Hey Reef Experts!
I could use a little input on if I am ready for a clean up crew. Here's the situation...
I am at day 13 of my tank cycle;
75 gallon
Started with...
RO/DI Water
80+lbs of Cured live rock (the LFS said it was curing in their tanks for at least two weeks)
Live sand from CaribSea
My numbers have been:
Ammonia: 0 (except for day 2 when they went up to 0.25ppm)
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates 5-20 (They have recently stayed at 10 or less as the algae has continue to grow)
[In my mind, I expected a small cycle from die-off from the live rock and had a very very very very very small cycle early on. Last week, I added a table shrimp to the tank and Nitrates shot up, but I never saw any ammonia or nitrites from the shrimp)
In the attached pictures, you can see how a layer of brown algae, some reddish/brown algae, and if you look VERY carefully, you can see some green hair algae coming in.
I am starting to see a lot of other life coming out of the rock (a variety of feather dusters, a couple of bristle worms, a tiny star-shaped invert, and some aptasia :(
Is my tank ready for a clean-up crew to start taking on all of that algae that's starting up?
Thanks for your input!
I could use a little input on if I am ready for a clean up crew. Here's the situation...
I am at day 13 of my tank cycle;
75 gallon
Started with...
RO/DI Water
80+lbs of Cured live rock (the LFS said it was curing in their tanks for at least two weeks)
Live sand from CaribSea
My numbers have been:
Ammonia: 0 (except for day 2 when they went up to 0.25ppm)
Nitrites: 0
Nitrates 5-20 (They have recently stayed at 10 or less as the algae has continue to grow)
[In my mind, I expected a small cycle from die-off from the live rock and had a very very very very very small cycle early on. Last week, I added a table shrimp to the tank and Nitrates shot up, but I never saw any ammonia or nitrites from the shrimp)
In the attached pictures, you can see how a layer of brown algae, some reddish/brown algae, and if you look VERY carefully, you can see some green hair algae coming in.
I am starting to see a lot of other life coming out of the rock (a variety of feather dusters, a couple of bristle worms, a tiny star-shaped invert, and some aptasia :(
Is my tank ready for a clean-up crew to start taking on all of that algae that's starting up?
Thanks for your input!