Cleaning Algae during cycle

[blalaw87]

Good Afternoon,

I am cycling my tank right now and I believe it is through the cycle but I am seeing alot of Algae and it hard to keep up with it right now. It is all over the rocks, the tank walls, the wavemakers and just seems hard to keep up with. I got live rock from a LFS so I didn't start with dry rock

I noticed it a couple weeks ago at a minimal amount and got some clean up crew but it just seems like there is so much that it is hard for them to keep up with the sheer amount. My understanding at the beginning I should just kind of let the tank go through the process and just leave it be but I am wondering with the amount I am seeing should I be just trying to get rid of it with water changes or something else?

Things I have seen but have not done but am considering but I just want to make sure I am on the right path. I don't have any fish yet and am still waiting to get past this phase right now
-Make sure all the walls and seams stay clear of algae,
-Pull out live rocks and just scrub them with a toothbrush to remove a lot of the algae. When I do this should I be using RO water or using slat water to do this just to make sure I am not killing off any good items still on the rocks?
-Right now I am running my lights about 100% Blue and 50% White from 10:00 am to 9:00 PM. Should I cut this out till I get the Algae under control?
-Make sure my filter socks in the sump stay clean. I clean them every 3 or 4 days right now. Thinking about replacing them with some filter cups with some floss. I also have two other filter cups in my sump at the moment with the reef balls at the moment.
-I know that patience is the key I just want to make sure even while I wait I am doing the right things to get my tank in a good state.


My Paramters as well from what I am measuring. This was early this week and plan on taking some more tomorrow:
Nitrate (1ppm)
Cal (370 ppm)
Alk (6.7)
Phosphate ( .06 ppm)
Salinity (1.022)

Based on what I have read about Alage it seems like when you have low Nitrate and Phosphate they are feeding on all the nutrients in the tank but I am not sure if that is 100% right.

 

[lapin]

Algae loves light and you are keeping it happy

 

[blalaw87]

I am going to go ahead and adjust my lighting! I moved it to start at 4 to 8. I also lowered the whites from 50% to 20% during that time. I still have the blues at 100 percent during that time or should I lower that?

 

[elorablue]

Just turn them off. There's nothing in your tank that needs the lights on except the algae.

 

[mrlavalamp]

In a new tank I would go lights off for a couple days.

I wouldnt count on the cuc to take care of it as I have never had a cuc actually remove large amounts of algae, they clean up small amounts here and there but never eliminate it completely.

The type of algae your seeing will have an effect as well. There are some turf algae that cuc or fish won't even touch. I have to clean this up myself, I pull the rock during a water change and scrub it with a brush in a bucket of old tank water before I dump it.

 

[Idoc]

You don't have any fish or corals... just shut the lights off while you get more clean up crew members. Don't go to the extremes of trying to get rid of every bit of algae... otherwise you will not enjoy this hobby.

It is normal after a cycle for the rocks and walls to get a bright green algae coating. The tank needs to go through these phases.

 

[blalaw87]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I am not worried about a little bit of algae here and there but I have some sports where it is long strands on the rocks and the back wall is bad. I am going to go ahead and clean the walls and rocks just to get the big stuff out and leave the lights off for a couple of weeks. Thanks again!

 

[BrianAnthony]

Yes, I agree with those who are telling you to turn off the lights. There really is no reason to have them on. If you are just looking in the tank, you can run them dim if need be. For as bad as your algae sounds, it seems to me that your nitrates and phosphates and silicates should be very high. I'm guessing you have already gone through your brown diatom stage and have moved to the green algae. Also, you say you "believe" your tank is done cycling. If your ammonia and nitrites are zero and you see a low level of nitrates, then yes, you are done cycling. Remember though that your rock and sand are your main bio filter which has just established itself. Pulling stuff out and scrubbing them with a toothbrush may not be a good idea yet as things are still new. You want to grow your biofilm on your rocks, not scrub it off. Keep up with 25% water changes to get the phosphate and nitrate levels to near 0. Before you buy anything that needs light for the tank... Kill that algae by simply keeping your lights off. It will take a little time, but you will be very happy you did it this way.