SpiroGyra Algae caused by ammonia spike in fishless cycle ?

[jonathan]

SpiroGyra Algae is starting to pop up. All the information I can find says it is induced by an ammonia spike. How could I avoid that if I am still cycling my aquarium ??

A bit frustrated. It amazes me how ridiculously fast algae can pop up and grow. Literally in one day a few strands, and the next day when I wake up at least triple the amount.

I just did a 90 percent water change
Manually removed as much as possible.
Overdosed excel by 3x.
Added a power-head which I have avoided because I honestly feel its probably too much flow. (any advise here ?)
Replaced my ceramic disk with a new one hopefully for better diffusion of co2

If you have experience with this algae and can share some advise , I would greatly appreciate that. Thank you ! <33

[TexasCichlid]

Excel won't even phase spiro. Once spiro is established, it likes everything normal plants do. More flow and CO2? Great for it. Get some algaefix, it will knock it out. For it to pop up so quickly and spread so quickly during a cycle, sounds like it hiked in on something and/or you didn't have enough plantmass for the amount of light you have.

[jonathan]

Originally Posted by TexasCichlid

Excel won't even phase spiro. Once spiro is established, it likes everything normal plants do. More flow and CO2? Great for it. Get some algaefix, it will knock it out. For it to pop up so quickly and spread so quickly during a cycle, sounds like it hiked in on something and/or you didn't have enough plantmass for the amount of light you have.

I dont have enough plant mass. Thats probably one thing. My foot print is mostly covered but at this stage the plants are very short and carpet has not really begun to fill in. You know ? Mostly new. Lighting is teetering mid/high.

[TexasCichlid]

Drop your photoperiod down to 8 hours or less, keep your CO2 high and dose some Algaefix then.

[jonathan]

Originally Posted by TexasCichlid

Excel won't even phase spiro.

Sadly it destroyed my HM. I've never seen this plant on the sensitive list so I dosed. I see its not completely dead and will return, but it looks absolutely ugly now. I hate excel!

spiro is still alive but has slowed down to a crawl. 1 - 2 strands per day. Photoperiod reduced to 5 hours and 50 % water changes everyday.