cycling question

[hcarr1234]

I have bben cycling my 110 gallon tank for awhile now, several weeks. The ammonia and nitrite have already spiked. My wife is adding ammonia daily and each daybthe ammonia and nitrite readings return to zero. The nitrate reading is high at about 40 ppm. I think the tank is ready for fish except for one problem. It has what my wife calls yellow algae. Will water changes take care of this? I am at work for 11 days and can't get to it till I get back. At that time I plan on doing a complete water change. Help Please!!

 

[librarygirl]

If you had the nitrite spike and it fell to 0 and the tank is converting 4 ppms of ammonia in 24 hours and you have nitrates then I think it's safe to say you're cycled. I'm not sure what you mean by yellow algae? Is the water yellow? Are there brown spots on the decor? Do you have driftwood in the tank?

 

[hcarr1234]

I am working away from home so I havn't seen it for myself. My wife is telling me about it. It is brownish yellow particles in the water and spots on eveything. I thin it's diatoms but I don't know. I hope it is something that will go away.

 

[librarygirl]

It could be diatoms, most likely. They are normal in new tanks. You can wipe it off and siphon it up with water changes but it'll likely come back until it runs its course. They are not harmful to fish. Also if there's driftwood in the tank that could cause the water to turn a tea color until the tannins run out.

 

[hcarr1234]

My wife tells me it's really bad, so I sure hope it goes away soon.
There is no driftwood and no fish in the tank yet.

 

[librarygirl]

Hm, well, look up diatoms aquarium in Google and see if it looks like what you have. If not, maybe post a picture of the tank when you get home so we can see.