Tank Seems to Be Cycled

[eengmd]

Here are the details.

I have a nano cube 28 gallon HQI with 36 watts of actinics. I am planning to add chaeto to a DIY refugium with some live rock rubble with ChemiPure Elite in my middle chamber. I have 30 lbs of live rock from my dad's frag tank and 20 lbs of Arag-Alive Bahama oolith sand. I am using tropic marin pro reef salt with RO/DI water from UA. I had a short diatom bloom which is now being replaced by hair algae. It is time to add a CUC soon.

Temp - 78 measured by AquaController
SG - 1.025 measured by refractometer
pH - 8.1 measured by AquaController
Ammonia - 0 API
Nitrite - 0 API
Nitrate - 15 ppm API

I will do my first water change this week-end and I guess it will be time to add some corals soon. I do not believe the tank cycled in 18 days. My 80 gallon took over a month with semi-cured live rock. May be its the nano, may be it is the cured live rock. I guess I feel its too soon just because of the few days that have passed. Does anyone else have experience with this? I look forward to meeting some of you soon. Pics to come if I can find the time to post and figure it out.

 

[SS7]

If you got the rock from your fathers stable system, and it wasn't out of the water for more than an hour, an 18 day cycle is feasible.

How much hair algae are we talking about currently? What is your light cycle? I tend to get a couple small spots when I start a system, but it goes away within 2 weeks.

I would recommend trying to wait the algae out, rather than add a cuc..

I keep about 1 snail per 3 gallons and no hermits and never get hair algae on the rocks or glass after a cycle.

If you saw your nitrates higher than 15 previously, I would say you're ready for corals.

Regards,
SS

 

[ade]

If it was me I would wait out the algae bloom before placing corals in you tank and I would place a cuc in there for sure, snails or crabs I would do something.