New live rock

[mattmku]

I used 3 lbs rock and 2 fish to cycle my tank almost 4 weeks ago. My ammonia and nitrites were at 0 with nitrate at 10-15 until i added 15 lbs of live rock yesterday. But today I'm getting a major spike in ammonia. Is it possible that the original rock and fish weren't enough of a load to cycle the tank? Also if it is cycling now, is it ok to make a water change to keep the fish healthy?

Thanks,
Matt

 

[Fishboy-from-NY]

I would throw some bacteria additives in the tank to speed up the spike in order to get your water parameters on check.

 

[mattmku]

I really don't have much access to things like that. The nearest pet store is an hour away and it is pretty poor.

 

[evenings]

I've read that when you add additional rocks to an already cycled tank that it might trigger another ammonia spike. This is because there is not yet enough nitrifying bacteria in your already cycled tank to convert the ammonia brought about by the new rocks. I've used the additive cycle to supposedly help the spike, but not sure if it has worked... all i know is when i test my waters, I've never registered any ammonia on my tests. It could be working, or I could just be lucky.

 

[mattmku]

if i have no other means of lowering ammonia is a water change a good idea?

 

[fishman]

Probably need to take the fish out of the tank and let the rock either continue the cycle or start and finish it now. Dont know that maybe you had some dieoff on the rock but if you get LR like I did, and have a MAJOR amt of dieoff, and its in your tank, it will kill all of the fish...JMO.
HTH

 

[lando]

How high is amonia right now? yes, I would do a water change. Was the LR you added cured or uncured? It is always a good idea to re-cure the LR when you get. Unless it comes directly from the LFS's tank to yours, there will be some die-off of the bcteria. the waste from this is what caused your amonia spike.

 

[ClamKnuckle]

I agree with Lando. Do a water change and try to knock it down...the ammonia is more then likely from the die off on your new LR. I never added anything to speed up a cycle so I have no input on that. Do the water change, a decent size one i would think, and that should help your fish

 

[malkore]

How large is this tank? 3lbs of LR isn't much if it's more than a 10gallon tank, so I'd very much expect an ammonia spike if you added more LR that wasn't fully cured.
Uncured live rock has quite a bit of decaying material, probably 4-5 inches of dead fish worth of ammonia potential.

 

[mattmku]

i did a water change yesterday afternoon and this morning the ammonia levels were back up to about .6. I'm planning on making another change today. How long will it be like this?

 

[quarryshark]

Agree with the water change, but try not to change too much. It will slow down the cycle and too many big water changes can be stessful on fish as well. I would strive to keep it under .5, most fish can tolerate that for short periods. Are they stressing at all? Eating still?
Make sure when you water change to get out any dying, decaying matter. It would help to lighten the feeding for a few days and syphon out any uneaten food.
Good luck.

 

[mattmku]

I've only been making about 25% water changes and the fish don't seem to mind it. Actually I'm very surprised at how well the fish are doing. The ammonia was extremely high and they were more active and colorful than they have ever been. I just hope there is a sign of ammonia dropping within the next day or two.

 

[ClamKnuckle]

What type of fish do you have (if you said it and i missed it i'm sorry)

 

[mattmku]

I have 1 yellow tail damsel and a green chromis

 

[Atari]

Did you trade in the other damsel?

 

[mattmku]

no, I just refered to it as a damsel erlier because if I'm correct it is a type of damsel. Sorry for any confusion. Ammonia is still high today but the fish just keep getting brighter and brighter. They seem more active too.