cycling ????

[bigboss]

iv been cycling my 220 gallon tank walls are get green algae
and on my power heads like a rusty colour algea is that normal

[Tomaric]

Are your lights on? If so turn them off until the cycling is done and them some.

[drparker]

Yes it's normal to get diatom and algae blooms during a cycle. The brown is probably diatoms. How long have been cycling and what do your tests show?

[bigboss]

im on week 4
tests are good light are on
2 fish in tank
live rock came from friends tank 150 pounds or so

[drparker]

Do you have a clean up crew yet?

[Sk8r]

SOunds good. Just toss a little fishfood in there: if you get ammonia but it goes away fast, you're approaching the end of your cycle. WHen your tank can absorb a little fishfood faster still, with no disturbance to the chemistry, you will be clear to add some hardy snails and micro-hermits. WHen they have had time to clean up for a while, you can contemplate ONE fish for a while until the tank can handle that, then another fish, etc. BE SURE TO QUARANTINE YOUR NEW FIsh for 4 weeks in a bare separate tank. Read in *-threads above: "Quarantine: how to set up."

[wooden_reefer]

iv been cycling my 220 gallon tank walls are get green algae
and on my power heads like a rusty colour algea is that normal

The title of the thread and the content justify a comment.

It is OK to speak of algae during a cycle, but cycling has nothing to do with algae.

You can, and I do often, cycle in darkness. So algae is not a part of cycling.

Cycling is defined as the intense cultivation of nitrification bacteria onto a medium of biological filtration, nothing less and nothing more.

Not every important or essential mircobial growth or balance for the future well-being of a tank's inhabitants is a part of cycling.

[bigboss]

ok thaxs guys for the info

[Aquarist007]

The title of the thread and the content justify a comment.

It is OK to speak of algae during a cycle, but cycling has nothing to do with algae.

You can, and I do often, cycle in darkness. So algae is not a part of cycling.

Cycling is defined as the intense cultivation of nitrification bacteria onto a medium of biological filtration, nothing less and nothing more.

Not every important or essential mircobial growth or balance for the future well-being of a tank's inhabitants is a part of cycling.


I think the word cycling is being overused here. Cycling refers to the growth of bacteria in response to and increased bioload in the tank. And wooden, I agree that it has nothing to do with the growth of algae
However the curing of live rock does which is sometimes lumped in with the cycling process of the tank.
The live rock cures or puts dead stuff into the tank. This in turn produces ammonia and nitrates which starts the cycling of the bacteria.
The nitrates are responsible for fueling algae cycles--this is where I differ in opinion slightly from yours:)

[Aquarist007]

SOunds good. Just toss a little fishfood in there: if you get ammonia but it goes away fast, you're approaching the end of your cycle. WHen your tank can absorb a little fishfood faster still, with no disturbance to the chemistry, you will be clear to add some hardy snails and micro-hermits. WHen they have had time to clean up for a while, you can contemplate ONE fish for a while until the tank can handle that, then another fish, etc. BE SURE TO QUARANTINE YOUR NEW FIsh for 4 weeks in a bare separate tank. Read in *-threads above: "Quarantine: how to set up."

I agree with the testing but I prefer to put a raw shrimp in the tank for 12 hours, which can be removed rather then the flakes which could further fuel the algae esp in this posters case