Please help with my live rock!!!

[frogiii]

My new set up is going well( I think ) 75gal. bow front coner tank. It has been 3days and I see a little changes in the aquarium. I noticed a grayish algea on the rocks. Can anyone tell me what this is??

My Ammonia level is high at 8.0 and ph level is normal at 8.2 nitrite at .25

I've put uncured 50lbs of fiji LR and 70lbs of LS. wet/dry with venturi protein skimmer at full blast.

 

[darb2]

After 3 days and ammonia at 8. And uncured rock It is probably die off. I hope you don't have anything living in there yet

 

[fishfreek]

I would avocate dunking and scrubbing the dieoff areas and prepairing a water change. With ammonia levels that high the amount oflife that is going to survive the cycle is next to zilch.

Sure the cycle might be a little longer as a result but the quality of the rock will be higher after the cycle.

 

[quarryshark]

Also usually wouldn't advise a water change during a cycle, but in your case you may want to do 1 or 2 to get that level down a bit.

 

[lando]

Hi, Welcome to AA!! I agree with everyone else, do a water change so you do not kill off all of the beneficial bacteria on the rock. You also may want to mix up a butket of SW, dip each rock in it and scrub off all of the dead grey stuff. (Where did you get the rock?) Put the rock back in the tank and continue your cycle.

 

[frogiii]

Thank you for all your help!!!

So, I should take the rock out scrub die offs(dont know where do scrub) and do a water chages?(how many gal. should I change?) I've 1 blue fish always hide behind the rock(his seem doing ok) If I just let it cycle like this, would my rock die off? What else Can I do besides water chages to lower my ammonia level??
Oh!! what is that gray thing on the rock?

 

[quarryshark]

You can set up a bucket of SW , use a brush to scrub off any obvious dead material, sponges, algae, etc. Rinse it in another bucket of clean SW and place it back in the tank.
I would do a good 30-40% water change and repeat the next day. See if you can get that ammonia down by half at least.
Hard to tell what the grey thing is, maybe a sponge.

 

[lando]

If you already have a fish in the tank then you need to do a 20% water change ASAP. There is no need to use live fish to cycle. It is very hard on the animal. The grey patches are die-off. Once living things, mist likely sponges and stuff. That is what is cuasing you very high amonia level. While the LR is out of the tank net the fish and take it back to the store. Put the cleaned rock back in the tank and continue to cycle.

 

[quarryshark]

Also, water changes are your best weapon to get the ammonia down. Please don't use any additives. When you get the ammonia down by about 1/2, I would stop the water changes for a while to allow the cycle to kick in.

 

[blorkiemom]

Is there any way to get that fish back to the store? I guarantee you he is suffering greatly at that high a concentration of ammonia. (It burns their gills and respiratory systems--he may look okay, but he's not.) The LR will cycle the tank by itself, like others have said, so it won't slow anything down to take it out and it will help the fish tremendously.

Hey, this post just made me a AA freak. Cool.

 

[dralarms]

If the fish is still swimming right side up then check your test kit. 8O A level of 8 should be toxic for anything.

 

[Nate C]

Always a good idea to check with another test kit, just to be sure. If you have access to RO water then without buying a 2nd kit you can always test water from a known clean source and see what the rating turns out to be.

IMO nh3 at 8.0 could be tolerable (tho very stressfull/painful) if it ramped up over time. I'd take 'im out and return to LFS or a buddy's tank just to be sure for a while until levels pan out.

I've seen 8.0 for nh3/nh4 with uncured pacific lr before. Took about 5 weeks to level off.

 

[frogiii]

Ugh!!! I thougt I was doing okay.......the LR from the LFS (bough the whole box) I've cleand it in a bucket of saltmix water, brush off some of black stuff. I guess I have to do it again. As for a little guy, he is back to LFS I need to make a trip to LFS anyway. I'll do a water change with ocean water. is this good?? or is ro water okay??? I do not know what to brush off from my LR??? I'm afraid I might scrub off good stuff too. Can you tell me what to look for (like color or shape etc.)

 

[quarryshark]

I would not use ocean water. Unless it is gather a was out from shore. Too much chance for pollution or parasites making their way in to your system.
RO water is fine, actually prefered.

 

[dralarms]

IMO nh3 at 8.0 could be tolerable (tho very stressfull/painful) if it ramped up over time.

Please explain this. I was thinking that ammonia that high would have the fish showing signs of problems at the very least. I figured he'd be swimming upside down. 8O

 

[TygGer]

Also usually wouldn't advise a water change during a cycle, but in your case you may want to do 1 or 2 to get that level down a bit.

I use to think doing water changes during a cycle would delay the process... now after more reading, I think differently.

From what I understand, most nitrogen based bacteria are attached to objects and are not free floating in the water column. If this were the case, you would get a cycle each time you did a water change.

The purpose of a cycle is to establish enough bacteria for your initial bioload. The amount of bacteria being established in your tank right now at over 8 is probably overkill and will eventually die off anyway to match the amount of bioload in the tank.

Right now your LR is brewing in ammonia soup. Any life on it has a good chance of also dying. Doing a water change will reduce the excess waste without affecting the growing bacteria. This should reduce the length of the cycle as well as the ammonia and nitrite peaks.

That's why it's important to add (quantity) fish SLOWLY to a new tank. Dumping a bunch of fish into a tank is just asking for disaster.

All of this is just my opinion... people have been successful cycling their tanks in a variety of ways.

 

[quarryshark]

Also usually wouldn't advise a water change during a cycle, but in your case you may want to do 1 or 2 to get that level down a bit.

I use to think doing water changes during a cycle would delay the process... now after more reading, I think differently.

From what I understand, most nitrogen based bacteria are attached to objects and are not free floating in the water column. If this were the case, you would get a cycle each time you did a water change.

The purpose of a cycle is to establish enough bacteria for your initial bioload. The amount of bacteria being established in your tank right now at over 8 is probably overkill and will eventually die off anyway to match the amount of bioload in the tank.

Right now your LR is brewing in ammonia soup. Any life on it has a good chance of also dying. Doing a water change will reduce the excess waste without affecting the growing bacteria. This should reduce the length of the cycle as well as the ammonia and nitrite peaks.

That's why it's important to add (quantity) fish SLOWLY to a new tank. Dumping a bunch of fish into a tank is just asking for disaster.

All of this is just my opinion... people have been successful cycling their tanks in a variety of ways.

That pretty much sums up my feelings on the subject. With the ammonia this high, I feel that it will do more damage than good. That is unless the test kit is defective. That is why I suggested a water change. With a normal or low level, I would not have suggested it.

 

[frogiii]

I had 1 damsel & 1 blue damsel(I thik that's what its called) 1 of damsel had died and blue one is doing okay!!(although, he's always hiding) I'll test the water again tonight.

 

[frogiii]

I can't get more than 10 gal from ro per day(even less). Can I use tap water to mix the solution? My tank is 75 gal and if i want 40% change that is 30 gal at least.

 

[dralarms]

Tap water, as long as you declorinate it is better that ammonia soup.