No algae? Also: Zoas in a newly cycled tank?

[gray808]

I started my tank cycling July 15th. After some worry that it had "stalled", my parameters got to what the should be, and have stayed relatively stable. Today I added my first batch of fish, after they went through quarantine (2 clowns, 3 blue/green Black Axil Chromis and a Yellow Watchman Goby. I have a few snails, cerith and nassarius, plus a couple emerald crabs and a couple hermits, that have been in the tank for a couple weeks.

I've not really seen any algae grow, at all. My floss will pick up a small amount of brown, which I assume is algae, but I don't see any on the rocks, sand, etc. No sign of diatoms.

Is this weird?

I expected an "uglies" phase.. .maybe mine is just later than I expected? Maybe with fish, it will trigger algae growth?



On a somewhat related note, since I started with all dead macro rock, and Dr Tims + some coraline in a bottle, my rocks are boring and white... would it be ok to add a couple of hardier coral frags? I was thinking maybe some Zoas? Or should I wait til January, 6 months from cycling?

--Gray

 

[Tiki Reef Joshua]

If you started with dry rock don’t worry, you gon get the uglies! Probably pretty bad too. It’s probably just gonna take a while. Post up your actual params and you will get more help. If you are cycled and the tank is stable you could probably get an easy frag to get your feet wet. Maybe try an easy shroom like a Ricordea. Cheap, beautiful, and hardy. I don’t like zoas but that is just preference. Just make sure you are cycled adding all those fish. I mean really cycled. See how they react. Give it a couple weeks and maybe add a frag or 2. I add fish slow so I’m not an expert on adding multiples at once in a new tank. I probably wouldn’t have done that, but I’m not saying it’s wrong, just don’t know. Your biodiversity will build in the coming year and your rocks will color up fine. Time. Time. Time.