please help me...just got my first LR

[grick6968]

Hey guys,
Well my friend and i just set up a 30 gallon today with salt, argonite and 10 pounds of live rock (im on a budget). Im gonna use the live rock to cycle hopefully and maybe a fish.
Heres the deal: I have three big pieces of rock so far from Fiji and they are all bumpy and crevicy and everything. Its cured like crazy and there are limegreeness covering the little bumps. Also, another one has alot of the little tubes for fan worms. Another still has a lot of light blue brain coral lookin stuff that has lots of small circles. My question is will these things die during the cycling process. How long until great stuff and cool thaings start to happen. I have 120w of lighting for this tank. Thanks alot

 

[Anonymous]

Will things die off? Yes.
Will many things pop out after the cycle is complete? Yes!
Fan worms will come back. They're pretty resilient.
Macroalgae will typically resume growth once the situation is right.
Zoanthinds will usually handle a cycle.
I'd be surprised if you have living coral on the rock, but one never knows. If it's going to survive, it will survive. There's not much you can do about it. Still, I'd be surprised if you got living coral.
Good luck and enjoy. This is one of the best parts of the hobby. Take a lot of pictures.

 

[fredso2003]

First thing,you should(when you can afford it) get 20 to 30 more pounds of live rock.2nd thing mostly ALL the life on your rock will die.However with time and proper water parameters some will reguvinate after your new tank cycles which will take AT LEAST 30 to 45 days.3rd thing,be patient dont add fish or corals to soon,that will be a critical beginners mistake,you will most likely lose any kind of coral or fish if you add them to soon which will cost you $MONEY$ so since your on a budget be wise from the start and wait to reduce the chance of you wasting monet and killing animals.I apologize if my reply seems harsh I am just trying to save you headaches and money by starting your system as properly as possible from the begining,The best advice I can give you in my expierience is 2 add the rest of your rock asap. or you will have another cycling process to go through by adding the rock later after this batch has cured and your getting your water stable,also I would defenitly look into a "hang on model" protien skimmer and dont go to cheap you get what you pay for,you can wait about 1 month to start skimming but it is essential for any long term success of a reef tank.also get yourself a good set of test kits alot of guys on this forum use the "seifert" brand the are reliable,the mext thing that is essential and there are 1 million different opions on is lighting.OK last thing for now, READ,READ,READ and then READ some more then asks all the questions you can!! For the sake of your budget wait AT LEAST 30 days before you buy a damsel for cycling purpose!I HOPE THIS HELPS!!

PS-I almost forgot WELCOME TO REEFS.ORG

 

[Anonymous]

First thing,you should(when you can afford it) get 20 to 30 more pounds of live rock.2nd thing mostly ALL the life on your rock will die.

I totally disagree on both points.
Nowadays folks don't need that much LR. Depends on one's system. Deep sand bed in use?

Secondly, not everything will die as I noted above. Things don't die, then rejuvinate. Things go into shock and go dormant for a while. There are things that die - sponges come to mind, corals too. But many things make it through.

 

[Anonymous]

i keep as much live rock as i have gallons...well tank size...i have a 20 gal and i have closer to 25-28lbs of LR..no particular reason other than i looks good IMO...I do agree on not adding fish though..Damsels are the hardier species of fish but if you dont want damsels permantly dont go that route, you might find it a challenge getting it/them outta there once your aquascaping is done...Id say in a couple weeks start adding a cleaning crew...

 

[fredso2003]

In my expierence,I agree with Lord Nikon on 1 to 11/2 lbs. of live rock per gallon and it looks nice,as far as die off on the rock I did mention rejuvination so I did not mean total death off all living matter,however if gorilla does not agree every one has there own opionion!!