repeated mistakes last night

[jaiden]

In my first night doing actual testing of my cycling tank, I managed to

1) flush the ammonia sensor down the garbage disposal

2) use about 1/3 of my nitrate test when I misread the directions. it said it should be blue first and by adding drops change to yellow. I was waiting for it to change to BLUE, as it got more and more yellow.

3) bought a live rock and 1lb of live sand to seed my hirocks and "dry" sand... and though the rock is purple, I've yet to see any "life" on it. guess I'm going shopping again today.

DOH!

 

[dralarms]

1 may not be a bad thing, 2 we have all done that. , and 3 you may not see "life" on the rock, If it was in his tank and is covered in purple coraline algae then it is "live". If you want the "critters" then you'll have to order some lr off liverocks.com . Thay have the best.

 

[quarryshark]

Well, today is another day. We have all had those kind of days.
Just because you don't see life on the rock doesn't mean its not there. Most of the life we seek for our system is too small to see without a microscope, it's the beneficial bacteria that is needed. Hitchhikers are just a added bonus (or curse depending on what you get).
It may take a couple day for any critters to come out of hiding.
Don't fret, you are on your way.

 

[jaiden]

mostly I want to get some sand shifting infauna going. I'm worried that my 3" sand bed will be problematic if there aren't things moving around in it. Also, I can't have pods if I don't have any to breed!

At least I have more sensors and 2/3 of my nitrite kit ...

and on other good news, all my tests came out spot-on after my cocktail shrimp cycle
1.026
ph 8.1
amm 0
ite 0
ate 0
alk 2 (actually I have no idea if this is OK)

 

[RocketSeason]

I have had my live Rock for several months, and I am still finding new critters crawling out of it for the first time. If your rock is purple, that is a very good thing. Most of the "live" rock around here is dead, brown, and ugly. (and for some strange reason, still way overpriced!)

 

[austinsdad]

IMHO, I'd opt for a ammonia testing kit as opposed to the sensors. Don't they just alert when it goes up to a certain point? I'd think you want to see any progressions or regressions too.

 

[ellisz]

I would not be in a hurry to add "life" to the tank if it is still cycling. People add uncured LR to their tanks to start the cycle. If you get an ammonia spike, which you will, you will kill off some of that life.

 

[jaiden]

Clarifications:

this is the sensor thing from a seachem marine Basic test kit. I do have one of the "alert" things too, but I was referring to the seachem one

I did a fishless cocktail shrimp cycle on the tank, and after 3 weeks the amm, ite and ate are virtually undetectable

I'm looking for CURED LR ideally.. if I add any uncured it will only be a small amount. Either way I'll be waiting at least 2 more weeks before any fish I get (have none yet) make it out of QT.

 

[blorkiemom]

I cycled my QT with a 5-lb LR and like you, I thought it was a bust for about a month. But then . . . stuff starting showing up! Sponges, mini-feather dusters, weird little filter-feeding things--and now I have crawlies! (I assume "pods," for lack of a more specific ID. Teeny white crawling things.) I dug out a photo loupe and am amazed at the stuff that came out of my boring ol' rock! So hang in there--it will start to show up.

 

[MarineFlake]

Ever drop your wedding band into a 75G tank full of LR, coral, fish, etc? Thats a long, bad day of gone fishin'.

 

[theatrus]

You probably want to do something about the alk/KH. 8-10, maybe 12 is a good range.