Algae During Cycling

EliK

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I am about 8 weeks into cycling a new tank. I used gravel and filter media from another tank, and also added some fish food pellets as "fuel" and API Quick Start. There are no fish in the tank yet.
Last week's parameters were 2ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate
The current parameters are 0.75 ammonia, 1.5 nitrite, 10 nitrate

About three days ago, I began to see an assortment of different types of algae growing in the tank.
Green dots or fuzz on the glass
Green "grass" on some of the decor, on the filter, and in the corners
Brown and green-brown "sand" on the gravel

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What types of algae are these, and what should I do about them?
 
Mainly green spot algae, without any live plants there'll be nothing to compete with it (or any other algae that may show up). Like plants, they feed on ammonia and nitrate. If you're happy to continue and not have live plants, other than manually remove the algae yourself, you may want to look at which fish/snails/shrimp will help you by consuming it as food. And as @Goldfishgirl35 says, algae needs light...
 
please, please, please! change out the gravel for something else like pool filter sand or play sand, whichever ones cheaper in your area. If you like it then fine but my eyes struggle with that stuff, and its 4 times the price of what I just suggested.
 
please, please, please! change out the gravel for something else like pool filter sand or play sand, whichever ones cheaper in your area. If you like it then fine but my eyes struggle with that stuff, and its 4 times the price of what I just suggested.
Haha, each to their own! But if they had any corydoras i there I'd be asking them to do the same
 
Without live plants the only reason the light is needed is to view fish. Since no fish either all your light is doing is growing algae and doing an excellent job at it. Turn the light off keep outside sources of light off the glass, maybe put a towel over it. Once fish are in id only have the light on when viewing fish. The fish will know its night and day from the amount of light in the room as to not mess up their circadian rhythm.
 

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