hair algae during cycle

[marie]

Originally Posted by likwid

Thanks but that doesnt answer my specific questions which pertain to hair algae during a cycle. There is no way there are excess nutrients in a tank that was just filled with brand new 0 TDS salt water.

If you put in live rock then you have excess nutrients, even when rock is out of the water for a few hours things die on it, dieing things release nutrients into the water column. Water changes and some form of clean up crew is necessary to get rid of the hair algae before it spreads all over the tank...or you could turn the lights out for a few months and do water changes before turning lights back on

[likwid]

Originally Posted by marie

If you put in live rock then you have excess nutrients, even when rock is out of the water for a few hours things die on it, dieing things release nutrients into the water column. Water changes and some form of clean up crew is necessary to get rid of the hair algae before it spreads all over the tank...or you could turn the lights out for a few months and do water changes before turning lights back on

Is it better to cycle with or without lights on? I cannot add a clean up crew or change the water until the cycle is complete, so those 2 suggestions do not work for me.

[Trigger Man]

I have always believed in cycling my tanks with the lights off, and in a dark room. If light gets into the room then I cover the tank and I do this for atleast a month. After that I slowly start turning on the lights a little more every day. By following the above routine I have had great success in controlling algae issues.

[JDigital]

^^ EDIT: Trigger beat me to punch...

Running your lights will give the hair algae something to feed off of, as it is photosynthesis, that's why when you cook live rock with algae and other nuisance problems it is recommended to have a completely lights out environment... Your tank will cycle just fine without lights. Once your cycle is complete, continue to do a week or two of water changes without lights, and then you can start increasing your photo period (ie: start @ 4hours, then 6, 8)

Blasting a tank with high levels of light all of sudden can cause a big algae bloom (as I found out when I added about 200% increase on my FW tank with some T5HO's on the same photo period as the stock 15W bulbs) hahaha.. the tank was GREEN... glass, substrate, decor...

[likwid]

Thanks guys, I have now shut off my lights and timers and covered the tank with a blanket to block all light from entering. Do you think the hair algae will be gone by the time the cycle is done by doing this?

[Trigger Man]

It's hard to say, it depends on how long you cycle the tank from today and how much algae there is currently in the tank.. By shutting off the lights and covering the tank, as well as continuing to do the weekly water changes you should be alright. Basicly your tank cycling will now be complete when you no longer see any algae in the tank. Now it is down to the boring patience thing, but it will be well worth it. ( you can try removing as much algae as you can when you do your water changes, as well use RO water to speed the process if you are not already using it)

[likwid]

Originally Posted by Trigger Man

It's hard to say, it depends on how long you cycle the tank from today and how much algae there is currently in the tank.. By shutting off the lights and covering the tank, as well as continuing to do the weekly water changes you should be alright. Basicly your tank cycling will now be complete when you no longer see any algae in the tank. Now it is down to the boring patience thing, but it will be well worth it. ( you can try removing as much algae as you can when you do your water changes, as well use RO water to speed the process if you are not already using it)

Hmm, I was told not to do any water changes until the cycle is complete?

[marie]

Originally Posted by likwid

Hmm, I was told not to do any water changes until the cycle is complete?

Water changes are important, as stuff leaches from the decaying things in the rock, it needs to be removed. You'll still get the necessary bacteria but you remove phosphates that would jump start the algae when the lights come back on

[Trigger Man]

Normally I do my first water change 10 to 14 days after I start cycling. Then I do another one 2 weeks later. The reason behind it being that I always use LR and try to get rid of as much die off as possible in order to keep nutrient levels as low as possible. Also taking into consideration that you mentioned that you've already got algae blooms emerging, the water change after cleaning off as much algae as possible will help.