Tank cycle questions

[beans]

Question 1: How long does it usually take to cycle a tank? I always thought it was at least 4 and usually 6 weeks, but my numbers look pretty good.

Ammonia 0.02
Nitrite 0.02
Nitrate 5
Phosphate 0.01

I'm being conservative on the Ammonia and Nitrite numbers as well... I would have read them as zero, but figured it really couldn't be that way so quickly.

Question 2: I'm still getting a fair amount of hair algae on some of the live rock, and algae on the glass every day pretty heavy. Should this still be happening with the Phosphate so low? Is there something else I should look at before adding livestock?

Question 3: Is it OK to add some cleaner crew as first inhabitants (with the numbers above)? I'd like them to clean up the algae before I start to add any coral or fish.

Other key pieces of info:
- refugium with chaeto
- gfo reactor running
- carbon reactor running
- 120g tank with about 130lbs live rock
- I can provide other test results (Mag, Calc, etc.) if needed, but all are good...

Thanks...

[sporto0]

What did you use to start the cycle? How long has the tank been set up?

[beans]

The tank has been set up since 5/24 (actually - that's when the live rock went in). I didn't add anything to cycle - just added the live rock to do that. I saw the Ammonia spike to 5, Nitrites to 25 and Nitrates to 50... so I've seen them go up and then down. Things look to be good to me, but it seems quick. I thought maybe it went quicker than expected because I've used chaeto, gfo, carbon and skimming aggressively?

[sporto0]

Unless the live rock was out of water for more than 8 hours, there would be very little die off which could start a cycle, now if the live rock came with enough bacteria to begin with, you may not see a long cycle. I would still put a couple of raw shrimp in the tank & see if your ammonia & nitrites rise again, if they do, then wait until your numbers come back down to zero & put in a clean up crew at that time, that is what my advice is.

[beans]

thanks... unfortunately, there was a fair amount of die off... I ordered through the internet as the local options are rather plan... basic rock with no coraline, no real life on them, etc. A lot of money for what is basically dry rock. I'll add a shrimp and see what happens... thanks...

[beans]

Anyone with thoughts on question 2? According to my test kit (Seachem), my phosphates are good... should I doubt the results? or is there another cause of algae growth besides phosphates?

[sporto0]

Sorry about that, I forgot to offer my opinion on question #2. All algae needs light, nitrates & phosphates to thrive, it would not hurt to cross reference your test kits with your LFS test kits, in other words take some water to the LFS to be tested & compare the results. No matter what you do, film algae will grow on the glass if you light the tank, it's something we all have to deal with every couple of days. Also, algae in a new tank is a very common thing & once the tank begins to mature & you keep up on the maintenance, the nuisance algaes & bateria usually go away on their own, unless you overload your tank with livestock or overfeed, then the algae has it's fuel source along with light.

[beans]

Thanks... that's what I thought. Nitrates just came down, so maybe that was the case with the phosphates as well. I didn't have that kit until just this week. I am used to cleaning the glass... but it's been an every day thing, which is more than I remember last time I was in the hobby. I'll see if that gets better and validate my test results.