End of Cycle Algea question

[reefnoob]

I am hoping my cycle on my 55g is allmost over. My amonia has dropped to .25 and has held steady there for a few days, hoping it will get to 0 soon.. My concern is that I have algea starting to grow on the rocks and sand... I can't really do anything bou tthis just yet because of the amonia.. but do I want to get rid of this algea or is it a natural part of cycling and will go away on it's own?

 

[fshhub]

what type of algae?
or what color?

 

[goldmar00n]

yea i remember when my tank was at the end of cycling i had the brown algae everywhere...dont worry to much..it will go away..mine was gone in about 2 weeks...
the green hair algae is the stuff you dont want..that stuff grows like mad.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by Reefnoob
I am hoping my cycle on my 55g is allmost over. My amonia has dropped to .25 and has held steady there for a few days, hoping it will get to 0 soon.. My concern is that I have algea starting to grow on the rocks and sand... I can't really do anything bou tthis just yet because of the amonia.. but do I want to get rid of this algea or is it a natural part of cycling and will go away on it's own?
Ammonia kits are known for reading low values when there is actually no ammonia. My recommendation is to put mofe faith in the nitrIte tests. When it goes to 0.0 there is a more positive indication the cycle has completed.
Brown algae while first establishing a tank is extremely common. Basically, if feeds off the phosphates and turns to green as phosphates are reduced. The green feeds more off the nitrAtes.
To control or eliminate the ugly algaes the best thing is to add plant life you like. that way the phosphtes, nitrates. and carbon dioxide are still being consumed. By using cleaner crews or just removing the algae, the nutrients and carbon dioxide are still there. Therefore, you are constantly fighting the algaes and livestock suffers.

 

[birdy]

I have to disagree with the statement that when Nitrites are 0 then the cycle is over, I have cycled several saltwater tanks, and most of the time the Ammonia level is still quite toxic when the Nitrite level is 0, while is is not uncommon for some Ammonia tests to test .25 uncorrectly this can be checked by testing with a different test kit.
I usually reduce my photoperiod during the cycle to try and slow the algae growth.

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by Birdy
I have to disagree with the statement that when Nitrites are 0 then the cycle is over, I have cycled several saltwater tanks, and most of the time the Ammonia level is still quite toxic when the Nitrite level is 0, while is is not uncommon for some Ammonia tests to test .25 uncorrectly this can be checked by testing with a different test kit.
I usually reduce my photoperiod during the cycle to try and slow the algae growth.
You are absolutly correct. Actually, the cycle never ends but the spikes go away. My experience is that the ammonia spike can be very short lived and sometimes never measured at all. NitrIte spikes have lasted for days and even weeks. And you are correct the ammonia will spike before nitrItes start to rise.
I agree that reduced lighting will slow algae growth. What I disagree with is slowing all plant growth at any time. It is much better to get the plants thriving right from the start. That way the ugly algae never have a chance to get established. Temporairly reduced lighting is good to help desirable plant life at the expense of undesirable plant life. The idea is to get the maximum amount of desirable plant life thriving.