlie]

Hello,

As I posted a while ago, we have started fishless cycling of our 30G planted (first!) aquarium. All is going quite well, our ammonia dropped to zero yesterday (only 10 days after we started, YAY!). Now, as we are feeding our new bacteria colonies with their ammonia and waiting for our nitrite to peak and start falling, we have had something of an algae outbreak in our tank. Two of the artificial rocks and three of the plants are covered with dark brown algae with short black hairs (diatomes?) and the front and back walls of the tank are starting to get covered as well. We also have a small amount of green algae on the rocks and some six inch long threads of green algae floating around as well.

On a side note, today I spotted two wee tiny little snails in there as well; I guess they must have come off the plants from the LFS, but I'm shocked they survived the ammonia as our levels were initially WAY off the charts.

My question is, should we begin cleaning up the algae before the cycle is done, or should we leave it until the fish can take care of it? Or is there something else we do to control it in the mean time? My worry is that it will get entirely out of control in the next week or so before we can add fish, especially since our nitrates are already off the charts (over 110), and my understanding is that it is unwise to do a water change during cycling.

Thanks in advance for your help!

where did the high nitrates come from ?  does the # 110 reperesent ppm ?

[BigDaddy]

Eeek.. yeah.  That is excessively high nitrate.  I am guessing you are adding ammonia daily, instead of "topping up" the ammonia levels?

[keansor]

I'm not entirely sure why our nitrates are so high. After the initial dosing of ammonia, we didn't add any more until yesterday when our ammonia dropped to zero. We only added 2.5 mL of ammonia last night, and the ammonia in the tank is again at zero tonight. Our nitrate test kit says that the readings can be thrown off by high levels of nitrite; our nitrite is at 2.5 ppm, so maybe that could be part of the reason for the super-high reading. And yes, the nitrate readings were above 110 mg/L, which I believe is the same as ppm.

The aquarium doesn't get any direct sunlight, but maybe we should reduce the amount of time we leave the lights on? Currently we have them on for 12h/d for the plants (1.4 W/G), but maybe 10 or 8 hours would keep the algae from taking over until things stabilize?

Many thanks!

[keansor]

Make that seven itty bitty snails. Any ideas?

[MikeM]

Most nitrate test kits seem to work by converting the nitrate to nitrite and measuring that.  Meaning the nitrate result is actually a combined nitrate/nitrite reading.  I had snails during my fishless cycle too, the little guys seem to have no problem with 5 ppm of ammonia.  Once the nitrite starts really spiking, you'll see them start crawling up to the surface though.  I didn't start testing nitrate until my ammonia was consistently at zero a day after dosing and my nitrite had peaked and was on the way back down.  I got diatom bloom too, which has since passed.  I'm not too experienced myself, but your fishless cycle sounds a lot like mine, and I have a happy, healthy tank now (finally), and it was definitely worth it.  Just keep at it and have patience and all will be well, I'm sure.

[keansor]

Thanks for the info. I'm glad to hear that someone else had the same experience. I guess we will just wait it out!

[babblefish1960]

Key word with any aspect of this hobby is patience. There are always levels of equilibrium to be met, and these things make their own schedules. Try and enjoy your new friend algae, you will eventually get ahead of this.

[keansor]

I am currently experiencing some new weirdness with the algae in my tank. It seems to be peeling itself off of the rocks, plants, and walls of the tank in sheets, and now big clumps of it are floating at the top of the water. I REALLY want to scoop it out, but I'm worried about messing up my cycle. My Nitrites still haven't started falling significantly. Any ideas on why this is happening to the algae, and is it OK to scoop it out?

Many thanks!

[babblefish1960]

That doesn't sound good, it sounds a bit like blue/green algae which is not an algae at all.  This is called cyanobacteria, and it is slimy to the touch and smells none too pleasant.  This looks like a film and peels rather easily, if this is what you have, pick as much of it out of there as you can, it does nothing good and points towards some water problems. If you keep removing it, you will get ahead of it as long as you make some changes to your water column, such as reducing feeding and vacuuming. Don't fret about the cycle, it will catch up with you eventually.

[fishycanuck]

Wait - this is a fishless cycle, right?
Should he remove the plants?

[dan2x38]

I too did a fishless cycle. I had no issue with large amounts of algae. When I did mine NH3 rouse and fell quite quikly but NO2 takes longer to populate. I kept testing and getting impatient but one day it started to drop then went to almost zero. I dosed a couple days NH3 & NO2 zeroed so I did a large WC then added some cherry barbs. I was glad for the wait because I changed the aquascape tons of times... 

[kennyman]

One thing I have found rather odd with this topic was the need for trying a fishless cycle in a planted tank in the first place. A planted aquarium will give you a silent cycle which is far superior to any other type of tank establishment in my experience. If plants are established in a tank just prior to adding a light fish load there will never be any accumulation of ammonia or nitrite to worry about. The plants will consume most of these nutrients, leaving only trace amounts for bacteria to convert. You must add your fish over time giving the biological filtration a chance to adjust just like any other system should be done. However the plants will still be consuming the majority of nutrients before they even need to be converted. This works best at a neutral ph due to ammonia/ammonium issues. However it does still work in hard water aquaria. A planted tank is quite capable of fulfilling the role of biological filtration on its own, and pretty much limits a power filter to the role of a water polisher, removing suspended particulate.

Good luck with the cyano though. It is a nasty thing to have to deal with. I would quit adding floor cleaner, wipe the cyano down as best you can and buy some snails. Followed up by a BN pleco or two in a week, then a few bottom feeders like cories or whatever a week after that. And so on. 

[dan2x38]

KMan very true I never clicked on that. I use a plant filter attached to my 38 and I have next to zero alage always. I did add cories then SAE first. I also got a BN pelco to polish the tank... he is a hard worker!