Cycling tank and wham..algae all over!

[hvy_dty]

Sorry for yet another newbie question, but my tank has been cycling for a week and a half now and the past 2 days, green hair algae has bloomed in mass quantities! It's all over the glass, my LR and LS. I've got one turbo snail (Mr. Munch) that was attached to a piece of rock and he's eating some, but no way will he take care of it all. My lights are on for about 8 hours a day. No sunlight comes close to hitting the tank. I use RO water as well. Is this natural in the cycling process? Do I need to cut back on the amount of time the lights are on? Any other suggestions?

 

[leigh]

cycling with lights is very subject to debate. some people don't run lights at all during the cycle. some run them 24-7. i think 8 hrs is likely more than necessary. i wouldn't worry too much about the hair algae---you can scrub it off by hand, but as your numbers settle down it shouldn't be as bad--and then you'll be able to add a clean up crew to take care of it.
oh, another thing to think about is how old/what spectrum are your light bulbs. this can have large effects on the types of algae you get.
-leigh

 

[hvy_dty]

Thanks for the reply. I started cutting back on the amount of time my lights are on after my first post yesterday. My lights are new...two 96w 10k's and two 96 watt actinics. I also have some brown algae. From the searching I've done on this site, it sounds like these are diatoms and this is just a natural process during cycling. Does that make sense?

 

[pigeoncreek1]

You are correct...Diatom blooms are normal during the cycle. My tank had a bloom about the same time in the cycle that you are in now.

 

[ocellaris_keeper]

It's nasty stuff but normal for the cycle process - take your fish net and scrape it off and remove it from your tank. Do not do a water change yet - things are still brewing.

 

[leigh]

Yep, diatoms are a nuisance, but one day they'll disappear almost as quickly as they appeared!