Green Algae Question

[jvaldez68as]

I have a 5gal that is in the process of cycling, I'm starting to get my ammonia spike but my live rock and parts of my tank are starting to be consumed by green algae, i also have my tank by a window but not in strong sunlight(i keep the blinds closed). Is the location of my tank the cause or is it normal to get green algae during cycling cause i don't want it to take over the coralline on my rocks.

[GaryP]

Light does not cause an algae bloom, nutrients do, especially phosphates. Without nutrients you can have as much light as possible and you won't get an algae bloom. Is light necessary for algal growth? Yes, of course. Is the solution to starve the tank for light, no! The coraline will be hurt just as much as the green algae.

I would suggest frequent, large water changes while its cycling and if possible, using a phosphate remover such as phosban or phosguard. I realize you are very limited in what you can do for filtration in a tank that size. Its one reason why nanos and picos are very difficult tanks to manage.

With a tank that size its relatively easy to simply remove the rock and clean it with a toothbrush if the algae gets to be so bad that you think it might choke out the coraline.

[jvaldez68as]

Thanks for the advise but it turns out I was incorrect, after monitoring the algae for a day it turns out that it's brown algae and not green, also i noticed that it's only growing on one rock and is starting to slightly build up on my substrate. would treating it be the same as the green algae?

[hobogato]

sounds like cyano or diatoms. maroonish color is usually cyano and rusty brown is usually diatoms. you may check the water you are using for top off and water changes. if you are using treated tap water, it is probably cyano because of the phosphates you are getting in your tap water.

if the tank is still cycling, unfortunately, this is something you will probably deal with for a while. just keep doing your water changes and try to use RO/DI water or DI water from the store (in the gallon jugs).

[GaryP]

Is it a powdery type of brownish gold algae?

If so, its diatoms. The fact that it is on the substrate makes me think that is probably what it is. Diatoms are extremely common in new systems. Simply just part of the sycling process. The leading cause of diatoms is excess silicate as well as phosphates. After your systems matures you can elininate them with some snails. Astrea, Turbo, Strombus, and Trochus snails are herbivores of diatoms. Wait until your system settles down before trying to add any snails. They are sensitive to ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates.

You may want to try to siphon some of the diatoms off the substrate with some small diameter tubing in the mean time when you are doing water changes. You can fray the end of the tubing with a small pair of scissors to make a "brushy" end to help scrub it off the LR.

[jvaldez68as]

I have been using distilled water that's Ro/Di. From what i've read they are diatoms, thanks for the advice, will do.