Live rock is scaling off badly.....

[tikki50]

I just bought 12 pounds of live rock from a LFS and it has a decent amount of coraline growth on it. However a majority of the rocks are white. I assume this was die off. Now when I use my turkey baster on the rocks I get ALOT of white debris floating around the tank. It's still in its cycling process and I was curious if I should suck up that debris and do a small water change? Im not using any type of filter just a sponge on the sump.

I have been having alage growth over the past few days and havent really "cleanned" the tank because of the cycle. Should I let it run out the cycle before cleaning it?

 

[Carpentersreef]

I would take the rocks out and give them a good rinse or shake in a bucket of new salt water. Maybe try blasting them with a powerhead in a separate container. You want SOME die off, but not a lot.

Mitch

 

[ChrisRD]

Personally, I wouldn't worry about the crud falling off the rocks too much. It's amazing how much stuff you can blast off the rockwork, even in an established tank. I would just keep turkey basting the rocks periodically and syphon the junk out of the bottom of the tank about once a week.

As for the algae, I like to let it build-up for a while in a new tank. Eventually you should see the pod population kick-in and start eating it. At that point, I usually start adding some snails too.

 

[Carpentersreef]

Sometimes I overreact to crud and detritus problems from a bad hair algae experience I had as a child.



Mitch :mrgreen:

 

[ChrisRD]

:lol:

 

[tikki50]

well what is weird is that I bought this rock only a few days ago and my amonia level was at like 1-1.5 somewhere in there you can never get an exact number. Anyways, I decided to test it again today and my reading was 0. I figured I would see something in the nitrite levels so I tested that, 0 as well. I cant belive my tank cycled in just over 2 weeks with just live rock. I know its a bit on the small size (42) but it still should take some time to cycle and I should see some type of spike in the nitrite. Should I do a small water change to remove some of the detrius or just leave it for a while?

 

[Anonymous]

more lr for sure...get a skimmer..your tank is on the right course...let nature take its course my friend..be patient in other words....you will reap the benefits

 

[tikki50]

Thanks for input. Should I scale my lights back? Im currently running compacts 192w the blue is on for almost 12 hours and the white is off (trying to reduce alage growth), when it was on I only had it on for 4 hours. I didnt want to deprive the coraline from light while the tank cycled.

I noticed

Thanks.

 

[ChrisRD]

I cant belive my tank cycled in just over 2 weeks with just live rock. I know its a bit on the small size (42) but it still should take some time to cycle and I should see some type of spike in the nitrite.

Nothing to worry about. When you cycle a tank with live rock it's possible to never see a significant nitrite spike. In fact, if the rock is in good enough shape, you may not see much of a spike in ammonia, nitrite or nitrate.

That said, I still like to give it a full month before trying to add anything regardless of what the test kit readings are. IMO it's best to let things settle down and give the bacteria and critter populations a chance to get well established before adding larger animals.

 

[tikki50]

well said I will take your advice on it. If this is the case I guess I will wait until I see some nitrates then that should tell me Im coming clear on the cycle. Either wait the one month rule will be followed.

Thanks
Todd