My cycle is almost done!

[2639]

My cycle is almost complete according to the numbers! I wish i'd added live rock earlier though...I just didn't have the extra cash/time. :( It's not really BAD to add a lot of LR to a newly cycled tank, is it?

I'm thinking of ordering 20 - 40 lbs of LR from LiveRocks.com.. Since they ship overnight, I would assume the rock should still be cured, right?

[MikeS]

My cycle is almost complete according to the numbers! I wish i'd added live rock earlier though...I just didn't have the extra cash/time. :( It's not really BAD to add a lot of LR to a newly cycled tank, is it?

I'm thinking of ordering 20 - 40 lbs of LR from LiveRocks.com.. Since they ship overnight, I would assume the rock should still be cured, right?

You'll get some die off and some loss of bacterial populations in the rock...both of these will start another ammonia "cycle" in your tank...

You have two options, you can either put the new rock in the tank and ride out the ammonia spike, or you can put the rock in a seperate cure tank and let it cure out again on its own independant of the main tank.

MikeS

[tim_coville_]

My cycle is almost complete according to the numbers! I wish i'd added live rock earlier though...I just didn't have the extra cash/time. :( It's not really BAD to add a lot of LR to a newly cycled tank, is it?

I'm thinking of ordering 20 - 40 lbs of LR from LiveRocks.com.. Since they ship overnight, I would assume the rock should still be cured, right?

You'll get some die off and some loss of bacterial populations in the rock...both of these will start another ammonia "cycle" in your tank...

You have two options, you can either put the new rock in the tank and ride out the ammonia spike, or you can put the rock in a seperate cure tank and let it cure out again on its own independant of the main tank.

MikeS

well if he put the rock in his tank now, he would have to go through a cycle.

BUT

if he cured it in a clean garbage bin with a powerhead, he would still have to wait to get anything, the liverock is the base of your reef and everything.

i think the choice would be is buying the liverock and putting it in the tank and letting it go through another ammonia cycle. i mean either way your going to have to wait for fish/corals/etc. why not set up your aquascaping and enjoy that while it cures and goes through the die off cycle in your tank?

[2639]

I'm thinking along the lines of tim. My main concern is the loss of life of the rock...I hate the fact that I'd be losing some benificial creatures...What are the odds of the really neat stuff living?

[2639]

I also need to lower my salinity...I've been waiting for my RO/DI unit to arrive before I added any fresh water. The shipping is S L O W.

[MikeS]

I'm thinking along the lines of tim. My main concern is the loss of life of the rock...I hate the fact that I'd be losing some benificial creatures...What are the odds of the really neat stuff living?

My bad, I thought you already had LR in there and you were adding more... :-D

If your goal is to preserve the existing life on the rock, you should treat the LR like any other living creature in the tank and do water changes, skimming, carbon, ect, the loss of life on the LR will be minimized.

Mike

[Doctor_Reef]

Ditto's with Mike!!!

[icereefer]

I agree with all of the above.... are you can look into getting your rock at liverock.com. I got some from them and I had no spike what so ever in my tank from there rock. and I love the stuff and the extra critters I got as hitch hikers.
Zack could get you hooked up with some of there rock.
Jim

[MikeS]

I also need to lower my salinity...I've been waiting for my RO/DI unit to arrive before I added any fresh water. The shipping is S L O W.

No problems here...NSW has a gravity of 1.026...you are fine in the 1.025-1.026 range....

Mike

[Doctor_Reef]

I agree....I missed that your salinity Specific Gravity is at 1.024??? If so you don't need to lower it...You are doing a reef??? SO you could even go up like Mike said... :)

[2639]

This is gonna be a FOWLR for the first 6 months or so...I'm SLOWLY creating a reef-tank..I want to take it slow and easy. My goal is to grow all my corals from frags. Hopefully, I won't be buying any full-grown corals.
What I'm afraid of now is that when I get LR, I'll lose all the neat critters.
I have app. 50 - 60 lbs of base rock...It USED to be LR many years ago. How long do you all suppose it will turn into genuine LR again?

[icereefer]

it really depends on how much you seed your base rock, with good Live LR. I usually go 50/50. on my set ups. and with in 3 months or so you can
hardly tell the 2 apart. with in 6 months you can't tell the 2 apart.
your lighting plays a big part in there too....
Jim

[TranZ]

2639 if ur gonna start with FOWLR set up and proceed into reef tank i suggest get all the fish that are reef safe.....it's alot easier to convert then....i learn that the hardway. u don't have to worry about taking them out....and plus do not overload your tank.....with reef tank u only need a few fish. JMHO

[cich1]

i've ordered twice from liverocks.com and i have all kinds of critters that survived the very brief cycle i got from it, i have brittle stars, pistol shrimp, urchin, scallop and a bunch of crabs and a couple snails.
since your tanks already cycled and you haven't started stocking yet i would add the new lr to the tank, i think you'll be surprised by how fast your cycle cathes up with the new rock.
with a new tank you have 0 bacteria so you're starting from scratch but with a cycled tank the bacterias already there it just needs to catch up with the new bio-load

[Doctor_Reef]

Agree with cich1

[2639]

I'm thinking of getting 40 pounds of LR from LR.com (i've posted this in a new thread)..I STILL haven't decided on my setup :( I want a wave-maker, a new hood and lights....etc etc....I guess that's why this is a HOBBY...it's always changing and always fun to play with!

[2639]

Tonight, unless my readings are off, my Nitrites and Ammonia are both ZERO! And, my Nitrates are .5! I'm not gonna get too far ahead of myself though...I'll wait about a week to make sure those readings stabalize. ;)

yay!

[icereefer]

this is a photo of my Live Base rock I got from them. so imagine what the good rock looks like.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v505/icereef/LiveBaserock003.jpg

[2639]

That's incredible! I can't wait to order it!

[icereefer]

and thats just base rock.

[2639]

Is that Keys or Gulf?

[icereefer]

I'm not sure, from my under standing it's there left overs of there pieces they collected, that didn't have all the plant and coral life on it like there main gulf or key's rock they sell.
I just asked them if they has Base rock because I was only going to use it for filtration in my sump. they said yeah and thats what I got. it's not often you order base rock and you get Live sponges, oysters, coraline, pods, crabs, some snails and I even got some Mantis shrimp with my order.

[2639]

I should (keyword) get my RO/DI unit today and I am gonna make up a batch of water to cure any LR I get. I cant wait to get all my equipment cause everyday, it gets harder to be patient!

[Doctor_Reef]

Hehehe....I understand how hard it is to wait.... But your tank seems to be coming along very nicely...So you are getting to do some things now.... :)

[icereefer]

go slow grasshopper. :lol: