added live rock...tank going crazy!!!!

[popothemailman]

i added 65lbs of precured fiji live rock into my 80gal tank. at first the water looked light brownish and cloudy. and today the water is white cloudy and looks like there are a bunch of little white particles on them. the rocks were scrubbed with a tooth brush and i got most of the dead sponges off but there still are some on them. what should i do to get rid of the cloudiness and when and what can i do to better my tanks readings:

ammonia 2.5
[acronym:9f2ed0217f="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:9f2ed0217f] 7.8
nitrite .05
nitrate 5.0
alkinity normal

Tank setup: wet dry hang on filter with a 350gph [acronym:9f2ed0217f="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:9f2ed0217f], 2 maxi jet 1200(295gph each) for tank flow. red sea prism deluxe skimmer, 290watt lighting, 300w heater.

i use amquel after 10% water changes once a week.

please help, what should i do???

[darb2]

Amonia of 2.5 is pretty high. Stop using the amquel, cause this product gives false positive readings for ammonia. This sounds normal for a cycling tank

[indy]

Just have some patience. Nothing good happens fast in a sw aquarium. The cloudiness should pass as bacteria builds, as will the ammonia. Doing water changes during a cycle just stretches the cycle out longer. Unless you have something in the tank you're trying to keep alive, just let it be until the cycle is completed, then do a water change.

[Sam]

What you are seeing is a perfectly normal cycling process. Even though the [acronym:b09058785e="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:b09058785e] is 'pre-cured, by the time it is shipped to you there is die-off. I actually used my [acronym:b09058785e="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:b09058785e] to cycle my new tank very successfully. So you just have to sit out the re-cycle of your tank. If you had previously cycled it, then this cycle should be shorter. Just do the same things as when you did your first cycle in terms of testing the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels. As mentioned, no water changes until cycle is complete and no amquel. [acronym:b09058785e="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:b09058785e]

[malkore]

Hang on here...if the rock was pre-cured, it shouldn't have had dead sponges still on it. Unless I just misunderstood, and you scrubbed it and then cured it. If the latter is the case, then it sounds like a normal cycle.

Depending on the type of test kit you use, Amquel can cause false positive results for ammonia. If your test kit uses 1 reagent, it's a Nessler kit and will be inaccurate if you use Amquel. If it has 2 reagents, and takes 5 mins for the results to show up, you've got a salicylate test kit, which can properly read ammonia in the presence of AmQuel.

[lando]

Where did you get the rock and how long was it in transit? Sounds like it had some considerable die-off and arrived as uncured [acronym:f2f69ede97="Live rock"]LR[/acronym:f2f69ede97] at your door. Not that big of deal since you are cycling. Just give it time and things will come around. Waiting the hardest part. Lando

[popothemailman]

thanks guys this helps since i was told to do frequent water changes to get 'the dead stuff out.' my tank smells also it isn't very strong but the water does smell. i noticed on one rock that there is about a 3in black spot and it also has a white spot on the other side about the same size. what are those? i just started to add calcium to the tank yesterday 1drop per 2gallon daily..should i stop doing this? also with all my lighting that i also set up the extra 220w MY TANK WAS AT 90 F. this is due to my wooden cover blocking the fans on the lighting i need to fix that pronto, and i heard of people getting little fans to put in the back of there tank, what size and how strong are they? about the amquel i have the red sea test kit and it takes 15min to get results..should i switch to seachem prim i know a lot of people use that.

thanks again, i would have messed everything up

MY BAD!!!!!! THE AMMONIA is: .25

[indy]

The cycle should take care of most of the dead stuff, so no worries there. And [acronym:9e29c3254c="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:9e29c3254c] tanks smell like [acronym:9e29c3254c="Saltwater"]SW[/acronym:9e29c3254c] tanks, kind of like the ocean once the cycle is done. Can't really say what's on the rocks, could be anything.

I wouldn't add anything to the tank until the cycle is done, and make sure you test for whatever supplements you use.

I think most peeps use small computer size (4") or so fans. But if you unblock the fans you have, you'll probably see your temps drop quite a bit.

[seaham358]

Like the others say stop adding the amquel and any product like that no need let nature do its thing. No water changes just sit back and let the tank do its thing. Don't scrub the rocks, don't worry about whats on them at this point. The smell is normal as others have said just part of the die off.....
Sit back have a cold one and just watch the tank mature.

[popothemailman]

so i'm guessing the tank will be ready when the water is clear and the tests are perfect. when this point has been reached should i wait a while before i start adding fish? or will it be ok to add fish immediately? also how many fish do you think ill be able to put in my tank, lets say the fish i'm looking to get are, puffer, tang, wrasse, anthius.. that kind of size group..

thanks again, and a will do on the cold one