New tank cycle, What next? A fish maybe one that eats brown algae?

[daves-reef]

Hi,

My 120 gallon tank has been running for about 4 weeks. It has about 70lbs of base rock. Initially I added about 2 lbs of small uncured (little stinky) live rock pieces that were covered in purple. I also added a bag of caribsea live sand on top of my other sand at this time. Also about a week ago I picked up about 15 - 20 pounds of rock that had been in another BRS member tank for about 2 years (Most of the pieces have mushrooms and yellow polyps on them but not all of them have opened yet, none look like they are dead though just closed).

I never saw an ammonia spike in the tank (Didn?t check often) did get have a nitrite spike but very low. I did my first water change about 20 gallons on Saturday. I still had a trace of nitrite on Sunday did not check on Monday and they were 0 last night.

Also most of the base rock is covered in nice ugly brown algae. Some of the sand has brown specks too. It is starting to get quite thick in some spots. I have read that this is algae is part of normal new tank cycle and will burn it self out. Is that correct? The new live rock is still pretty clean but there are spots with reddish individual algae pieces growing that I think might be a macro(About 8th inch strait up not hairy and space between each piece). I have just started to see small pieces of green hair algae starting on the glass though.

When the brown algae started I added a small clean up crew.

1 Emerald Crab
2 Scarlet Reef Hermit Crabs
6 Blueleg Hermit Crabs
6 Astrea Snails
2 Cerith Snails
6 Nassarius Snails

Last week I added 20 more astrea and now have about 25.
I also have added some macro and live sand and rock rubble in my fuge from a BRS member (Thanks again Ray).

Is it time to add a fish?

Would it be alright to add a tang as the first fish or are they too delicate?(Maybe a Yellow or Sailfin?)

I like the blue devil damsels but everyone I talk to says don?t because they get aggressive and are hard to remove latter. Green Chromis have been suggested but they are not my favorite (Looks Wise).


Any suggestions?
Should I add more cleanup inverts? (What type and how many?)
Thanks in advance for your reply,
Dave

 

[Triggerfish]

i wouldn't add a tang until the tank is a bit stabalized, around 4-5 months.

possibly add a couple of yellow tailed damsels to enhance the bio-filtration.

 

[gurumasta]

the brown algae your referring to is most likely diatoms. if so, then they should go away soon enough and you'll start to see some green algae growth. when to add a fish varies on different peoples opinions. imo, as long as your levels are all zero (with the exception of maybe a low nitrate reading) i would think its ok to add your first fish. i wouldnt make the first fish a tang for aggression and hardiness issues just yet.

 

[MarkO]

Dave,
I noticed you live in Lowell. If you want, we could hook up here or your house and I could give you some advice/frags
Call my cell 617-312-4629

 

[Conlius]

i wish someone would give me advice and frags