heavy die-off on rocks. take out and scrub?

[adrian75]

i have been adding cycling bacteria for 6 days into my 150 gal tank with about 40 kg of live rock, with heaps of life on them. into the 4th day of cycling and most things are dying. the rock was transported for 2 hours in sea water so i put the rock straight in my tank with out cleaning or scrubbing them. my water now is white and cloudy and the tank is giving off a foul smell.

ammonia is above 8 mg/L (off the scale) and nitrite is still undetecable.

what would be the best cousre of action, water change, scrub rocks? both?

replies will be greatly appreciated as my folks are getting sick of the smell, lol. cheers

 

[Konadog]

Both by the sounds of it! Was this new LR, and was there a reason for adding the cycling bacteria?
If it's only rock in the tank, take all the rock out and swish/shake them in fresh salt water to remove any dead material, and do a 100% water change. Don't add anymore cycling bacteria after that, let your rock cycle by itself. You should be good after 4 to 6 weeks.

 

[adrian75]

oh ok my LFS said to add the bacteria and put in live rock as well
do i need a 100% water change i have no money left to spend on over 100$ worth of salt.

 

[Konadog]

You don't need to, but I would do a few smaller ones every few days unless you like the smell Where are you located, your salt sounds expensive!

 

[PatMayo]

I would change as much as you can and then I would do frequent water changes at least evey week. Curing live rock in the tank can be a stinky experience. One should also have as much salt and salt water already made up as one can.

Just change as much as you can. If you can't change any now I would do so as soon as you can afford to.

Regards,

Pat

 

[adrian75]

australia, also my skimmer has been getting a full cup every 12 hours but today it suddenly didn't. does that meen anything?

 

[Konadog]

If you had your hands in the tank more today than yesterday, it can affect skimmer production. It also may mean that your skimmer pump or air line is dirty and needs to be checked. If your water looks any cleaner, it may also mean there is less organics than before. It could mean a bunch of things, or nothing.

 

[adrian75]

ok thanks heaps, i have enough salt to replace a third of the water, with that plus cleaning the rocks be enough. also if i leave the the tank alone will it still cycle and stabalize, i'm not worried about the time, or the rocks i got them for free! and i can get some more.

 

[adrian75]

ok thanks heaps, i have enough salt to replace a third of the water, with that plus cleaning the rocks be enough. also if i leave the the tank alone will it still cycle and stabalize, i'm not worried about the time, or the rocks i got them for free! and i can get some more.

 

[Konadog]

Yes, just keep your skimmer running and plenty of flow thru the tank and it will stabilize. You want to remove as much of the organics as possible in a short amount of time so that it doesn't fuel bad algae, which is a whole different problem.

 

[Recife]

adrian, if you are on a tight budget, consder buying a big bucket of salt. You will fork out a bit more money now but it you allow you to do a lot of water change and still have some left. Dr. Fosters sell a 200gal bucket for $48. That's a lot cheaper than what you pay in the LFS.

 

[NCreefwannabe]

you could also do nothing and wait out the cycle, though it may take a bit longer since you spiked off the charts. I didnt change my water until my nitrites hit 0 and my nitrates started to come.

I also didnt have salt lol, but now have a bag and a bucket... But I also heard and read from alot of sources that water changes during cycling only slows it.

 

[bobothewizard]

Water changes instead.

 

[sttroyiii]

Im cycling a tank now that I just put a bunch of live rock in. Last time I did this, I did minimal water changes, and everything bleached out. Not much made it through the cycle, and I ended up seeding it again. I think the higher the ammonia spikes, less life is going to make it through the cycle. This time I am trying to do many water changes to keep as much as possible. I think of the water changes as doing the same thing as a skimmer does, but faster. Both are removing organics from the tank, only a skimmer minimizes water loss.

 

[NCreefwannabe]

your going to loose most everything regardless if you get a large spike like that. Most everything is probably already gone.

 

[dendro982]

Now I'm curing LR with Seachem ammonia monitor and all necessary water changes to prevent ammonia spike (even twice daily first two days). Powehead with venturi keeps water flow oxigenated, lights - to keep what was left alive.