Macroalgae during cycling?

[EstherGreen]

Ok, so Im really new to the hobby, in fact, Im just starting and have only fw experience. I know saltwater is a lot harder.

Im attempting a mixed tank of mostly macroalgae (hear its easier), but I cant find any info on whether they can be added during the cycling process, like freshwater plants can.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Ok, so Im really new to the hobby, in fact, Im just starting and have only fw experience. I know saltwater is a lot harder.

Im attempting a mixed tank of mostly macroalgae (hear its easier), but I cant find any info on whether they can be added during the cycling process, like freshwater plants can.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Macroalgae should be fine to add during cycling:

Yes, macro algae can survive cycling a tank. I've started to use red ogo when I set up a QT to help control ammonia. As long as you keep ammonia at reasonable levels the macro algae will actually consume the ammonia as food. I want to do more trials with this but the 2 times I've used it seem to show great results.
Nitrites don't bother algae either, and nitrites aren't absorbed by marine fish like they are in freshwater fish. Nitrites would have to be very high in a marine tank to cause a problem.

 

[Dan_P]

Ok, so Im really new to the hobby, in fact, Im just starting and have only fw experience. I know saltwater is a lot harder.

Im attempting a mixed tank of mostly macroalgae (hear its easier), but I cant find any info on whether they can be added during the cycling process, like freshwater plants can.

Your macro algae will be fine.

The issue might be that the algae consumes all the ammonia during the cycling process, starving the nitrifying bacteria. This could result in a very small population of nitrifying bacteria. Also, if you are monitoring ammonia consumption to monitor nitrifying bacteria growth, that too may be troublesome because the algae may consume it very quickly.

If you are successful keeping the macro algae alive, cycling the aquarium is less important because the algae will be the aquarium’s ammonia removal system. Nitrifying bacteria will eventually become established in the aquarium.