cycling and live rock
- Thread starter kosey929
- Start date
:welcome to Nanotank Karen!
A Cycle has the 'potential' to kill off good stuff on live rock. You can try to minimize this by doing water changes (deluting the concentration of Amonia for one) during the cycle but on the same hand doing so can prolong it as well. Here are a few questions for you, to help us help you
How long has the tank been cycling & what are the current readings?
Was the LR cured or uncured?
What exactly are you refering to when you say 'good stuff'?
Sorry to answer your question with more questions, just trying to see the whole picture.
Again
:welcome to Nanotank!
A Cycle has the 'potential' to kill off good stuff on live rock. You can try to minimize this by doing water changes (deluting the concentration of Amonia for one) during the cycle but on the same hand doing so can prolong it as well. Here are a few questions for you, to help us help you
How long has the tank been cycling & what are the current readings?
Was the LR cured or uncured?
What exactly are you refering to when you say 'good stuff'?
Sorry to answer your question with more questions, just trying to see the whole picture.
Again
:welcome to Nanotank!
kosey929
New Member
I just set up the tank yesterday with the saltwater and live rock. The rock is cured - beautiful colors ...it has lots of coralline algae and other little things (????) growing on it. I've found one teeny tiny and very active snail in it so far.
I bought a Red Sea marine starter kit that came with salt, a hydrometer and a bunch of test kits, but not an ammonia test. (I can't figure that one out....coming from FW that's the one thing I religiously watch in my FW tank.) Anyway.....I don't know what the ammonia reading is. I will buy an ammonia test kit tomorrow.
The pH is 8.4 and nitrite is 0. I didn't bother testing for nitrate because the tank is sooo new.
I hope I haven't jumped the gun by putting the live rock in right away.
Thanks for your help!
Karen
:shock:
I bought a Red Sea marine starter kit that came with salt, a hydrometer and a bunch of test kits, but not an ammonia test. (I can't figure that one out....coming from FW that's the one thing I religiously watch in my FW tank.) Anyway.....I don't know what the ammonia reading is. I will buy an ammonia test kit tomorrow.
The pH is 8.4 and nitrite is 0. I didn't bother testing for nitrate because the tank is sooo new.
I hope I haven't jumped the gun by putting the live rock in right away.
Thanks for your help!
Karen
:shock:
The cured rock, where did you purchase it, a LFS or online?
Even if the rock was completely cured with quick transit time, always expect a little bit of 'die off'. From the die off the cycle will start. If you are picking up a 0 reading of nitrItes, then there might be a little bit of amonia starting. I wouldn't bother testing for nitrAtes until you get a good reading on your nitrItes.
Actually, you want your LR in during a cycle, remember that you are adding benificial bacteria to the LR as well which is the foundation of the tank.
Even if the rock was completely cured with quick transit time, always expect a little bit of 'die off'. From the die off the cycle will start. If you are picking up a 0 reading of nitrItes, then there might be a little bit of amonia starting. I wouldn't bother testing for nitrAtes until you get a good reading on your nitrItes.
Actually, you want your LR in during a cycle, remember that you are adding benificial bacteria to the LR as well which is the foundation of the tank.
kosey929
New Member
I got my LR from Foster & Smith....but for me F&S is the LFS - they are based about 20 miles from me and have a retail store by the warehouse. They have a huge tank full of LR that they let me hand pick from. It was home within an hour and in the tank within 3 hours. I have 18 lbs. of LR and nothing appears to be dying off, but maybe it's too soon?
Also, is it typically difficult to mixthe saltwater up? I had a very hard time getting the SG right. When I thought it was right I put the rock in, but when I looked at the hydrometer a little while later it was low. I kept gradually adding salt until it was right. I probably should have waited until I got the water perfect before I put the rock in....you know what they say about hindsight. I didn't think it would be that big of a challenge. Beginner's mistake.
I ordered some LS from a guy on ebay and that should be here tomorrow. I hope I am not rushing this too much.
Thanks again,
Karen
Also, is it typically difficult to mixthe saltwater up? I had a very hard time getting the SG right. When I thought it was right I put the rock in, but when I looked at the hydrometer a little while later it was low. I kept gradually adding salt until it was right. I probably should have waited until I got the water perfect before I put the rock in....you know what they say about hindsight. I didn't think it would be that big of a challenge. Beginner's mistake.
I ordered some LS from a guy on ebay and that should be here tomorrow. I hope I am not rushing this too much.
Thanks again,
Karen
Well even with that kind of transit (lucky girl! ) I'd still expect some dieoff. When the sand gets in, you'll have to remove the rock anyway, so I wouldn't worry to much right now. I think that the sand itself is going to kickstart the cycle. Watch your readings after a few days of adding the sand.
Its better if you mix your salt, get it to the salinity that you want and let it sit overnight, check it before you go to use it and adjust accordingly. It'll get easier the more you do it. :mrgreen:
Off to a good Start!
:mrgreen:
) I'd still expect some dieoff. When the sand gets in, you'll have to remove the rock anyway, so I wouldn't worry to much right now. I think that the sand itself is going to kickstart the cycle. Watch your readings after a few days of adding the sand.Its better if you mix your salt, get it to the salinity that you want and let it sit overnight, check it before you go to use it and adjust accordingly. It'll get easier the more you do it. :mrgreen:
Off to a good Start!
:mrgreen:
A
Anonymous
Guest
i would be quite confident that high quality live rock with that short of transit would mean a very small recycle if any - as long as you keep the rock wet most of the bacteria will be good to go - you may not even get ammonia or NO2 spikes. The live sand from ebay may be a different story. now you have a two day transit and temperature changes and likely die off. i don't know what you paid for it but next time i would recommend you just buy carib sea reef grade sand (the dry stuff) or some "aragalive" sand in a bag.
as far as salinity goes - you should always mix salt water up in a seperate container and age it a day or two. natural processes in the dissolving as well as equalizing of CO2/O2 and buffering take a bit of time to stabilize. also it is a good idea to let your fresh water areate for a day for the same reason before adding the salt. i use a 10gal tank with a heater and small pump most of the time to mix my water but many people use 5gal buckets. once you get a mix you like - keep track and always add that much salt when you mix up new stuff - it'll get easier.
BTW i'm about 45 min south of rhinelander where are you, and are you going to the frag swap in june - you're tank should be ready for frags by then? if your not going to the swap check out my posts (125 and 22g) - i have a lot of cheap frags to get you started......
as far as salinity goes - you should always mix salt water up in a seperate container and age it a day or two. natural processes in the dissolving as well as equalizing of CO2/O2 and buffering take a bit of time to stabilize. also it is a good idea to let your fresh water areate for a day for the same reason before adding the salt. i use a 10gal tank with a heater and small pump most of the time to mix my water but many people use 5gal buckets. once you get a mix you like - keep track and always add that much salt when you mix up new stuff - it'll get easier.
BTW i'm about 45 min south of rhinelander where are you, and are you going to the frag swap in june - you're tank should be ready for frags by then? if your not going to the swap check out my posts (125 and 22g) - i have a lot of cheap frags to get you started......
little urchin
New Member
here's a good site to check out all your freebies :loveface
http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm
http://www.xtalworld.com/Aquarium/hitchfaq.htm
TimSchmidt
New Member
That is an awesome link!!
kosey929
New Member
I'm east of RHI in Pelican Lake. Is the frag swap at F&S in RHI? Also, just exactly what is a frag swap?johnanddawn said:
My live sand is only coming from Madison, and the weather has been warm so I'm not too worried....should I be?
Thanks for all of your advice,
Karen
p.s. here are some pics - do I have too much LR?
EDGRAY
New Member
oops :welcome my friend
Well a frag swap is only a swap between 2 reefers... you tell what frags of corals you have and the other one does the same and then bouth agree in what frags they are gonna trade and thats it... but for me is more than changing this for that .. for me is a time to know alittle tiny bit other fishies friends and also at same part to be able to have piece of someone reef in your tank and the other way around..... well thats what i feel when i swap ..and i see picture of other reefers and i see my frag that i swap im like there is EDGRAY a part of your tank .... wohhhooo yuppy :lol:
kosey929 said:
Well a frag swap is only a swap between 2 reefers... you tell what frags of corals you have and the other one does the same and then bouth agree in what frags they are gonna trade and thats it... but for me is more than changing this for that .. for me is a time to know alittle tiny bit other fishies friends and also at same part to be able to have piece of someone reef in your tank and the other way around..... well thats what i feel when i swap ..and i see picture of other reefers and i see my frag that i swap im like there is EDGRAY a part of your tank .... wohhhooo yuppy :lol:
A
Anonymous
Guest
the details are here
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/general.cfm?gid=400
the dinner/conference/tours/speaker are full already but many people will just show up to buy frags from the traders. and yea jenny is right - i was sold out in an hour last year. there were people there from all over the country last year, but this year it is going to be bigger and better with a lot more fraggers. i'm maybe a 30 min drive from you.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/general.cfm?gid=400
the dinner/conference/tours/speaker are full already but many people will just show up to buy frags from the traders. and yea jenny is right - i was sold out in an hour last year. there were people there from all over the country last year, but this year it is going to be bigger and better with a lot more fraggers. i'm maybe a 30 min drive from you.
kosey929
New Member
OK - I'm a forum dork. Didn't realize there were two pages now and kept trying to post over and over again....duhhhhhh..... Anyway, my LS came today and it looks awesome. I will try to post my pics again. Does anyone know how to save pics smaller than 640x480 on a mac?
Thanks for putting up with me!
Karen
Thanks for putting up with me!
Karen