Normal during/after cycling?

BC1906 · Oct 31, 2016

So I've been cycling my tank for a week now. I used 60lb of live sand and probably 60+lbs of live rock that was in an existing aquarium for a few years. Now all of the rocks are covered in this brown film (algae?). Over the week I have been doing daily water tests. Originally my ammonia was at .50ppm using the api test kit with my phosphates around .25ppm. the past couple of days they have both been at 0. Is the browning on the rocks normal? Assuming my tank has finished cycling, is it safe to add my livestock from my other tank?

55 gallon cube

Temp 77
Sg 1.025 using red sea coral pro
PH 8.2
Ammonia at 0 the past few days
Nitrite 0
Nitrate .5
Phosphate 0 past few days

Thanks for the advice

alyee5 · Oct 31, 2016

Looks normal to me...looks like diatoms which will pass on its own...

Salty1962 · Nov 1, 2016

First of all, stop the WC's, you need all of the bacteria you can get to kick start your cycle. You may want to add some type of cultured bacteria like Microbactor 7 to help things along. You are experiencing what probably diatoms that are usually the first type of algae we encounter in a new reef setup. It will starve itself out pretty quick.
You don't want to add anything to your tank until you have "0" NH3 and NO2 for a couple of weeks. Let it sit a few days to make sure things are good and then SLOWLY add some livestock. After your first livestock additions, hermits, snails, etc, let things settle in and check your levels again to make sure they stay stable. You don't want to start a spinning wheel and not be able to stop it;)
Patience is KEY. A little more time won't hurt you and will save you allot of frustration and $$. Why do something if you can't enjoy it:)

terri_ann · Nov 1, 2016

Patience is the key. IF the tank is cycled, you will only want to add things slowly! A 55g tank is not a large tank and can become overwhelmed by adding too much too fast. You must watch your tank and be able to identify if problems are going to surface, such as an ammonia spike. The brown on the rocks is a part of the cycle; it's diatoms.