I am into day nine of my 2.7 imperial gallon tank cycle: my tank is full of life, macro algaes are flourishing, the water smells good. I'm worried more things should be dead, because the tank is absolutely full of diverse life and I've read that at this point with no water changes there should be very little left alive. Does the total die-off come later in the cycle, or are things just going abnormally well?

more info about the tank setup can be found here, in the tank's thread.

I understand that this must seem very amateurish, but I really am a worrier.

Not all cycles are what you might call "hard" or "severe".

If the rock you got was from overseas and was fairly fresh (i.e. lots of die-off from harvesting and shipment), then I would expect a hard cycle.

Conversely, if you got your rock from a Gulf-coast aquaculture firm, then it was harvested, transported and shipped all within a few hours and I might expect a lighter cycle.

You should rejoice about your tank cycling the "light" way. Just keep an eye on nitrite and nitrate levels. I had pretty much the same experience cycling my tank. I was expecting something next to complete die-off and ended up going through algae phases and all in about 16 days. I quess the good karma sometimes gets back to you manifesting in something pleasant such as this.

I have never had a harsh "cycle" ever. In my 3 tanks that I have had I have always had live rock that was cured, either bought that way, or I cured it in a trash can fully submerged. My spikes are so small that they don't even show on my salifert kits.

Remember that your tank always spikes up and down no matter how long its up and running.

Thank you all for your imput; I'll have the water tested tomorrow at the trustworthy local outlet.

That's fine but you should get your own kits.

Starter parameters to test:

NH3
NO2
NO3
pH

Once you start stocking corals or your coralline algae takes off:

Alkalinity
Calcium
Magnesium

If you have continuing nuisance algae issues not explained by the results of the other kits:

PO4

I got a full test kit today and these are the results I obtained:

NH3- 0ppm
NO2- 0ppm
NO3-0ppm ( BUT the kit scale goes in increments of five, so I assume this has a larger margin for error)
pH- 8.2

I assume the Nitrate level is low because of the algal growth (both macro and micro) in the tank, though the micro algae seems to be shrinking off now. The Macro Algae's growth rate has also decreased from its initial greased lightning levels.


[post copied into both this thread and tank thread for record keeping]

Sounds like you're doing good so far.

We aware that you are likely to lose some (or all) of your macro once you add your CUC.

That is a shame actually, I'm enjoying the Macro-algae quite a lot. There's some valonia turned up, but it's not spreading overly quickly (I assume nutrients are tight).

What recommendations would you have for a CUC? i've already spotted a stomatella in the tank, but I'm sure s/he will need assistance.

I like asterinas and ceriths. I stay away from crabs unless I need them for a specific reason (like valonia cleaning).

I woulnd't add a CUC until you know it.

Oh yes, that seems sensible. I didn't add the stomatella; s/he just arrived in the rock.

Valonia is really easy to remove since it's hard on the outside (but not too hard that it can't be popped). I removed 2 small balls from a colony of zoas the other day, popped right off the rock. Just make sure you don't pop it (or lose it in the tank ).

Give it some time though, you may not need a CUC (your hitchhikers may be able to do the job on their own). I have only a single blue legged hermit and a lazy emerald crab, and I'm sure I could do without either of them, really. My Stomatellas, ginormous bristleworms (and mass quantity of peanut and other worms), and collonista snails are all hitchhikers and I'm sure they do the majority of the cleanup in my tank. I moved the hermit to the sump and noted no difference in the tank at all over the course of a couple weeks without him.