Cycling Rock

[shiverbear]

I have a 36 gallon Bow Front.
I already have some rock in it with some soft coral, gsp, mushrooms and a kenya tree.
Along with 2 pajamas, a powder brown tang and a carpet nem.
I am wanting to add more rock to gain some height to later add some sps coral closer to the light and surface.
I have rock in a bucket with saltwater, a heater and a powerhead since September 21. This rock was in an aquarium at one point but has been dry for a year.
I'll assume it is cycling since the ammonia is high a 6, maybe 8 ppm.
My question is what do I do now?

 

[OldReefGuy]

IMO...Just wait another week or so....do a small water change after you see the ammon drop to 0.....start adding the rock slowly over a week or so into your tank.

 

[mcgyvr]

I have a 36 gallon Bow Front.
I already have some rock in it with some soft coral, gsp, mushrooms and a kenya tree.
Along with 2 pajamas, a powder brown tang and a carpet nem.
I am wanting to add more rock to gain some height to later add some sps coral closer to the light and surface.
I have rock in a bucket with saltwater, a heater and a powerhead since September 21. This rock was in an aquarium at one point but has been dry for a year.
I'll assume it is cycling since the ammonia is high a 6, maybe 8 ppm.
My question is what do I do now?

Simple...just wait... The cycling/curing process is complete when ammonia and nitrates go to zero... Until then the water is toxic

 

[shiverbear]

My Nitrates have dropped to 0 but the Ammonia is still high.
Will this drop to 0 on it's own too?

 

[sde1500]

Cycling Rock

It should over time. It's not cycled if it hasn't processed the ammonia. No point testing for nitrate with ammonia still present.

And I hate to be the one to do it, but some of that stocked list for that tank aren't very compatible.

 

[mcgyvr]

Something isn't right and I'm sorry I didn't say something before..
Why is the ammonia so high?
Are you adding something to the tank?

I have a hard time believing that dry rock would have enough material on it to cause high ammonia levels after all this time (Both being dry and in water for close to 2 months now)..

Its also not normal for ammonia levels to be high after all this time and nitrate levels to be zero.. Did you mean nitrites (not nitrates)?

 

[shiverbear]

I have a question.
What isn't compatible in my tank?

The rock is in a bucket, I wouldn't do this in a tank.
It was nitrates that I checked and came out to 0.
The rock when I took it out of the tank did have a lot of waving hands on it at the time, maybe that is where my ammonia is coming from, it breaking down?

 

[shiverbear]

I haven't added anything to the bucket of rock.
Just the heater and powerhead, well, salt of course. LOL

 

[mcgyvr]

I have a question.
What isn't compatible in my tank?

Can you be more specific please about your compatibility question..
Are you asking about compatibility of fish or what?

 

[nereefpat]

Can you be more specific please about your compatibility question..
Are you asking about compatibility of fish or what?

[MENTION=333775]sde1500[/MENTION] commented on the stock list, and the OP is asking about it.

The powder brown tang doesn't belong in a 36 gallon. Somewhere in the 125+ would be appropriate.

 

[sde1500]

Yea the tang, plus a carpet anemone gets pretty darn big too.

 

[jlmawp]

The rock when I took it out of the tank did have a lot of waving hands on it at the time, maybe that is where my ammonia is coming from, it breaking down?

That and some other die-off could cause could the high ammonia, but it depends on the size of the bucket and water volume compared to the amount of die-off.

You should see that ammonia level start to come down now, with nitrites going up as the ammonia breaks down. You might want to take a water sample to a local fish store just to make sure your tests are reading the correct levels. As mcgyvr said, you should be seeing nitrites and nitrates going up now.

It's odd that nitrates went down to zero after seeing some previously. The only really happens with very mature tanks, carbon dosing, and water changes. A new tank won't be able to deal with nitrates like that. Something isn't right with the test kits, or the methodology of actual testing.