Diatom algae

[little_tuna]

My tank is in the middle of cycling.
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrite 2.0 ppm
Nitrate 40 ppm
pH about 7.8

I have Diatom algae starting to grow and i was just curious if i should leave the lights off or on? I though i read somewhere to leave them on but maybe i misread it.

And will my cuc take care of this when i add them because ive read that for some people theyre cuc wouldnt touch it.

Oh and i seem to have bubbles sticking to the algae. Is that normally?

 

[little_tuna]

Oh and also another quick question. I had to leave my skimmer off for a few days since i added turbo start to my tank and i guess with it off i have a think layer of something on the top of my water. Looks like oil floating on water but whitish. What is this? Its not really noticable unless you look at it from underneath the water up.

 

[little_fish]

You can turn your skimmer on, but i might leave the light off to try and get ahead of the algae that is in there.

The bubbles are from the algae photosythesising (sp?) and are a common indicator you are about to have an outbreak.

Also, did you add a live turbo snail to start your cycle? If you did that is a needlessly cruel way to do it, the snail will most likely die, and if it doesnt you have at least shortened it life considerably. Please remove the snail. Next time, just toss a piece of table shrimp in there.

 

[little_tuna]

Oh no i wouldnt do that. Thats just mean. I added a bottle of turbo start, thats what my lfs called it. I dont remember the name of it but its a bottle of live bacteria to jump start the cycle.

 

[AmberSunrise]

I left my lights on and got a nice diatom outbreak it goes away on its own no need to do anything special.

 

[little_fish]

Oh no i wouldnt do that. Thats just mean. I added a bottle of turbo start, thats what my lfs called it. I dont remember the name of it but its a bottle of live bacteria to jump start the cycle.

Ok, that is much better :)