cycle help

[laserjim]

I just bought 40 lbs of live rock and put in the tank last night.It was uncured.My ammonia is at 6 already after 1 day. What to do now? Thx

 

[PhilOlsen]

Patience, it will take several weeks at least for the rock to cure. You should provide strong flow in the tank using powerheads and set your skimmer to aggressivly skim the tank, also I do 40-50% water changes twice weekly when using uncured rock in anewly set up tank. The good thing is it will happen at the same time the tank is cycling, so once your water params are stable you will have a great system to start with.

 

[laserjim]

Thanks Phil my skimmer is supposed to be here Thursday,I ordered it Friday.Should I take the rock out and scrub it?

Jim

 

[laserjim]

Heres a pic of the rock.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/139620001.jpg

 

[Randall_James]

water changes are needed to keep ammonia levels down or you will just kill more stuff off the rock

 

[laserjim]

Ok, sounds good, thanks, so just leave the rock in and dont scrub it?It looks like mostly plant life dying on it,hard to tell.Some red algea is flaking off the branch rock.

 

[PhilOlsen]

I would scrub it to remove as much of the die off as possible, that will help speed the curing time as well.

 

[laserjim]

Thanks again, when I get home from work tommorow I'll start scrubbing. Let the fun begin! Shouldnt be to bad I guess.I'll get a bucket of salt water and start at it. Should I do the water change tommorow also or wait a couple days?Its only been in there one day.

 

[Randall_James]

letting the ammonia levels rise above "safe" levels only kills more life off your rock and prolongs the cycle, waiting is not the best idea

 

[RTKBA308]

I have found that curing rock is a great way to get the wife or SO out of the house .

I may order some more to start curing .