I started cycling my tank two weeks ago today. I added all scripts water and started running it as soon as the sump had enough water to run the system. I set the water level in my sump and she's been running.
So here is where things get funky. Before this conversation i had this tank running for 2 years. I pulled all rock and sand out of it and spread it over a table in the backyard to dry it out. It was only out there for a couple of weeks. I rinsed and re-dryed it several times. After I reintroduced the scripts water to the tank the very next morning my entire house smelled like OB during low tied(funky). My skimmer was working overtime 30min after i filled the tank. After a few days the smell went away and my collection cup smelled like something died in it. After a week i added 15 lbs of live and and about 8 lbs of live rock in my refudgium. my rocks and sand started growing a yellowish,greenish, brown algae. I bought 15 hermits to help clean the rocks and sand. Three days later i added a couple of nice bunches of cheateo to the fudge. On friday the I added more to the clean up crew because the hermits weren't keeping up. I added 10 more hermits and 10 snails. I also bought a water test kit and did a test before i added the new crew. everything was spiked. the only thing that was in the middle was the ammonia which was about .5ppm. I tested again today and there is no change but my water is nice and cloudy. I'm very concerned that the rock and sand that i added from my old system was dying even after several washes. At this point i'm not sure what to do. Do I leave alone or do I a water change to help get the levels to a respectable level? Is there something that i can add to the water to help with levels? It's been a very long since i've cycled a tank but i don't remember this ever happening. Thoughts? comments????? solutions???? i'm open to anything at this point. Below are the specs on my system
120 tank 2x2x4
40 gallon sump (about a 15 gallon fudge and a tunze 9016)
Quiet one 5000 primary pump.
2x AI sold blue
2x mp40's
Macro grown fudge light....... i think thats everything.