What to expect with this new setup...

bigploch

Fan of Water
OK, The lights are up, the water is in, the heaters and powerheads are up and running. Aragonite sand covers the floor of my 110 gal. with roughly 100 lbs of live rock from a 6 year old established tank. Not the "pick of the litter" live rock. No pods or whatever growing on the rock. Some purple algea on some of the rocks. It wasn't on top I was told. The temperature is 79-80 F at all times checked. All nitrates, ammonia, pH levels within normal limits. It's going on the 3rd full day.

What is the first things I should be looking for/seeing?

What level changes are cause for concern/good to see?

What is the timetable for adding fishes/corals/invertebrates?

I used tap water for startup but am ordering an RO/DI unit. FYI. Not sure how relevant that info is.
 
Check the params before adding anything new. It may take four to six weeks before the cycle finishes, although the live rock will shorten it or possibly skip it all together. Your ammonia will spike first, then nitrites, then nitrates. Be patient and you will really enjoy the results. Once you do start adding fish, only add one or two every few weeks.
 
Noticing small minute white hairs growing on the glass where the powerheads hit the glass. Same on everything really. Just more concentrated where the heads are spraying.
 
ploch
check your amonia, nitrates, nitrites daily
you will get an amonia spike at some point
when that happens your cycle is peaking and will be on its way out in a few days

since your rock came out of an existing system, and you didnt use live sand, you may not even have a cycle

the stuff on your glass, dont worry about it, could be some algea starting to grow, or just dust that has settled there, if its algea my opinion is thats a good thing, it means your tank is starting to come to life

chill out and let your tank do its thing for a few weeks
in the meantime you could be researching the soft corals you want to start with, and mess with the aqua scaping of your rock
 
Using the LR will greatly help the bacteria grow within the system. Good job there. As informed test everything for a few weeks. You can add one fish to help the cycle. Damsles are the hardiest and can survive most cycles. With your's having the LR in the start a Damsel should do fine. Don't feed flake foods, try to feed only frozen to the one fish. Give it about 6 to 8 weeks and watch for hair algea to bloom, it's part of the cycle once it comes and goes, then your ready.
 
I wouldn't bother cycling with a damsel. If it does survive, it'll wreak havoc on any other fish you try to add afterwards. They are highly aggressive and territorial and will not hesitate to kill other fish. Instead of using a fish to cycle the tank, put a pinch of food in it. The rotting food will have the same effect, and you don't have to risk the life of a fish.
 
A lot of clownfish are aggressive, but chromis and clowns are less aggressive than the fish sold as "damsels" -- like blue damsel, domino damsel, striped damsel, etc.
 
Chromis are good cycle fish from what I hear. My next tank, personally, I'm going to skip the "cycle fish" altogether and just ghost feed a few times instead. I've heard that a cycle is torture to fish, even if they survive, I don't want to put a fish through that again on purpose. Just wait for your nitrites to drop off, then you should be ok for a starter fish. Foxface rabbitfish are supposedly really hardy for cycling from what I hear, also. (if you like those)
 
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