cycle problems

[unssenalpha]

im in the process of cycling my 55g and im starting to have small patches of brown algae on the sand. what would be the best course of action to eliminate this?

[Aquarist007]

that is completely normal---it is feeding on phophates released by the cycling of the live rock. Eventually it will consume that food source and die off.
Are you running lights yet?

[unssenalpha]

yes im running my lighting i have 4 damsels in thier.

[bertoni]

I would remove the damsels. They're not doing anything useful, and they might have diseases that other fish can catch.

[unssenalpha]

i was under the impression that they helped speed along the cycle process. as for the sickness thing i thought they would most likely die from the cycle but ill remove them if they are not doing anything usefull. i guess i should then leave the lights off?

[bertoni]

No, nothing can speed up the "cycling" process. I'd leave the tank fish-free for 6 weeks after they're removed. That will let most fish diseases die out. Marine ich is the most common disease reported, as an example, and 6 weeks is about right to starve that parasite out.

[unssenalpha]

ok sounds good ill do that. i have one last question. i can tell my cycle is done when my ammonia and nitrate (i think, i mix the 2 up) levels return to 0 right?

[barngeatbayman]

no your cycle is complete when the nitrate level falls. The final part of the nitrogen cycle is when nitrates are turned in nitrogen gas that leaves your tank

[unssenalpha]

ok kewl. thanks for all ur help!

[Roger928]

Also, when you do begin to add livestock you're likely to experience a mini-cycle. This is usually minor and short lived. Best advice: go slowly.

Now is the time to set up your quarantine tank.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10787037#post10787037 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by unssenalpha
yes im running my lighting i have 4 damsels in thier.

fish don't require light. When the tank is cycling the lights need to be on minimally----sometimes there are some live macro algae even a coral on the live rock.

but minimally--3-4 hours a day. Its the phosphates etc that are the fuel for algae but light is needed during photosynthesis so turning lights off when experiencing a diatom bloom makes good sense.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10787682#post10787682 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Roger928
Also, when you do begin to add livestock you're likely to experience a mini-cycle. This is usually minor and short lived. Best advice: go slowly.

Now is the time to set up your quarantine tank.

but no visibile spikes in ammonia or nitrate--by letting your tank cycle fully you hope to have the bacteria at a level that can handle the increased biolode without experiencing a spike in ammonia and nitrate

you are correct there is a minicycle always at a responce to an increase in bioload--thats why the cycling process is never ending.

[Aquarist007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10787261#post10787261 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by barngeatbayman
no your cycle is complete when the nitrate level falls. The final part of the nitrogen cycle is when nitrates are turned in nitrogen gas that leaves your tank

the caution here by 'cycle complete" means that at that point the level of bacteria is high enough to handle the existing biolod of the system.
It still needs to continue cycling until it can meet the demands of a bigger bioload without spikes in ammonia and nitrates.
By waiting longer you are allowing more time for the live rock to cure--and produce more ammonia/phosphate and stimulate for growth in the bacteria.
then by slowly adding a clean up crew, then some easy to keep LPS corals you continue the cycling process(these don't but huge demands on the bioload) and finally come to a point where you can slowly add fish.