Brown Algae/Cycling Help

gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
Hello All,
4 1/2 weeks ago I began cycling a 30gal tank. I added the LR/LS, had a koralia 3, 50gal HOB filter, 10k light running 6 hrs and added shrimp/clam twice. During the whole process, I did not see any algae. Sadly, for the first 3 weeks I did not test the water. On Oct 5, we turned off the HOBF and tested on 10/9 with everything where it should be. IE. All qualities (ammonia, nitrates, nitrates, sg, temp and ph) are in good condition. On this Sunday, we noticed brown algae forming.
From my understanding, many people get brown algae at the beginning of the cycle. If this is the case, then did my tank not cycle while I had my HOBF running and the cycle just begin? Or do you think it has cycled? I will do a water check later today.
Also, I know the most important thing is the ammonia "spike". If we test at roughly 3 1/2 weeks with no trace of ammonia, does that mean it cycled or there wasn't a spike. I thought the ammonia would gradually climb and then drop. Not so much of a day or two "spike."
If anyone can give me their opinions, that would be great.
If you want more info, just ask and Ill give it to you.
 
gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
I checked the parameters this evening. Nitrates are around 15 but ammonia was at 0. everything else is good.
 
big

big

Active Member
The Brown Algae may be Diatoms. It almost always shows up in a new system. Do you use RO??Without RO in most cases they will keep coming back because the nutrients in the tap water( mostly Silica based). The Silicas keep providing food for them. That is one of the main reasons we need to use RO water. Every time you top off the tank or do a partial change you just feed the little buggers more. Most anyone that ever had extensive fresh water tank set ups used their tiny skeletons as the best filter media around in Diatomaceous earth filters. They are tiny tiny critters. Look at this link. They are a very interesting subject to learn about. SFF should not complain too much about this .com............ just good info....
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q...=Google+Search
 
gnorman

gnorman

Active Member
Big,
Thanks for the info. We have our own BFS RO/DI system. I did not do any changes throughout the "cycle." I will be doing a few 10%-20% changes here in a little bit. Hopefully it will solve the problem.
 
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