problem with cycle?

[jam]

okay, so, i have a 55g tank, put 40 pounds of sand, then added 10 pounds live sand and 40-45 pounds of live rock, 3 weeks ago, did not get my test kit till 2 weeks ago, have tested 3 times since, 0 on everything except nitrates, .5 first, then 0 then 10 last night, have not had any algae growth, except red and purple dots here and there, but thats good right?, have seen 3 hitchhikers so far, 1 starfish, the ones that are uneven and white, several pods, (little white transparent ant things), and 1 either serpent sea star or some kind of worm, cant tell for sure, but there's 4 arms or tentacles coming out of a rock, white with redish pinkish stripes, does this mean my cycle is over, is algae growth a must, what's going on?

[yote]

Its very possible that you missed the cycle.I've seen tanks cycle in less than a week when good quality cured rock was used.
If your worried about it.Try ghost feeding for a week and see what happens.

[reeffreak]

The little dots maybe the beginning of coralline algae which is good.The arms sticking out of the rock is most likely a brittle sea star-reef safe.The uneven sea star is an asterina star.Some people will say they are safe,others say they aren't.Removing them will be up to you.

I believe your cycle is done.It might be a good time to add your first fish.

[jam]

cool, thanks a lot, hope to put in some pics soon, by the by, what's "ghost feeding"??

[yote]

Ghost feeding is where you add a pinch of food to a tank with no fish in it.
A lot of people do it to start their cycle.

[Doc]

take the little starfish out. they are bad news IMO. if your tests are clean, add a hardy fish and see what happens.

-Doc

[fatman]

10, where did the 10 come from? You wrote 0.5, 0 then 10. Does not sound right, 10. I would do a partial water change and assume the 10 is erroneous. Even if the 10 is accurate I would do a partial water change. If the 10 is part of your normal cycling I would do a partial water change to keep the hitch hiker lives more assuredly. If the cycle is not over yet it will slow its finish a little, but if you got really good rock and sand preserving the hitch hikers that came with it is more advantageous than a quicker cycle. In these days of nearly dead live rock (bacteria and nothing else but coralline) hitch hikers are important. Probably got some planktonic life with your rock and sand too. All these things cost extra and lots of the time they are lost with fast hard cycling. I always do water changes during my cycling to preserve what life I already paid far so I do not have to buy it again. I do not think Tampa Bay will even guarantee any hitch hiker survival with out water changes during cycling involving live rock. And they are known for the livest live rock of any of the suppliers.

[jam]

okay, did a 15%( i think ) water change, everything was back down, so i added a clownfish, lfs said it was pretty hardy, well so far its been 3 days and he is eating alot and looks healthy, should i add a clean up crew, or should i wait, im not sure if they'll have anything to eat, the clown eats every last scrap., also, i have 2 maxijet 1200 powerheads, is that to much , the fish seems to have to fight the current pretty hard, is that ok? thanks to all for your help.

[reeffreak]

If you have no algae than hold off on a clean up crew that takes care of algae.Since you have fish,now would be a good time for some scavengers like nassarius snails.

[Bifferwine]

Yes, go ahead and add a small cleaner crew.