sukhkawal

ok, finally a nitrite spike happened on nov 2 2009. i have an api test kit, and when i add the drops they immediately turn a purple indigo color on the bottom, but if i shake them and wait 5 mins. it turns a grayish silver color. i know its way off the charts. i tried mixing 80%tap 20%tank water, and then i get a reading of about 4ppm nitrites.




But here a problem, i started to see today, green algae on my gravel, a very light green color. i mixed the gravel around with a stick, got rid of the big spots, but i still see some algae on the rocks, and cant remove it. BTW im running 65w on a 36 gallon, so its not too much light. and i have the tank near a window, which is always blocked by a roller shade. and im not doing water changes yet, because i thought it might affect the cycle. Any reasons why this is happening, and how to get rid of it??? and what type is it??

davemonkey

That looks like blue-green algae. Squirt some peroxide on it beofre it gets worse, then get some plants in there to use up all the nutrients you have in the water. If you start off heavily planted, you don't need to cycle the tank because the plants filter out all the waste. You'll have the bacteria regardless.

-Dave