From beginning to End

[CaptainAhab]

live rock has nothing to do with critters that may come (hitch hikers) but with the colonization of live bacteria on the rock. There is live rock, live sand, live plastic ornaments, live HOB filters, live anything...

Step back , take a breathe and re-evaluate... IMO

[HN1]

Soooo sorry for your frustrations , but I agree with SM. You could have easily left it up, ignored it for awhile, and allow it to cycle naturally. My first tank looked like moldy poo for a couple months, but I let it do it's thing and everything cleared up. NOTHING good happens quickly in SW. It takes time and patience.

[Etunes]

+1 on wghat everyone one said. You have to realize that things come in time. So never give up, never surrender. One thing is, people are watching these forums to help with there own tanks. Such as me, lets say i was a noob and followed the example you are setting. If i just started SW aquariums and gave up and threw all my time, effort, and money out at the first problem. Does that sound produuctive? Just start from scratch.

[HN1]

Just occured to me... if this is a "joke", I may hunt you down!

[Etunes]

Originally Posted by HN1

Just occured to me... if this is a "joke", I may hunt you down!

I will orginize a Full Forum Hunt squad to find you if it is.

[fishmonkey]

Maybe hes in cohorts with that dr dude! If this is a joke i will luagh. AND THEN FIND YOU.

[thominil]

Guys, links is not like DP at all. I highly doubt this is a joke.

[HN1]

Originally Posted by thominil

Guys, links is not like DP at all. I highly doubt this is a joke.

I know and agree.... That's the part that makes me sad.

[Zer0]

Thanks guys for responding. Alot of kind words were said and im trying to take this in the most mature approach.

I have no problem with cycling. I even have no problem waiting, if the cycling would have taken me 2 months. Its all part of the game. But thats not what kept me at bay, honestly. It was the fact that i spent so much money on something i needed and i received lemons. I am fully aware as well, that "critters" on live rock is just an extra if your lucky. But that wasnt what i was worried about at all. I could care less if the rock i bought brought anything to my tank. Its just that the rock i got, was not living. Meaning it did not have what i was looking for, and that was what CaptainAhab said, the colonization of livebacteria on the rock. But regardless. I could have lived with that. I even came to terms that i would have to seed it and let it become live after a some time. Not a problem. The part that really stuck me, was that it brought in so many things that i DIDNT want into my tank. Crud, crap, dirt, dead plant matter, and everything else that was dead inside of the rock. This is what shot my ammonia up so high in the first place. 10ppm.. i mean come on. In the first two days it was at 10ppm. And tbh, the card stops reading at 10ppm, which is a dark green color. The color in my test tube.. was a dark blue color. Which god only knows what that means, and how high it was at that point. After HN1 allowed me to see the light, on how at 8ppm beneficial bacteria could not even survive, i was already on the stage of giving up. I just had one more trick up my sleeve and that was water changes. I did 3 30% water changes, and that day my ammonia went down to 4ppm. I tested at the same time i was done with the water changes, the next day, and it was the same Blue color i originally had. How can someone work with something like that.

In spite of all this, i do want to continue, but i just dont know how much more i can really do.. and how much more money i can actually spend, trying to get it back up to even a simple starting point. It just doesnt seem logical.

I may or may not continue. I just want to thank everyone for the support they've given me. I'll update if anything new comes along, but i dont know how much its worth anymore anyways.

[Flake]

If you keep going, i'd like to hear about it. Let us know. We're all behind you on this. Keep going and good luck.

[fishmonkey]

so glad your not quitting man!

[thominil]

Just try again, if you don't get the high ammonia, add a piece of live rock from your lfs. If you do, just let it sit and let everything decay and do it thing for a few weeks and then do a 50%-75% pwc. Then, add a piece of live rock from your lfs and start your cycle. No point letting all the time, money, and knowledge go to waist IMO. Like they said, if all else fails, start from scratch. Best of luck to you links. May you come to a good decision that is beneficial to you and everything and everyone else.

[Zer0]

Im gonna continue it. I just want to say i dont know what i was thinking just giving up like that.. Pretty stupid if you ask me, its just that so many things were breaking that i couldnt handle it lol. But Thanks to thom and every1 who supported and wanted me to start it back up.


P.S. My heater broke. lol. And that was the brand new one. But oh well.

[InfernoST]

Hey Zer0
Why dont you just put everything back together and just let the tank cycle. When I did my build I just put everything in the tank + 3 shrimp and let her rip.
The first stages my Ammonia spiked way off the chart over 8ppm, then went to o, then the nitrites took there turn going way off the chart (spiking) then they too came back to 0 at that point my nitrates were about 5ppm. Don't worry about the readings during the cycling.
As far as you rock is concerned unless you spend 8 bucks a lb at your local LFS the LR ordered online is almost always going to come as you described yours with lots of die off (which is going to be there unless it was shipped in a container of water which will never happen) and some living organisms but in time will become 100% live again down the road. So stop stressing over it, maintain a calm head and just let mother nature take her course. Don't sweat the small stuff. (Don't forget after your cycle the algae blooms will begin also part of the cycle, those Daitoms are nasty looking but a good sign). Hang in there, and be patient because there will be many more times in the future that are going to require it, Tearing things apart is not the answer. Good luck

[severum mama]

I agree with Thom and Keith. Just let 'er rip.

You got rock with a lot of die-off. This is to be expected IMO when you order online and it has to be shipped to you. It's very difficult for me to believe that you got dead rock... there would have been something alive there, beneficial bacteria and perhaps even hitchhikers, to an extent. I'm glad you're not throwing in the towel- just try to be patient and wait it out.

[HN1]

Stick with it man. I know you can do it and get it right if you're patient. Don't sweat what you didn't get on the rock, that can be added later once things are stable. Write LA a letter. You never know if they'll try to make it right by the customer until you try. When you're cycled, post on the reef club forum up there. There most likely are folks that will sell you cheap (or give you) pods, macros, inverts, etc. Like I said... my tank looked like (mod edit) for a few months! The only upside was that between the algae and cyano it was a nice bright red & green just in time for Xmas.

[fishmonkey]

yay! no quitters!

[Etunes]

I am glad to hear your not quiting. Look at it this way, now you get to redo the rock work. Just remember you can seed it with live rock from the LFS. Then you have a better chance at hitch hikers.

[spoonman]

Glad to hear you're not quitting! I will do a SW one day and you will be one of the people that I will look back on and take examples from. Just remember what my dad used to tell me


"DONT SWEAT THE PETTY THINGS AND DONT PET THE SWEATY THINGS"

LOLOLOLOL

[Flake]

That made me laugh spoonman. Your father is a genius. Go links! Everyones allowed to get discouraged when things go wrong. The fact that you're going at it again means what you said earlier doesn't matter.