Tank cycling question - water changes ok?

[GinaD]

Hi y'all.
I have a little problem with one of my tanks. It has been stable for 2 years or so, then I replaced all the LR and it's now going thru a cycle. (I realized I shouldn't have done that) Now I have brownish-red stringy algae (cyano/redslime) coating everything. Is frequent water changes a good thing during a cycle like this? I already lost my purple pillow coral. [smilie=1,4,5] I don't want to lose any more, but this is the only tank with bright enough lights to sustain the coral frags I have. PLEASE help.

 

[marco67]

that and aggressive skimming, are there any fish in the system?
How bad is the amonia and nitrite

 

[Tstone]

frequent water changes will help you save as much as can be saved. Like Marc said aggressive skimming also.

Good luck with it.

 

[GinaD]

Yes, 3 fish.

 

[marco67]

Ouch,
have you tested for amonia ? Nitrite?
If you are showing any amonia, I would add amquil as a quick fix, also Fritz turbostart 500 is a great product to speed up your cycle naturally.
I've seen this combination "save" many tanks.

 

[GinaD]

My tests are showing 0 amonia and 0 nitrite.
Maybe the test is bad??? It's a year old.