End of cycle no algae...Add cleanup?

FishMaster1000 · 03/15/2006, 03:26 PM

Whats up guys, I purchased fully cured rock from my LFS that was sitting in tanks after being cured. The rock was in the tank within a short amount of time ~1-2 hrs...Now the readings have been stable. It has only been about 2 weeks! There is no algae outbread. Do I go ahead and add a cleanup crew even though there is nothing for them to clean up?? Can I add a fish and the cleanup to give them something to eat within a few days? Sorry, I am just not sure what to do in this situation. Thanks!

artful-dodger · 03/15/2006, 06:29 PM

The algae bloom will probably come whenever there is some bio-load on the tank. It sounds like you didn't have much/any die-off, which is great...but you probably don't have a source of ammonia to process either.

I'd suggest feeding the tank (fish food, dead shrimp, piece of fish--whatever will breakdown) and monitoring for a small cycle. If the rock handles that extra load without spiking, I'd say that you're cleared for takeoff!

hookdonreefs · 03/15/2006, 06:31 PM

Once you put some fish in you will get algae. I always add the cleanup crew right away. There probably is some algae in now but you cant see it and snails and hermits dont need much to survive.

gsxrguru2 · 03/15/2006, 06:33 PM

thats pretty much what I had going on with my tank. Never saw much of a cycle.... I never tested positive for ammonia or nitrites, only nitrates which cleared up after adding macro to the fuge. I think artful dodger is right, add something to the tank to decompose and if you don't see a spike you know you're good to start adding fish. As far as the cleanup crew I'd wait at least a couple weeks so they have something to feed on.

03/15/2006, 03:26 PM	#1
FishMaster1000 Registered Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: Middletown, New Jersey Posts: 520	End of cycle no algae...Add cleanup? Whats up guys, I purchased fully cured rock from my LFS that was sitting in tanks after being cured. The rock was in the tank within a short amount of time ~1-2 hrs...Now the readings have been stable. It has only been about 2 weeks! There is no algae outbread. Do I go ahead and add a cleanup crew even though there is nothing for them to clean up?? Can I add a fish and the cleanup to give them something to eat within a few days? Sorry, I am just not sure what to do in this situation. Thanks!

03/15/2006, 06:29 PM	#2
artful-dodger Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Highlands Ranch, Colorado Posts: 3,011	The algae bloom will probably come whenever there is some bio-load on the tank. It sounds like you didn't have much/any die-off, which is great...but you probably don't have a source of ammonia to process either. I'd suggest feeding the tank (fish food, dead shrimp, piece of fish--whatever will breakdown) and monitoring for a small cycle. If the rock handles that extra load without spiking, I'd say that you're cleared for takeoff! __________________ "In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock." -- Thomas Jefferson Current Tank Info: 140g RR Oceanic "Ultimate" mixed reef, 37g softies, 40g RBTA tank, 65g FOWLR, 40g breeder frag, and (of course) a 29g QT! ...next up is a 240g! (Gotta go to K-Mart and buy a life...)

03/15/2006, 06:33 PM	#4
gsxrguru2 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Denver, CO Posts: 657	thats pretty much what I had going on with my tank. Never saw much of a cycle.... I never tested positive for ammonia or nitrites, only nitrates which cleared up after adding macro to the fuge. I think artful dodger is right, add something to the tank to decompose and if you don't see a spike you know you're good to start adding fish. As far as the cleanup crew I'd wait at least a couple weeks so they have something to feed on. __________________ James Current Tank Info: 125g w/ custom acrylic sump. Assortment of softies, LPS's and SPS's. Regal Tang, Flame Angel, Lyretail Anthias, Yellow Tang, Harlequin Tusk. 3 250w Ushio 10k HQI's Sequence Dart on Closed Loop

03/15/2006, 06:31 PM	#3
hookdonreefs Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 97	Once you put some fish in you will get algae. I always add the cleanup crew right away. There probably is some algae in now but you cant see it and snails and hermits dont need much to survive.