so i currently have a 14 gallon biocube, so today i was on craigslist and i found another biocube 14 good conditon everything worked with a skimmer, heater, 15lbs LR and some misc supplies for $100!! so i jumped on it the only bad thing the LR was in a bucket for like 3 days with water only covering like 1/3 of the rock so i cleaned the tank up went and got some new sand and some LR to stuff the compartment where the bioballs were. and put a carbon filter where the skimmer was. i do need to probly buy the bulbs soon though but oh well. ill post some pics once the water clears up and i move the rock around some. So the LR had a bunch of mushrooms and different corals on it but he said he moveed out of somewhere and left the tank there for a fue days and they shut the power off in the house so everything died. so the LR had a bunch of skeleton from the old coral and alot of green algae on it. so what do u guys think i should do with the LR OR DR? just let it cycle up and see how they turn out do u think some of the corals and stuff will come back? thanks for the help!
NEW BIOCUBE 14
- Thread starter kirkusn
- Start date
funkngroovy
New Member
It would definately more dead that live.
If you think you can salvage any of it that was in the water, you should. You can easily break LR with a hammer or chisel.
As for the Dead Rock, Does it smell bad??
If you think it is a gonner, you can scrub it clean and rinse it really well with fresh water, this make take a few days. Anyway any dead or dying matter needs to be removed.
When you are satisfied that it's clean it will be great as base rock and eventually become live again.
good luck,, How 'bout some pics!
If you think you can salvage any of it that was in the water, you should. You can easily break LR with a hammer or chisel.
As for the Dead Rock, Does it smell bad??
If you think it is a gonner, you can scrub it clean and rinse it really well with fresh water, this make take a few days. Anyway any dead or dying matter needs to be removed.
When you are satisfied that it's clean it will be great as base rock and eventually become live again.
good luck,, How 'bout some pics!
well i already put it in the aquarium and filled it with sand and water i just rinsed it off. i just put it all in the tank and was going to wait till tomorrow and stack it once the water cleared up so i could kinda see what i was doing. so u think i should take it out and scrub it? i put about 3 gallons of water from my current aquarium also. any advice will be good on this. i put about 3lbs of new LR from my LFS in the filter also. :roll:
funkngroovy
New Member
I can't really tell without seeing it or smelling it.
If it smells bad, then it is.
Maybe just take out the really bad stuff and see what happens, you will probably have another cycle.
At least get off the bulk of the algae.
If it smells bad, then it is.
Maybe just take out the really bad stuff and see what happens, you will probably have another cycle.
At least get off the bulk of the algae.
funkngroovy
New Member
oooww.
Ok, if it is already in, Maybe try puttin all of the bad rocks on the bottom and don't have the lights of for the next week or so. That will at least help out with the algae.
Do you have any test kits?
If so keep an eye on your water quality, otherwise look to 20% water changes daily.
Post some more pics up in a week and we can see how it is going.
Ok, if it is already in, Maybe try puttin all of the bad rocks on the bottom and don't have the lights of for the next week or so. That will at least help out with the algae.
Do you have any test kits?
If so keep an eye on your water quality, otherwise look to 20% water changes daily.
Post some more pics up in a week and we can see how it is going.
TimSchmidt
New Member
I honestly would just let this thing cycle for a good month or so with no lights (cook the rock). You will notice some bad smells, but that is normal for what is about to happen. Massive die off is ok, but you should have a pretty wild initial cycle.
ok no lights is fine. so i kinda stacked the rocks tonight i threw out out about 1/3 they were all pretty small peices and im gonna go get some new big pieces tomorrow. im not in any hurry for the cycle. i can change water daily i have a test kit what should i be looking for? should i test yet? ill post up some more pics tonight once they water calms down some from moving stuff around. thanks for the help guys.
funkngroovy
New Member
Don't need to put anything in there for now.
As for tests, you get what you pay.
I purchased a nutrafin kit and it was a piece of crap.
salifert is well regarded as is API.
As for tests, you get what you pay.
I purchased a nutrafin kit and it was a piece of crap.
salifert is well regarded as is API.
funkngroovy
New Member
Do you already keep seahorses and don't test?
I heard that they were hard to keep.
Oh, testing, you probable should just play it by ear at the moment. You pretty much already know that the cycle will be long and stinky so I would just keep up the water changes and maybe in a couple of weeks look at your amonia, nitrite and nitrate.
This will give an indication as to where the cycle is at along with the amount and species of algae that start to grow.
Not sure about the stuff off the back, is it calceous or is it left over hair algae.
Usually you would need to scrub it hard with white vinegar but it's already full of salt right?
I heard that they were hard to keep.
Oh, testing, you probable should just play it by ear at the moment. You pretty much already know that the cycle will be long and stinky so I would just keep up the water changes and maybe in a couple of weeks look at your amonia, nitrite and nitrate.
This will give an indication as to where the cycle is at along with the amount and species of algae that start to grow.
Not sure about the stuff off the back, is it calceous or is it left over hair algae.
Usually you would need to scrub it hard with white vinegar but it's already full of salt right?
no i test my seahorse water weekly. they arnt to bad to keep you got to make sure you feed twice a day and watch the nitrates because of so much food but my shrimp usually clean up pretty good but my horses love to eat! i usually do a water change weekly with them. so back on the other tank its full of salt already im not to worried about the back wall i dont think it will effect anything.ill test the water in the new tank next weekend i have about 3lbs of LR in the filter and im gonna go buy more probly tomorrow i might just toss all the rock in the tank and get all new you think i should just do that? there is a ton of mushroom remains on that nasty LR do u think they will grow again?
TimSchmidt
New Member
I wouldn't put anything in there. Also I wouldn't do a water change for the first couple of weeks either. The stuff on the back looks like the remains of coralline algae (nothing to worry about).