the rocks and sand from this tank are from my big tank, which was fully "re-cycled" 3 days after I moved it in mid-August. The rocks and sand were only exposed to air for the length of time it took to walk about 15 feet. My original plan of using leftover (ie, I didn't fit it back into the tank yet) rock didn't pan out because the only leftover rock I had was a ginormous slab, which clearly wouldn't fit. I cycled it the same day I filled it by putting a bunch of fish food in there, and only saw a modest (.25) ammonia spike, which was gone by day 2. I never really had measurable nitrites or nitrates in this cycle, probably because it was over so fast (~1-2 days). I tested all nitrogen levels at 0 9 days ago, so I figure it's fine to add stuff. Plus, corals don't produce nearly as much nitrogenous waste as a fish does, sooo....& I don't even know if I'm going to add a fish to this tank at this point, so I feel it's just fine to add corals.
oh, and about the cyano, this ank has had less problem with it than my big one because the flow is more directly pointed at the sand. So although I get small patches, it doesn't stick around long. The cyano came from the big tank, where I've always had problems with it, from the minute I set the big tank up a year ago. Nothing has remedied it, and I've tried everything except chemical treatment. So I'm afraid until I bite the bullet and use chemical warfare, I will always have cyano-- in both my tanks. at least in the pico it's easy to yank it out when I see a patch growing.
