Possible Algae?

[berzum]

Hi,
 
I've been cycling my tank for about a week and just noticed some weird stuff growing on some of my plants. It's weird stringy looking stuff and brown specs of stuff on the leaves. This is my first time with a planted aqaurium and so I'm not really sure if this is algae or what? Could anyone help me identify what this is? And/or give me some ideas of what to do about it without screwing my cycle?
 
Cheers,

 

[ag-au]

Seems to me to be a hair algae. I get this on my Anubias all the time. Algae feeds off of waste in the water much like stem plants by sucking nitrates from the water. How long are your lights on per day? Even with no fish to bug with light, plants need the absence of light as they produce oxygen when the light is on and co2 when the light is off. Since you're cycling and not feeding fish it's probably due to high light. Just try and keep the light on for only 8-10hrs a day. Another problem might be sun light. If your tank is near a window that gets sun, this will promote algae growth. What I do with algae is scrape it off as well as I can and if a leaf has a bad case of algae I just trim it off. Another way to possibly control it is to plant some moss as it will suck nitrates out of the water quickly just like the algae. this might create some competition for food. Algae is unsightly but if it's not inhibiting plant growth it's not terrible.  Wipe away or trim leaves and wipe down the decorations during water changes. Someone with more experience may be able to explain Co2 dosing or spot treating with co2, however, I don't do that. I don't mind algae too much.

 

[berzum]

Cheers for that. My light has been on for about 16 hours a day so I'm guessing that's the issue. I might get a timer for it. I thought nitrates only became present once the tank has cycled though? I have a bit a java moss in there so hopefully once it grows a bit and with the lights on less and I clean up the leaves it will be sorted.

 

[berzum]

Would A bristlenose eat thise kind of algae once my tank is cycled?