substrate issues

[the-elliotts]

I am cycling a 90g. My cured rock showed up a week before my live sand. My rock cycled already. Algae is starting to show up. My sand will be here tomorrow. Should I wait to do a water change until my sand cycles or do a water change today then wait for sand to cycle and do another water change?

 

[geoj]

If you are cycled I don’t think you need to do a water change. Leave it and the algae will use up the waste as the tank matures. You will go through a number of different algae blooms.

 

[florida joe]

I am cycling a 90g. My cured rock showed up a week before my live sand. My rock cycled already.
what do you mean by this and Welcome

 

[the-elliotts]

Hi and thank you. Let me see. I live in the sticks. I ordered my rock and sand on the same day from 2 different places. The rock got here one week ago. The sand will be here tomorrow. I would have put them in at the same time? I have a 29 g reef tank that I've had for 5 years. I've learned a lot over the last 5 years, but honestly can hardly remember the initial set-up. LOL When should I do the first water change?

 

[geoj]

That is a mud pit of a question if I have ever heard one

, and the answer is when it is needed.

 

[shrimpy brains]

Ok, It's the tank that needs to cycle, not the live rock. The live rock will
most likely have to be cured. This means that during shipment, the live rock has living things on it that will have died. It must be put in salt water, with circulation. The water needs to be checked, and changed, until the reoccurence of ammonia spikes caused by the die off stop.
A new tank must cycle. At initial set up. The cycle may be started by this live rock, or a dead shrimp. The water is checked daily. You will get an ammonia spike, then a nitrite spike(bacteria grows that changes ammonia), then nitrate(bacteria that changes nitrite).
Usuallly, this is when you do a water change. Check levels, if all the above stay at 0, then you are cycled.
Please, don't be offended if you know all this already, it just doesn't seem to me that a tank is cycled in 1 week. Hope this helps!