Algae but cycling

[trent51593]

Originally Posted by amcarrig

Live rock and live sand can add some ammonia to your system because when you put it into your tank, some of the bacteria and other organisms that live in and on it will die which will produce ammonia. Once all of the bacteria and other organisms that live on the rock and sand have died off, the rock and sand will no longer produce ammonia. Without ammonia, the ammonia "eating" bacteria will eventually die. The addition of a damsel will ensure that you have a constant supply of ammonia which will spur the bacteria to reproduce to the levels that are needed to convert that one fish's ammonia into nitrites and so on. Once that bacteria grows enough to keep up with that one fish's bio-load, you will notice your ammonia/nitrites and nitrates rise then drop. Once the nitrates drop, you should wait a couple more weeks before adding another fish. Then you'll have to wait another few weeks before adding another fish in order for the bacteria to grow enough to support the additional bioload that the 2nd fish will produce.

There is no way to speed up the cycling process. Mother Nature cannot be rushed or she will get angry

I agree, I have been cycling my tank also , i have brown and green algea in my tank now. I have 2 yellow tailed damsels in my tank to cycle it. All of my rock and sand was DOA so i had no die off from them. I also have six snails that seem to be doing good they are cleaning off some off the greens of the rock so free food for them (sweet lol) but other than that take you time from what I have heard it will al go way over time even though it dont look nice now be dont rush anything.