So we recieved a package...

[RYknow]

And here it is soaking.

I'm sure that some ammonia is to be expected. But is it normal for the ammonia to spike off the chart in under an hour?! After getting all the rock in the barrel I tested for ammonia after an hour, and got a reading of 3.0.

So I just did a water change after two days of soaking, and the water is yellow. I have a pic I can post. Not to be gross, but it looked like I pee'd in the bucket. :grumble: Is this normal?

-RYknow

 

[rbb302]

did u get this rock from a guy off ebay. i got the same stuf and my numbers where really high for like 3 weeks then every thing was fine.

 

[RYknow]

Yup. I got it off eBay. I had seen some of the comments left by people that had bought the rock before, and a couple people had said that the levels got a bit crazy for a few days. As of right now I don't see where this stuff will be ready to go into our tank for awhile. :grumble:

The pieces are nice though! I'm happy with the size and shape of the pieces. I just wish it was a little more tank ready.

-RYknow

 

[Alexander]

The problem with most liverock you purchase that way Is its usually shipped poorly. What happens is there is so much die off of microfauna and other organic matter that you get a large ammonia spike. Its normal. The downside is having such a large die off isn't good for the future diversity of life in the rock. This will in turn usually increase cure time, but can be decreased by very aggressive skimming. Skimming is very important in the cycle process. A step that a lot of people skip due to cost at the time of setup thinking it is ok to hold off because there are no fish in there yet. My best reccomendation is to order liverock batches with your lfs, or purchase locally. Though there is nothing wrong with the rock you have, so don't think I'm trying to say your rock is bad by any means. Good luck with the cycle and make sure the skimmer is fired up, you need to get rid of that organic matter, this will help lessen/eliminate the almost inevitable algea bloom during the cycle.

 

[Oscarsdad608]

You do have water movement and the right temps?

 

[daugherty]

do large water changes while it is suring and it will help to keep some of the life on the rocks.

 

[Piggy]

I would of tried to clean off some of the dead stuff before I put it in the tank. Your cycle will start pretty quickly and may take longer with all the dead/dying stuff. Be sure you have powerheads going. Plus run a skimmer.

 

[yote]

I went through the same thing when I ordered liver rock for my old 55.The ammonia level went completely off the chart in less than hour,and stayed that way for a week with daily 99.9% water changes.Not to mention,the entire house stuck like hell.
For that reason alone,I'll only buy live rock from either Tampabaysaltwater.com or my LFS.

 

[RYknow]

unfortunetly I don't have a skimmer in with the curing LR. I don't even have a skimmer on my main tank yet. Right now I just have all the rock in a barrel, so it's not in my tank yet. I'm just going to have to do water changes regularly I guess. Last night I scrubbed a bunch of die-off off the rock wth my hands in the water. I've got a second barrel that I'm going to setup with 100% fresh water, and transfer all the rock to that barrel. After scrubbing all the die-off off the rock, the water is extremely brownish/yellow, and very cloudy.

I'll keep you guys posted.

-RYknow

EDIT: I do have power-heads in with the rock. So the water is circulating.

 

[Alexander]

When you say 100 percent freshwater do you mean fresh saltwater? Or fresh freshwater. I would not put that stuff in fresh water if that's your idea. You will just encourage more dieoff

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, if you put it in freshwater, everything on it will die, and it will no longer be live rock at all. Put it in new saltwater.

 

[Alexander]

If you have the funds, I strongly reccomend a skimmer too, I know I'm kinda beating a dead horse here. But it is a really good idea.

 

[RYknow]

haha...Ohh yea...100% fresh saltwater. I'm planning on getting a Skimmer next week. I'm going to go for the Bermuda Rouge Wave, and pick up a Mag5 to go with it. I would have ordered it two days ago, but my check never showed up (the place I work mails my check to me each week. I need to get direct deposit. :frustrat: ).

Anyway, before putting each piece in the new barrel (All freshly made saltwater), I shook it vigoursly, and rubbed it between my hands pretty aggresively while still in the water (there was A LOT of loose crap that came off.). Then I transfered each piece to the fresh batch of water. The rock has been sitting in the fresh batch of water few about 5 hours now, and the water is crystal clear! I'm going to test it out later to see how it's doing. But based on appearance, it's a big improvement from the last time around!

Here are some pics. These first couple of pics are while doing the first water change.

This is the yellow water I spoke of earlier. This is NASTY!

Close up of a piece during the water change.

And here is the water after I had scrubbed each piece of rock, prior to going into the fresh batch of water...pretty nasty.

And one last one, while working on our tank a while back I came across this little guy. What kind of star fish is this? Is it good? He's gottin quite a bit bigger since this photo, and I have since found a baby (the main body of the baby is about the size of the tip of a ball point pen).

He was a hitch-hiker on a piece I got from the LFS.

-RYknow

 

[Alexander]

Lookin good. Looks like your removing some of that bad water for sure. Glad to hear your getting a skimmer soon.

The star (from what I can tell by the pic that's kinda blurry) is just a small brittle star. Common in liverock, you probably have many many more than you think. They hide in crevaces of the rocks and you will notice their arms come out durring feeding times to catch food. Definately a good member(s) of your tank.

 

[RYknow]

Cool thanks for the input on the star. Sorry about it being blurry, that was taken on my Cell phone!

I'll be sure and post what all my levels are inside the barrel later tonight.

-RYknow

 

[Bifferwine]

That looks like a serpent star. Almost the same thing as a brittle star. Either way, they are good hitch hikers. Congrats!

The rock is looking tons better.

 

[reeffreak]

Pretty good looking rock considering it really should of been shipped in a styrofoam box inside the cardboard box.

 

[Piggy]

That little guy is a serpent star I have two of them. I would put him in the main tank or at least a QT. You wern't kidding when you said it looked like pee water. Looks like you got some nice pieces.

 

[yote]

The rock looks a lot better after the cleaning.Just dont put it in your main tank untill your getting 0 ammonia and nitrites from the barrels.

 

[RYknow]

Overall I'm very happy with the rocks sizes and shapes (It's 13 or 14 pieces, I acctually haven't even counted how many yet. :frustrat: ). They are pretty nice. I just got home and haven't had a chance to run any tests, but as of last night just before bed I was getting an ammonia reading of .25!:^: So things are heading in the right direction!

As for the serpent star, he is our display tank, and has been for some time. I was going through an old memory card I had for my cell, and saw those pictures. Figured I would get some help on ID'ing him. Anyway, I'm going to do another water change tonight, and hopefully by this weekend the rock will be ready to be put in the tank.

I'll continue to keep you guys posted. Hopefully the more fun and exciting thigns willb e taking place in the near future! I'll document everything with pictures, cause we all love the pictures!! (well...I do at least! =P)

-RYknow

P.S. Whats the best price anyone has seen the Bermuda Rouge Wave? Something Fishy (toofishy) has it for $309, plus $41 for the mag 5. But it's $26 shipping. Thats almost $400 which my g/f isn't too happy about, since we are going to be having a baby! :bounce: