cycling question

[arredondojason]

so i have been out of the hobby for a while and decided to setup a 28g JBJ tank but i gutted out the lighting and switched it over to a 24 3W Cree LED DIY kit and have just started cycling it for a week and a half now and got the brown algae started but am noticeing small bits of green and it looks like the start of hair algae is this normal during a cycle.
I have turned off the lights hoping this will kill it off or prevent the growth till I can get a clean up crew in there.

I am running a calcium reactor with neo mag in it and have a tunz e 9002 skimmer in the back plus a kori lla 750 GPH to move water in the tank.

 

[NirvanaFan]

The algae cycles are completely normal in a cycling tank. You can turn off your lights until you have a clean up crew if you want.

 

[arredondojason]

thanks for the help

 

[pascal32]

Yep, sounds like the end of your cycle! Check am, nitrite, both should be 0. Check nitrate which will be high, do a large water change and you should be good to stock slowly!

For lps I keep nitrates at 5-10, for Sps 0-3

 

[Sophie10]

Not at the end of the cycle yet, but you are on your way! What's in the cube? Aragonite sand and live rock? How much of each? I don't think it's necessary to run the reactor or the skimmer during cycling. Good luck! My first reef tank was the JBJ 28, a good starter, and with your modification, you won't have any 'heat' issues like mine did!
+1 Blurry on the water change, changes throughout cycling is good! Helps more of those critters in the LR to survive!

 

[pascal32]

I must have easy cycles. On the last 3 the params were good once the diatom bloom ended and some GHA showed up. Guess that shows how important it is to check parameters before declaring victory!

 

[arredondojason]

ya just live rock and Aragonite sand about 1" of sand and 25 lbs or live rock i will get some pics up once its all running. the reason im running the reactor is to keep my mag up so it will help prevent some of the GHA. And with the LED light there is no heat problem at all.