When is it safe to add macroalgae??

Not trying to be a d*ick this is an honest question, but what risk would there be? Its only a couple dollars worth of a plant if he couldn't get it for free...

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I have been out of this for years so thanks for all the input. As far as cheap...I live in the middle of nowhere and have to order everything. Nothing is cheap. I am using my live rock to do my cycle. Read a few things on this and people seem to think its good.

 

Cycling with live rock is fine. You can toss in a piece of table shrimp to get a larger bacteria colony, but its not necessary.

Since it has only been 4 days I would hold off on the plants for now. You don't want them absorbing all the ammonia before bacteria can form.

Test for ammonia and nitrites to see how far your cycle is going.

When things decay they release ammonia. Then bacteria forms to consume the ammonia and it releases nitrites. Now new bacteria forms to consume the nitrites and releases nitrates which is non-toxic to fish and inverts in low levels.

Testing during the cycle you will see a rise of ammonia than it falls as nitrites rise, than nitrates rise as nitrites fall.

 

Hey thank you. I am just starting my 125 gal. I am going to start with just fish. Then get a few corals. Any suggestions for starting this tank? I was thinking 2-3 in sand bed. Sump/refug. Any suggestions on how to get started will be greatly appreciated.