Ammonia is off the charts..is this ok??

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Doan

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Nov 24, 2003
Messages
410
Location
Pittsburgh PA
Hello all. First off I want to thank all of you for your advice last night. The water did clear up and buying that powerhead made all the difference in the world. Now I have another question. When I put in the 50lbs of live rock I tested for the ammonia to get a base and watch for the spike and stuff to get a baseline reading. It was 5.0 yes 5.0 not .5 is this normal I know it's lethal but is the rock still dying what is going on in there. The rock did have about a 2hr ride to my house and was foaming when I put it in but I did not expect that at all. Any input would be outstanding.

Thank you,

Doan
 
Yes the spike is normal especially with uncured rock or previously cured rock with a lot of die-off. This is where your water changes come into play. When curing with LR a 50% water change daily is recommended to try and save all the little critters on the rock. It can lengthen your cycle a little but the extra life is important. your rock will begin to colonize good bacteria that will take care your ammonia. I use pretty basic terminology, I am sure Reefrunner will step in and elaborate with more specifics. But if you keep up with your water changes until your ammonia becomes stable at 0. As well as your nitrates and nitrites. You're on the right rack! Good luck and keep posting details and questions. It's worth it in the end.
HTH
 
Good advice, reefnewb.

You probably had some die-off on the rock from the transport home. No worries. It will be fine.

Here is a link to an article we have written on our site about curing LR: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/showquestion.php?faq=2&fldAuto=6

I followed the directions exactly, doing water changes every other day. It makes for a lot of work, but I actually think the tank cycles faster NOT slower.

If you do as the article says, your tank should cycle within about 2-3 weeks.

Good luck and keep us posted.
 
Was the rock kept most in transport? It was very cold in your area yesterday was the rock in the back of a pickuptruck or was it in the warm of the cab/suv?

Was it 5.0 before you put the rock in? That seems rather high to be a reading right after adding the rock. Maybe you could run a compairson ammonia test on some tapwater and some freshly made saltwater.
 
I was thinking that it probably wasn't cured initially, even though whomever he got it from told him it was.
 
LoL you guys Rock..(pun intended.. Think of it as fun for us cyclers :lol: ) Thank you so much the only reason I panicked was that I never saw a number that high anywhere except my scale. Thought maybe it was a decorative number 8O . Ok I will take your advice however much work and disappointment I may have in not being able to use my lights.(The lights are vary cool but the time will come) I probably made a mistake leaving just the blues on all night. I have just one more question (for today) Is there a better way of getting water out of the tank than to just put the bucket in and let it fill a bit then walking that to the bathroom?? It may sound like a dumb question but having been told not to change the water by my LFS during cycling It was a bridge I just haden't crossed and as you know all the work and research that goes into setting this up it was an issue that I haden't gotten too and thought I could figure out while it cycled.

Thanks again,

Doan
 
Is there a better way of getting water out of the tank than to just put the bucket in and let it fill a bit then walking that to the bathroom??


LOL! Yeah! :) You need to get yourself a siphon hose. You put one end of the siphon in the tank, and the other in a bucket. Then you start the siphon, and the water will begin to fall into the bucket. You can pick these up at Wal-Mart in the fish section.

The LFS, IMHO, is where more "bad" advice comes from than any other place. It may be because their employees don't actually know what they are talking about or simply don't care and just want the customer to buy their products and leave.

This is not all LFS, mind you. Some are very good at giving all kinds of great information. But I think this is in the minority.
 
The Rock was supposedly cured Rock that was actually given to me in 2 really cool boxes as far as boxes go. The inside of them was like a little styrofoam cooler she said that they were the boxes that they received the Fish in. Since they boxes on the outside had tickets from Good ole Pittsburgh International I tend to belive her. I kept them on the seat beside me and turned up the heat. As for what it was before I put the rock In I dunno. I would have to say though in my very uneducated opinion that there was a very large degree of die off. I mean the stuff was literally foaming as I put it in. ( The wife made a joke about calling it Rabid Rock.. you had to be there) But I did pull a bristle worm off with a pair of tweezers ... and lets just say that well he uhhh better adapt to toilet water pretty quick or he's gonna have issues. So it didn't seem that it was Nuked .. and actually the rock has some pretty descent coloring in the tank considering the ride and the foam..

Thanks
Doan
 
The Rock was supposedly cured Rock that was actually given to me in 2 really cool boxes as far as boxes go. The inside of them was like a little styrofoam cooler she said that they were the boxes that they received the Fish in. Since they boxes on the outside had tickets from Good ole Pittsburgh International I tend to belive her.

Ok, now I see what is going on. That is basically the same thing you can get online. It is sold online as "Pre-cured" LR, for lack of a better term. It has to go through a curing process again since it has been out of the water for a while and the life has started dying on it. For example, the rock you have was probably transhipping from an island (Marshal, Fiji, etc...) to the airport, and then the lady picked it up to give it to you. It has probably been out of the water for at least 3-5 days and die off occurred.

Again, this is all normal and will "re-cure" again.
 
Thank you biggen and fish and reef... I have to say that so far the best part of this hobby so far is getting to talk to and getting advice from people like you guys. You almost make this whole cycling process exciting. However tomorrow when I am doing my 50% water change I may not feel this way :lol:

Thanks again guys..

Doan
 
Forgot to ask you big and your little face thing reminded me.... How long till I can add the beer?? :lol:
 
Actually, you can add all of the emoticons. If you notice that to the right of green alien who is flicking you off, there is a button labeled "all". Hit that and it will give you the big list.
 
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