I am 2 weeks into cycling my 10 gallon tank. I have 2 tiger barbs, 1 crypt lutea plant, 1 amazon sword plant, and 1 driftwood w/annubia. I leave the light on 12 hours. My Ammonia is 2.0, nitrite 0.0, and nitrate 5. How much longer do u think until i'm done w/my cycle? I have algae on my plants and on some of my glass. Do i need to clean off the glass and plants of just leave it be until i 'm done cycling and then add otos (i will return the tiger barbs when i add the otos). Will the algae on the plants kill them?
Algae growth like that suggests you don't have the correct lights for growing plants . If the lighting is correct then the plants should be growing, absorbing most of the nutrients from the water, and starving off the algae.
Check what you have, it should be a "daylight" colour florescent lamp with a colour temp around 5,000 to 7,000 K. Otherwise a planted tank is just not going to work properly.
I would also change some water to control the ammonia level and keep your barbs alive.
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Ian
A month is usually the right amount of time.
Hi, there. I have never maintained a planted tank, so I can't give much advice regarding the plants. When I was cycling my tank, I did have algae diatoms. I think they are common when the organics are high. It's hard to say how much longer you have left in your cycle. I don't know with relation to plants, but for fish, algae is not harmful. Well, MOST algae is not harmful. My goldfish try to eat it off of the sides. In one of my tanks, I have just decided to let it go, and it gives it a more natural look. If you have brownish algae covering the walls, the best thing you can do is to actually let it go until it gets dark brown. At this point, it will start to flake off on its own. If you try to remove it before that stage, it will be a losing battle, because it will be back within a day or two. If you let it get to that darker stage, you can usually scrub it off, and it won't come back. Since I don't know much about planted tanks, and I don ' t know which type of algae you have, I would suggest typing in "Fish Lore Forum" in your browser. Go through the forum, and I think in the section called "aquarium water" there is an entire section devoted to algae. If you don't see your questions answered there, you can always create your own profile and ask. They also provide a lot of information and links to articles and pictures to help you identify the type of algae you are having problems with. Hope this helps.
