questions on reef cycle

[karldomo]

i have just set up a 14 gallon bio cube for my 4 year old daughter for her birthday. i have experience with freshwater so I know about the nitrogen cycle but with marine tanks do the go through different algae blooms ? with can i add a clean up crew ? I'm just after general information

 

[crew]

you can add a cleanup crew when your ammonia reads 0. Around the same time, you should see a diatom bloom (the first algae bloom of several). Basically brown algae everywhere.

 

[morganatlanta]

Find someone local with a reef tank and get a little rock and sand from them. It reduce or even eliminate the whole cycle and algae bloom process. Maybe someone here from Douglasville can help you out.