killing live rock?

[kydsexy]

I was wondering if you were able to kill live rock? I just set up a 20 gallon long and all i have is a heater and sponge filter, planning on picking up my skimmer and light this friday. cant wait! but anyways, i was wondering if live rock left out of light (florida, cured) would die or the organisms on it die if left unattended during the cycling process for the tank. Its been cycling for a week or two and all the levels seem fine, but my two damsels died tonite. any clues, my 3 spot died a night or two ago and my yellow tail today. and right now i only have 10 gallons of live rock, i know thats half the amount i need, just havent had the time!! sorry any tips would be great. oh yeah coralife 90 watt PC for the light. c




thanks in advance all those who reply! any info will be useful, even if not directly related to my subject. not a newbie totally, but new to nanos. thanks again

 

[Mikef1]

Hi kydsexy,

As far as the live rock goes it will not die without light and it is normal for some organisms to die off durring the cycle. I actually prefer to leave the lights off during the cycle process to avoid any unwanted algae blooms. If you just set the tank up and added fish at the same time as the live rock they dies because the tank is going through its nitrogen cycle. When ever you add live rock cured or not there will be a cycle in which your ammonia spikes up and then your nitrates. The fish in your tank died because of the ammonia spike in the tank. You need to let the tank cycle completely before adding any fish or coral, this generally takes 3-4 weeks and is complete when ammonia comes down to o ppm and nitrates are low between 0 and 20 ppm. Hope this helps!

 

[shavo]

how long have you had this tank up and running? how long did it run before you added the damsels?

 

[kydsexy]

thats perfect info actually. thanks alot. im just going to turn my lots of. is it true that the tank will cycle no matter what. as long as temp and amount of water stays the same? are the organisms on the live rock photosynthetic?/

 

[kydsexy]

i rushed it. i only hadthe tank up for a few weeks. i feel like a jerk for adding the fish and then killing them. i apologize. i was told that damsels were perfect for adding to a cycling tank because they are so hardy. it was my ignorance and impatience that killed them. now im going to just leave the lights off for the next few weeks/months, while i purchase some more live rock and the rest of the supplies for my tank.


is it ok to stack live rock on top of one another or should I use base rock for t the under layer of rocks?

 

[shavo]

it doesn't matter, but after a few weeks to a month you might want to vaccuum out all the dead material that fell off the live rockmaybe move the rocks around to get off all the decay off of them. I am actually surprised the damsels died on you. do you plan on keeping them? they are hard to remove once you get them in there but you should be good since it is a 20 gallon. Damsels are mean if you plan on adding other fish than them.

 

[mr_X]

you were mis-informed about cycling a tank with damsels- this you have heard.
however, damsels can be extremely aggressive, as shavo stated, so you may have almost bitten off more than you wanted to anyway.
this might be a blessing in disguise- i had some yellow tailed blue damsels that tormented the rest of the fish in my tank to the point of stressing them all and lowering their resistance enough to catch a massive ich outbreak. it was a nightmare.
then i tried for weeks to remove the damsels- i ended up having to remove all the live rock from my tank to get them out. this was not an easy task.

do yourself a favor and read the threads marked *sticky*
and then read the archived threads. there is even a "search" option- use key phrases "cycling a tank" or "new tank setup" there is plenty of information here.
even if you don't feel like searching, you can ask here and many will jump to the task of enlightening you. :wink:

 

[shavo]

I would actually leave the dead damsels in the tank dead for a few days just to build up some stuff. I heard of other people adding a piece of shrimp to there tank to get things started

 

[mr_X]

na..that's total crap shavo. i'm going to the supermarket tonight to buy some out of date halibut to throw in your tank...to help it... :?

 

[shavo]

OK X, how long have you had a salt tank up and running again? (please post it) You are always so closed minded especially when it is me. You always think your such an authority on everything and you come off like a pompous know it all. Ignorance wont help you learn. Keep an open mind and come back with facts about how wrong that theory is instead of it's just crap. I never researched it but it really does make sense to me. I will look for supporting evidence Jbag.

 

[shavo]

found this on answers.com Jbag

How long for my cycling process to start?
I have just set up my new saltwater aquarium, i have mixed up my salt to my water added to the tank then let the filter run for 24 hours and then added 3kg's of live rock to the tank, that was last week and my cycling process hasn't started. should it have started by now??


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker

With live rock in your tank, the process probably has started - it just may be taking some time before your ammonia levels become evident. You tell us how much rock you added to your tank, but don't mention how large the tank is. If it's a large tank with just a bit of rock, you may have to wait a while for any chemicals to build to where they're noticeable.

Also, the process doesn't continue unless you have something in the tank to produce ammonia - this can be dying organisms on the live rock, a piece of raw shrimp, or a hardy saltwater or salt-acclimated fish. If the bacteria don't have something to feed upon, they won't reproduce and convert the ammonia to nitrite, then nitrate.

As I said, some people like to use raw shrimp as their "starter". You don't need a whole piece. If you want to add a fish, I'd recommend against using damselfish. They are cheap and hardy, but are very territorial and will harrass any fish you try to put in later. A freshwater molly or guppy is cheap and can be acclimated to salt by using a small (I use a 2.5 gallon) tank and periodically adding sea salt mix to the water at about 1 tsp. - 1Tbsp. every few hours till you get the salinity up to seawater-strength. These can even stay in your tank as a conversation piece.

Hopefully, you've got a good saltwater test kit and are monitoring the ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels. The entire process can take a few weeks to more than a month. See this website for more info:

 

[mr_X]

kydsexy stated he had live rock in the tank. it makes no sense to add dead things to it. it will cycle WITHOUT adding dead things. my tank has been up since september of last year, but that surely has no bearing on this. it's common sense. (i'm not the one who needed a denitrator for a year, before someone showed me a better way) hmm..it was the ignorant, pompous know it all who did that for you. what does that make you then? :?

 

[shavo]

damn i had to delete a whole bunch of stuff maybe a few of you people got to see it but I was not reading the whole post.

anyhow, X if you read my last email it says some people know how to jumpstart a tank. i believe in this method and it makes sense to me in general. it's just a thought I am not saying that people should do it but if it was my tank I would. then just run the skimmer 24/7 like the rest of Ya's! lol

have a nice weekend everybody! happy get drunk day to the irish folks!