Live rock

[paultaylor]

Hi All,

I've just taken delivery of my new 450 litre tank and have some questions.

On live rock, I have reads numerous books on the setup of an aquarium; cycling the tank and on the different types of live rock. Now the problem is that this setup is costing me a small fortune and I would, if possible, like to stagger the investment.

In my books it explains how to start the tank with the LR, but my questions is, is it possible to slowly build up the contents of the tank by adding lets say the first 30% LR now, 30% in three months and 30% three months after that ?

How is this handled, would I need a sperate tank ?

Many thanks in advance for your time,
Paul

 

[Carpentersreef]

Hey paultaylor,

Welcome to RDO!

Adding LR a bit at a time is O.K. Just make sure that you cure the later additions before you add them to the tank. You don't really need a separate tank to cure it, any clean non-metal container will do.
Watch your water conditions when you're adding the new LR, as you may get a mini-cycle, and be ready to do some water changes.

Mitch

 

[liquid]

Exactly what Mitch said!

Shane

 

[paultaylor]

Cheers guys, thanks a lot.

 

[Anonymous]

FWIW i have purchased 'cured' rock from my LFS and added to my tank with no ill-effect

 

[shawn114]

I have just started a 20 gal reef tank and the few pieces of rock I had bought have some transparent fuzz growing on the green like algae. the pieces are cured to mostly cured. But the transparent like fuzz I cannot figure out, is it another type of algae? new to the forum and lingo.

thanx,

shawn

 

[shawn114]

Also if my ammonia is at .05 and holding, do I leave the tank cycling for another week or so, or should I add BioZyme to help cycle.

thanx,

shawn

 

[Dubge]

I have herd that adding things can lead to other problems. Just do a couple of 25% water changes and wait it out

Ray

 

[hdtran]

Paul: I have no idea where to get LR in France, but I'm sure there must be good sources. Maybe this is a good excuse to go traveling to Tahiti :wink: but you should put all the rock in at once. Every time you add livestock to your tank (and LR is livestock, it just doesn't swim), you initiate nitrogen cycle dynamics and other ecological disturbances. Better to do that all at once before you add fish. If you positively can't afford 70-100kg of LR, then, go ahead and do the rocks in phases, but try not to introduce corals & fish until you've finished cycling all your rocks.

Fuzz on rocks: (brings a rather interesting mental image to mind 8) ) You're getting algae growth from the rocks. Whether that's the dreaded hair algae, or baby macroalgae, you won't know until it gets a bit bigger. Wait another couple of weeks, and see if your fuzz has turned into macroalgae (such as Caulerpa) or looks like slimy hair (hair algae or cyanobacteria). Another possibility (not as likely), you've got tiny feather dusters on the rocks.

Ammonia at 0.05: Does your test kit actually read that low? If so, have you compared it with freshly made saltwater, to make sure you're not having color vision problems? I vaguely remember that some dechlorinators cause a false positive ammonia reading with some test kits. Wait until you're at undetectable ammonia before adding fish. (I'd actually wait until undetectable for 1-2 weeks). Biozyme is perfectly harmless, if you want to throw some in, by all means, do so.

 

[shawn114]

The test kit I have is the master saltwater kit from aquarium pharm. I wrote the wrong reading, the correct ammonia reading is .50 and holding.

 

[hdtran]

0.5 ammonia: Just wait it out. Throw in biozyme if you've got it; make sure you've got good circulation & skimming; if you see obviously dead stuff (e.g. decaying sponges), go ahead & take it out. You need your bacteria that consume ammonia to reproduce & eat the ammonia.

 

[shawn114]

Thanx for the help, but I also have a small white soft looking tissue on the fiji rock. I thought it was decaying matter and I brushed it off with a toothbrush and it came back the next day. What could it be?

 

[Jolieve]

I have to disagree with hdtran here. I don't feel that you need chemicals like biozyme or "cycle" to help the nitrogen cycle go through its process. These chemicals seem great on the surface, but let's face it. Does anyone really know what is in those bottles? How can you be sure that you're not putting windex in your tank? I don't trust them, but don't take my word for it (or anyone else's either). Research before using *any additive at all* in your system.

Just do water changes to reduce the ammonia level. 5-10% of water volume should be more than sufficient to take care of reducing ammonia at lower levels.

Regular water changes are the key to getting rid of anything in your system. "Dillution is the solution to pollution."

Good luck,
J.

 

[Anonymous]

"Dillution is the solution to pollution."

I agree with Jolieve Cochran.

 

[hdtran]

Shawn114 is cycling his/her rocks. Biozyme (according to label & manufacturer) is bacteria & enzymes, and safe for reefs. I've used it myself on my FOwLR tank with no harm. When I bought my newest batch of LR, the vendor threw in a spoonful of biozyme with the package, and he's a very successful vendor. That said, I'm not convinced that the stuff helps, but I certainly don't think it's harmful.

I would disagree that you need to do a water change at 0.50 ammonia when you're in the middle of your nitrogen cycle. I would perform a change (and not just 10%, I'd do something closer to 50%) when it hits 1.0 ppm, but that's because I don't want to kill off too many worms. Other folks allow their nitrogen cycle to go to several ppm of ammonia. Some actually throw in a raw shrimp or so, to kickstart the cycle with lots of ammonia, and have it work for them. (I'm philosophically disinclined, but it works for them, and I don't think live rock can feel pain).

That said, in a mature tank, I fully agree that you need to do a regular regimen of water changes, both to remove untested pollutants, and to replenish minerals/ions.

 

[shawn114]

Well it worked, I added a little biozyme and the ammonia dropped but my nitrites are at about .5 and I noticed that one of my pieces of rock turned brown on top of the rock, is this because the light hit's that spot more directly? How long of a period should I keep my lights on when cycling?

 

[shawn114]

Thanx for the help everyone, I am certainly one to ask many questions.
To which I have another one, will a typical blue tang survive in a reef tank. some site's that sell fish say yes while another non-commercial site said no, they both said the minimum tank should be 70-90 gal. will they work in my 20 gal reef.

 

[Carpentersreef]

No, a 20g is too small for a tang.
Like they say, a larger tank is required for that kind of fish. Blue tangs work well in a reef tank.

Mitch