Update advice pls

[Butters]

ok heres my readings

ammonia - 8.0
PH - 8.2
Nitrite - 5.0
Nitrate - 20

I set the tank up june 24th and put the live shrimp in on early july. had 2 in there originally but took 1 out. smelled way to bad.

Still don't have the LR yet but will arrive wed. should I take the shrimp out now or when the rock gets here? when the rock gets here can i just put it right in the tank or do I need to prep it? Like rinse off all the dead stuff?
Was gonna take the drive to Virginia to get my rock sunday but some $%%^%^$ stole my tires/rims off my car. :x

Also I've been reading about bristle worms. I read that there are good ones and bad ones. Do I need to be concerned with this?

Oh almost forgot I am JUST starting to see brown algae on my glass. There are quite a few spots but still are very small.Don't know if that means anything.

Bah always forget something. I was wondering if my sand bed is deep enough. It's 1" min and 2" max. Somethings telling me I need a bit more.

 

[loganj]

I think you could take the shrimp out now...plenty of ammonia in there. I'd rinse the rock off...even scrub it with a vegetable brush before adding it. You'll still have some die off...should be enough to keep the cycle going.
I wouldn't be at all concerned about the bristle worms. Most of them are beneficial detrivores. The chances that you will get one of the bad ones are pretty slim IMO.
The brown algae is probably diatoms. The fact that you have nitrates of 20 makes me wonder if you're using RO water. If not, and you used tap water, you may have added some silicate (in addition to nitrate) to the tank which will fuel the diatom growth. Diatoms are common in new tanks though. If you're using tap water, test it for nitrate and see what you come up with.

 

[Butters]

whats RO water? I am using tap water and a Aqua Plus tap water conditioner. Just tested my tap water for nitrates and came up with "0"

 

[d9hp]

RO water is the cleanest water you can get. Most LFSs sell it by the gallon or 5 gal.

 

[otrovago]

RO Water, the lfs produces it right, its not something that comes from another source (prepackaged). is it regular saltwater or do you need to ask for something specific?

 

[loganj]

RO water is tap water that has been run through a reverse osmosis filter system. Without going into great detail (google search=reverse osmosis...tell you more than you want to know probably ), RO water has had all the minerals and chemicals removed. It is at least 99% pure H20. No phosphate, nitrate, chlorine, ect... You can also use distilled water, but that can get expensive. The better RO units also have a DI (deionization) chamber that filters out anything the RO membrane missed. It's available at most LFS's and some grocery stores sell it. Don't mistake bottled spring water for RO water...it's not the same.

 

[gooyferret]

butters, from what i understand you have the shrimp and everything in your main tank with those readings? Hows the health on them? Those tests are a bit unsettiling and are very drastically high. Before you introduce any LS or LR i would recommend reading: http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=59
This goes through great detail on curing live rock without introducing it into the main aquarium. If you do need to put the LR directly into the tank i would recommend soaking it in some newly mixed RO water and lightly scrubbing it, then introduce it into the aquarium. IMO HTH

 

[Butters]

i only have sand in my tank rock comes tomorrow. im about to take the shrimp out as soon as i get the rock in there.

 

[gooyferret]

ok excellent idea good luck to ya!