Live rock Question

mplocar

mplocar

Reefing newb
I have moved over to here from the Introduction forum to insure I am in a proper forum.

I am cycling my first Saltwater tank and I have some purchased live rock, the question I have is that the peices I recived were uncured from the store I got them out of the curing bin. I spent some time picking out what I thought were nice specimens with from what I could tell seemed to be lots of growths on it. Will the ammonia (2-4ppm right now) and following nitrite levels (0.50ppm ATM but expecting much higher before things are through.)destroy any life there might have been on the rock? Also as can be seen in my pic in the "Tanks" gallery I have alot of coral skeletons what can I do to better "Seed" this inorder to count it in my "biofilter". Thanks again for all the help everyone has given me so far.

Michael
 
well naturally your gonna have die off on the live rock during the curing process so dont worry about it. as for seeding you just need to put it all in your tank and let it take its natural course. im gonna give you some advice i keep getting told on here by everybody. be patient. if you just put it in there leave it alone and let it do what it does. just forget you have a tank for atleast a month
 
You'll have some die off. Which is normal. There really isn't a whole lot to do while the tank is cycling. What type of tank are you planning? Do you have the protein skimmer or lights yet?
 
Piggy is right, there will be some die off. that is the nature of the cycle. there will be an odor from the rock that may be, um, unpleasant. I would be prepared with some deodorizer or open windows when curing the rock. Stinky stuff!

-Doc
 
new2marinetanks said:
is it a good idea to run lights when cycling a tank? what about the protein skimmer?
Click to expand...

a skimmer is a must when cycling a tank. helps to keep the smell down. I do not prefer to keep lights on when cycling a tank due to the potential for out of control hair algae growth. Some people like to run them, and then get MASSIVE algae blooms as well. Just my :twocents:

-Doc
 
OK so a little die off is to be expected. Another question would be after the tank has cycled with the uncured rock will I be able to add cured LR to the tank?
 
once the tank has cycled the rock will be cured and i would only add a little cured LR at a time because when your bringing the LR home your gonna have a little die off from that so you dont wanna overload the system with more die off and cause another mini cycle
 
Once tank is cycled. Adding a little bit cured LR is alright. I've added 10 pounds of cured rock and never had a mini cycle. Every tank is different.
 
the bigger the tank, the more leeway you have to the parameters. I have added 50 lbs of LR at one time after my tank was established without any problem

-Doc
 
Ok sounds as though time is key so here is my plan tell me if it sounds feasible.

I really want to have the water quality habitable in the next week or two I am deploying for about two months and transferring to shore duty where I will have the time and ability to give the tank my full attention.

So what I want to do is put some dwarf hermits a few snails and a clown fish. This is so the tank does not sit lifeless while my wife maintains it till I get back. This being done so that there is something to help keep the all out algaefest down to a minimum but allow the rest of the dead rock to begin to collect life to help with the biofilter.

Leaving the tank to mature for 2 months till I get back and start to add the rest of the inhabitants. Does this sound to far fetched? Once the water quality is good adding the C.U.C. and the Clown and maybe a Goby or Blenny to help stir the substrate should not over run the water balance and help algae grow.

I know I might sound crazy trying to grow alge but its the only way I can think of to keep the current rock I have and get a good bio filter going. So let me know if there are any holes in this plan or any thing I should look out for or try to do differently
 
Ok sounds as though time is key so here is my plan tell me if it sounds feasible.

I really want to have the water quality habitable in the next week or two I am deploying for about two months and transferring to shore duty where I will have the time and ability to give the tank my full attention.

So what I want to do is put some dwarf hermits a few snails and a clown fish. This is so the tank does not sit lifeless while my wife maintains it till I get back. This being done so that there is something to help keep the all out algaefest down to a minimum but allow the rest of the dead rock to begin to collect life to help with the biofilter.

Leaving the tank to mature for 2 months till I get back and start to add the rest of the inhabitants. Does this sound to far fetched? Once the water quality is good adding the C.U.C. and the Clown and maybe a Goby or Blenny to help stir the substrate should not over run the water balance and help algae grow.

I know I might sound crazy trying to grow alge but its the only way I can think of to keep the current rock I have and get a good bio filter going. So let me know if there are any holes in this plan or any thing I should look out for or try to do differently
 
You'll be pushing it to get the cycle finished in 2 weeks.When I set up a 55 about this time last year,it took nearly 9 weeks to cycle.Thats one part of the hobby that you just cant rush.
Dont worry about growing algae either.That'll come soon enough.
I think that you'll be better off to show your wife how to test the water.Then let her pick up your C.U.C. after the tanks cycled.
 
I agree with Yote (as usual - he is darn smart for a redneck ;) )

you may not get to stock anything in 2 weeks. unless you used cured rock and live sand, it will take at least 3-4, but likely 4 to complete the cycle. Give her a list of the C.U.C. you want along with the one fish you want while you are away (I have nothing but respect for you for service our great country. I wish I could tell all the soldiers the same thing and I tend to each time I find out one is in active duty. Thank you for keeping my family free!)

ahem, enough of the teary sentiment.

instruct her to feed only once every other day and just a touch of frozen food, like 1/4 of a cube. I would choose emerald crabs over hermits since hermits tend to kill snails for their shells. emeralds to a great job on algae on the rocks. Mexican turbos take care of the glass and rocks and astrea snails (spelled that wrong) are great on the glass. start with maybe 6-7 total (1 tubro 1 emerald and 4-5 astrea). Good luck, God speed.

-Doc
 
Got to agree with the guys. Let the tank cycle first before adding any livestock. It won't hurt the tank to sit until you get back.
 
I agree also. If you add anything after two weeks (before the tank is done cycling), they will probably die, which will just leave a bigger mess for your wife to clean up. Dead snails are NASTY!!! It will be fine to leave the tank empty for a while, or like others have said, let your wife add the first fish when it's ready.
 

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