cycling

[19cuba]

help cycling 125 gallon setup with LS. I have brown algae growing all over the place is this normal or not ? I have not gotten an ammonia spike yet. I have four fish in there to help with the cycle, and I also want to add live rock advise please

 

[leopard_babe]

You shouldn't really cycle your tank with fish. You should use a raw cocktail shrimp. this will cause an ammonia spike. When you get the spike take the shrimp out WITH A NET. It will fall apart and make a mess. The brown algea is diatom blooms. Yes this is normal for a tank that is cycling. You can also cycle a tank with live rock. I recommend adding Liverock to your system, it serves as an excellent form of filtration. Hope that helps.
Leopard