Am I ready yet???

[Doo]

HI All

Ok so my SW tank has now been running for a few days, my Ammonia is 0.5-0.7 (in there some place) & my Nitrite is 0. The big question is am I ready for some LR yet???

I am going to do a 30% water change this afternoon and see if that drops the ammonia level a bit, but I thought I would get some advice from the experts

[BigA]

I would say yes, as you are likely to go through another cycle once you put the LR in. The organic material on the LR is going to die off and then will grow back as it cures. As the material dies of and rots, you should get a large amonnia spike. As the rock cures, and regains growth, the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria will make it their home as well and you will end up going through another nitrogen cycle. Give it 2-4 weeks after you've put in the LR and you should be ok to put in some fish.

HTH

[Doo]

Sounds great - how often should I change water during the next 2 weeks???

I was thinking coral b4 fish - what are the thoughts on that??

Thank you!

I would say yes, as you are likely to go through another cycle once you put the LR in. The organic material on the LR is going to die off and then will grow back as it cures. As the material dies of and rots, you should get a large amonnia spike. As the rock cures, and regains growth, the aerobic and anaerobic bacteria will make it their home as well and you will end up going through another nitrogen cycle. Give it 2-4 weeks after you've put in the LR and you should be ok to put in some fish.

HTH

[BigA]

Sounds great - how often should I change water during the next 2 weeks???

I was thinking coral b4 fish - what are the thoughts on that??

Thank you!

As far as the water changes go, I would say only one, about 10%. The reason for that is that you want all of the ammonia and nitrites in the aquarium so that your bacterial levels can grow to the point where it can sustain a bioload. The more water (and waste product) you remove during the cycle, the slower it will go.

I would put in a couple of fish before any corals. IMO corals tend to be more sensitive to waste levels than most fish that are choosen as the first in an aquarium.

The timetable I would use is LR now, approx 2-4 weeks later first fish (something hardy....ocellaris clowns or damsels of some sort), then approx 2-4 after fish, put in some hardier corals (leathers, mushroom).

I didn't ask before, but what size of a tank is it? What kind of fitration? Lighting? How much LR are you planning to put in?

[Doo]

what size of a tank is it? 10g

What kind of fitration? box filter and powerhead

Lighting? 24" T5 (2)

How much LR are you planning to put in? I am thinking about 15lb

Please excuse my newbiness in this - I am open to any feedback you have:)

Sounds great - how often should I change water during the next 2 weeks???

I was thinking coral b4 fish - what are the thoughts on that??

Thank you!

As far as the water changes go, I would say only one, about 10%. The reason for that is that you want all of the ammonia and nitrites in the aquarium so that your bacterial levels can grow to the point where it can sustain a bioload. The more water (and waste product) you remove during the cycle, the slower it will go.

I would put in a couple of fish before any corals. IMO corals tend to be more sensitive to waste levels than most fish that are choosen as the first in an aquarium.

The timetable I would use is LR now, approx 2-4 weeks later first fish (something hardy....ocellaris clowns or damsels of some sort), then approx 2-4 after fish, put in some hardier corals (leathers, mushroom).

I didn't ask before, but what size of a tank is it? What kind of fitration? Lighting? How much LR are you planning to put in?

[bosshog]

Equipment list sounds good for a start. Do you have ammonia in a bare tank with just water in it? Something isn't right there. What is your water source? What kind of test kits are you using?

You are good to go on the LR even with the ammonia. The die off on the LR is going to give you an ammonia spike anyway so it doesn't make any difference. Make sure it's gone before you add any critters though.

For critters wait for a month or so until you nitrates and nitrites come back down and you have 0 ammonia. Put in your CUC, few snails, maybe some hermits, maybe a shrimp. Then you can add a hardy fish like the clowns or something. For corals start with something that is tough. Someone will probably give you some Kenya Trees or the like.

The most important thing is to go slow. Leave the tank run for about a month with nothing but LR. Then if all parameters are good put in the CUC. Wait for a while, like another month, and then put in one SMALL fish. You will have way less problems if you go SLOOOOWWWWW. Trust me. Most experienced salt people will tell you to wait 3 months with just rock cycling.

Check out canreef lots of good salt stuff there.

HTH

[Doo]

Thank you Bosshog

The ammonia I suspect is due to some live sand that I put in the tank from a gent that gave it to me. I just added LR this eve and this is LR out of a well established tank with fish in it. How much LR should I add in there? and how fast should I do so?

Thank you!

Equipment list sounds good for a start. Do you have ammonia in a bare tank with just water in it? Something isn't right there. What is your water source? What kind of test kits are you using?

You are good to go on the LR even with the ammonia. The die off on the LR is going to give you an ammonia spike anyway so it doesn't make any difference. Make sure it's gone before you add any critters though.

For critters wait for a month or so until you nitrates and nitrites come back down and you have 0 ammonia. Put in your CUC, few snails, maybe some hermits, maybe a shrimp. Then you can add a hardy fish like the clowns or something. For corals start with something that is tough. Someone will probably give you some Kenya Trees or the like.

The most important thing is to go slow. Leave the tank run for about a month with nothing but LR. Then if all parameters are good put in the CUC. Wait for a while, like another month, and then put in one SMALL fish. You will have way less problems if you go SLOOOOWWWWW. Trust me. Most experienced salt people will tell you to wait 3 months with just rock cycling.

Check out canreef lots of good salt stuff there.

HTH

[bosshog]

15 lbs in a 10 gal tank sounds about right. Put it all in at once. Every time you add rock to an established tank you will get a mini cycle or a major one if you put lots of rock in. Your cycle will be different every time you start a tank. If the rock is cured when you get it and you only have it out of the water for a short time there will be less die off and a shorter cycle.

Yes your ammonia more than likely came from some die off in the live sand. I thought you had a bare tank. Sounds to me like you have nothing to worry about. Sit back read lots and let the tank cycle and mature a bit. I rushed my first tank a bit and killed a couple fish. Go slow with your stocking and have fun with it. Don't panic when something goes wrong, it's not a matter of if but when.

Good Luck

HTH

[Doo]

HTH

As it sits right now there are 3 lb of LR in there - I have another 12 to add that I have purchased, but yet to pick up...

the other 12 pounds is sitting in a running tank with fish in it - the reason I did this is because I was not sure if it was cured so I dropped it off to put into an established tank. I figured if I leave it there for a week to 10 days and put it back into my tank - I would have less issues. This LR is only about a 5 min drive from my house so I don't see any die off from the trip.

What do you think??

15 lbs in a 10 gal tank sounds about right. Put it all in at once. Every time you add rock to an established tank you will get a mini cycle or a major one if you put lots of rock in. Your cycle will be different every time you start a tank. If the rock is cured when you get it and you only have it out of the water for a short time there will be less die off and a shorter cycle.

Yes your ammonia more than likely came from some die off in the live sand. I thought you had a bare tank. Sounds to me like you have nothing to worry about. Sit back read lots and let the tank cycle and mature a bit. I rushed my first tank a bit and killed a couple fish. Go slow with your stocking and have fun with it. Don't panic when something goes wrong, it's not a matter of if but when.

Good Luck

HTH

[bosshog]

I picked up ten pounds of LR at the Reef Shoppe last weekend. We put a bit of water in the bags. It was out of the tank for about 3 hours until I got it into my empty quarantine tank. I haven't seen any spikes in the nitrogen cycle. There was only about 3 or 4 pounds of cured rock in the 17 gal tank. Having the rock out of the water for less than an hour and keeping it moist shouldn't give you much die off. There will always be some die off, but keeping it to a minimum will lower the length of time you need to get the tank rolling. Hopefully you get some cool hitchers and no bad ones. Getting new LR is almost as good as Christmas you never know what you might get.

Sounds to me like your method should work just fine.

[Doo]

SWEET!! - I like the sound of that, I will keep you posted :smokey:

I picked up ten pounds of LR at the Reef Shoppe last weekend. We put a bit of water in the bags. It was out of the tank for about 3 hours until I got it into my empty quarantine tank. I haven't seen any spikes in the nitrogen cycle. There was only about 3 or 4 pounds of cured rock in the 17 gal tank. Having the rock out of the water for less than an hour and keeping it moist shouldn't give you much die off. There will always be some die off, but keeping it to a minimum will lower the length of time you need to get the tank rolling. Hopefully you get some cool hitchers and no bad ones. Getting new LR is almost as good as Christmas you never know what you might get.

Sounds to me like your method should work just fine.