Speeding up maturation

I finally set up my Marine tank.Many thanks to PaulM for
lending a hand.
My questions are.
1 Can I add anything to the water to speed up the maturation of the rocks? I am using the berlin method.

I have read about one product that speeds up the growth of Coraline Algae.

2 Have I got to add anything to the tank to feed the rocks.

I am not adding Ammomia or anything at the moment.

no dont add anyting. dont bother with that purple up stuff you wont need it. dont add amonia. the key to success with macro algae (eg coraline) is to not let the nussiance micro algae take hold. id advise leaving the lights off until the tank is cycled. are u planning on adding a clean-up crew when the tank is cycled?

if your live rock was fully cured its possible you wont see much of a cycle happening, get yourself some decent test kits, salifert are about the best going. they are pricy though 15-20 euro each so get them on ebay for half that.

you may have all of these already but if not get the following:

amonia
nitrite
nitrate
ph
kh/alk
phosphate (optional, u wont use this much but its a good idea to test your tap water if thats what ur using)


you dont need to feed the rocks.

even if you dont see a cycle id still give it two weeks to settle, and get your aquascaping where you want it. re-arranging rocks isnt really a good idea when your stocked so make sure you are really happy with it.

also add your fish slowly, leave a good two weeks between additions, and feed minimum for the first couple of days. AND QUARINTINE!!!!

good luck with the new venture you are gonna LOVE IT!

Thannks for that mate.
Paul dropped down tonight and we tested the water.
Ammonis @.5mg/l

Nitrate at 1mg/l but hard to see test kit.

Did not bother testing for nitrite.
I must get a kh/alk test kit.

hi anthony

hows things

i know lampeye has suggested that u dont add any ammonia but if u want ur cycle to progress u will need to be adding some form of nh4 so it can be turned into no2 then no3

of course the live rock will be able to do it all by its self but unless u wanna wait for the next 2 or 3 months i would suggest u add some sort of fuel to move it along, as lampeye said u wont need to add purple up either because as long as u have good light and the proper calcium and dkh u will be fine,before u know it u will have a lovely purply pink tank

what i do is put in 1ml of pure ammoina morning and evening (clening product bought from a chemists, its in a white bottle with a red and blue lable,just ask for pure ammonia and read the lable on the back, the stuff i have is 9% ammonia and contains no other ingredients it has always worked really well for me) every day and test nh4 morning and evening, u will gradually see the nh4 result rise and ur no2 result rise too (if ur starting in marines u must already know all about the nitrogen cycle so i wont explain it haha:laugh: ) add the ammonia for about 5 days or so unless the nh4 result is through the roof during the first few days,

the nitrifiing bacteria in ur live rock and tank will multiply (at least i think thats how it works) to cope with the extra ammonia ur putting in and before u know it u will have a 0 nh4 reading with no2 gradually dropping and then getting to 0 too, then u do ur 20% water change and ur ready to rock and roll

good luck