Did I jump the gun?

[burtbollinger]

Greetings....I had the LFS store hold about 23 lbs. of semi-uncured live rock for me in a tank so that it would cure beginning on 4/20/05.

 

On 4/25/05, I purchased a 24G Nano DX.

 

I added the 23 lbs. of rock, plus another 5 lb chunk of cured rock.

 

I then added I'd guess around 30 lbs. of live sand that came out of a display tank at the LFS. (That amount is a guess. Its not too deep or anything)

 

So...on about 5/1, I started getting the algae bloomage. Brown, then green...

 

I removed all bioballs and ceramic rings and cut the sponge in half.

 

On 5/10, I added a cleanup crew of 10 astria snails, 3 blue legs and 3 red legs. They appear healthy. I also changed out @ 15% of the water.

 

My water is reading no ammonia, nitrates, ph is at 8.3 and temp is rock solid at 79.2. The SG is at 1.024.

 

So far everything seems alive and happy...I'm just curious if I waited long enough, or could I still be awaiting the ammonia spike that I read happens.

 

Also, I've been adding a tiny about of Marc Weiss Coral Vital everyday, which I read helps to cycle a tank and reduces harmful stuff.

 

I'm thinking I should give the cleanup crew another week? When do I add fish? and finally, I wanted to order the Nano Soft Coral Pack from LiveAquaria.com...how long before I do that?

 

Sorry to be a noob, i did have a FOWLR tank for about 5 yrs. The small size of the 24g has me a bit worried and wanting to everything just right.

[audiocontrol]

no, you are doing fine, but i do not think u should be adding any coral vital as of this point. You are just flushing the stuff away basically. The tank will cycle on its own no matter what, and the only harmfull stuff would be coming from your source water, unless it is already purified. hope that helps

[BrookR1]

Did you smell the rock? Does it smell clean? Sometimes the cycle can complete in only a few days....or several weeks. So if the inverts are doing OK, then it sounds like you're there. Although, I would add only one small fish and watch how it responds.

[audiocontrol]

yea, old school it with a damsel