how long to cycle "dead" rock

[bms]

hey i just started up a 60 gallon tank that was sitting in the garage of a friends for a few months but was a fully established saltwater tank for a couple years. the rock has been out of water for a few months so im assuming its "dead" rock for now. well its been set up now for a little over a week and after a few days i started noticing purple coralline algae growth (or at least what i am assuming is..i will attach a picture). i also added stress zyme live bacteria to help cycle. so my question is how long will it take for the rock to become "live rock" and the tank to cycle? is it going to take a little longer than normal to cycle since it wasnt live rock from the beginning? i also have added a few pieces of live rock from my 40 gallon tank and a few scoops of sand from that tank as well. i have 3 damsels in there to help start the cycle and 2 hermit crabs to help clean the tank. as of today i just had a little diatom outbreak (not bad at all) so i cut the lighting cycle back an hour to hopefully help this. i havent had any huge ammonia spikes nor any cloudy water or anything. my readings as of now are pretty consistent the last couple days (with the exception of nitrates going down from 20 ppm probably due to a water change) and read:
ammonia: .25 ppm
nitrites: .25 ppm
nitrates: 5.0 ppm
pH: 8.3
temp: 79 degrees

 

[tank a holic]

just cycle it like any normal tank reguardless of weather its live or dead rock
stresszyme should speed the process but you still shouldn't add any fish till its done (too late i know)
keep an eye on your ammonia dont let it get too high if it does get ammo lock or do a WC

 

[bms]

ok thanks for the reply..i guess the LFS associate was trying to increase there sale cuz she told me buy a few damsels after the tank had been running for a few days

guess i shouda posted on here first :-/ well whats done is done so i will keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite levels. on another note, the diatoms (brown algae which i am assuming is diatoms) have began spreading like wildfire. i took a soft bristled toothbrush and brushed the brown stuff off my rocks and stirred up the crushed coral patches on the floor where it was gathering and hopefully my protein skimmer will suck out all the floaties. i also aimed a power head at the rock formations to help keep the algae from settling as it seems that when i did this it blew most of the stuff off. i think i was also overfeeding a little cuz my nitrite levels began rising a little bit. so i think it would be a good idea to start feeding once every other day instead of once a day (or twice a day if my little sister is home and takes the liberty to do so herself as she loves watching them eat and swim). any other suggestions? thanks, bms

 

[tank a holic]

check your phosphates and dont feed for 2 days
how much flow do you have?
just make sure you dont have dead spots and keep things cleaned up
take a turkey baster and suck the brown stuff out of the tank instead of scrubbing and letting it fly
if it get worse, kill the lights for a couple days

 

[bms]

ok i will check the phosphates tonight as soon as i get home. this IS a new tank and is only in its second week of cycling so could this be the reason for the outbreak?
as far as flow goes i have a hangon filter/protein skimmer combo that pulls 400 gph and i also have a rena XP2 canister filter that is rated at 300 gph so a combined 700 gph of flow
as far as dead spots, does this mean areas where there is no flow? maybe i should add a powerhead in the tank, this has been on my list for next purchases. i REALLY noticed the outbreak pretty much overnight when my dad shut off the rena filter for a day because the lid wasnt sealed properly and had a slow leak and he couldnt figure out the problem

the only reason i scrubbed and let it float was because i figured my skimmer would take out the particles but they probably just sunk to the bottom now that i think about it. SO i will use a baster or gravel vacuum next time.
i have cut back the lights to 6 hours a day and if that doesnt help i will take your advice and shut em off completely for a day or two. thanks for your help.