Is my liverock dying!?!
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Toddrtrex
Premium Member
I have always done water changes while curing/cycling a tank -- I paid good money for my live rock, and am not going to let an ammonia spike kill off any of that life. If it extends the time to cycle by a day or two, so be it -- in the grand scheme a day or two doesn't matter one bit, but having the life on the rocks that I paid for does matter.
Hmm, the poor guy got juped on some limestone sold as liverock. But dont add to his misery. Weekly WC during the cycle, questionable. I doubt he is slowly killing his livestock.
steelhead77
New member
Take a look at the pics in his other thread. His tank looks sterile. It does not appear that, in any way, is it ready to support a detritus eater such as a Blood Shrimp. So I would agree that if his nit-RITES are at .1 and ammonia is .25 his tank is not cycled and while he may not be slowly killing his livestock - these things are toxic to them. My guess is that his tank will still go thru quite a cycle over the next few weeks and this will not be healthy to his livestock. I also predict that over the next few weeks we will read here that some of his livestock has died, he is battleing a huge algae problem and he will want to know what happened.
I'm afraid that by not taking the required amount of time to cycle his new tank, he is adding to his own misery. Sorry to be blunt, but these forums are full of this exact same situation. Rarely do they turn out well without a lot of perserverence and care. We should all wish him good luck.
evermann
Quick Study
+1...Good Luck
meco65
New member
JMO. Just because the LR is not covered in coralline algae dose not mean it did not have the bacteria to be LR. True live rock should have worms and pods and thing, I will admit but a good base of bacteria still would constitute LR. Like I said JMO.
I would try to take the live stock back to the LFS until the cycle is over, and go ahead and get some LR from someone. If you can find a local Reef club, you can get good deals on LR and coral frags as well.
I would try to take the live stock back to the LFS until the cycle is over, and go ahead and get some LR from someone. If you can find a local Reef club, you can get good deals on LR and coral frags as well.
Ohio
New member
I was hoping that someone else would make this point. I am fairly new to the hobby and my research on liverock was somewhat limited. I would not give up on your LR yet. When purchased LR does not have to have coraline algea to make it live. The purple hues of coraline algea take months to develope and there must be a light source for it to grow. Most LFS do not have a light source over there LR(this has been my experience). When you add a snail to your tank, it can clean the rock to the point that it looks spotless(loses all color) but this is only on the surface -I would not think that it means your rock is dead. The crevices in the rock are likely still filled with live animals. If it were my tank. I would get a couple pieces of premium LR(some with coraline algea already started) and add it to the existing LR.
My experience with LR and tank cycling. I purchase LR from multiple LFS and added to my tank over several weeks during the cycle. After the cycle was complete, I purchased clean up crew. Several days later my rocks were completely clean(eventually they will develop color again). I notice things in my tank all the time that I did not purchase(brittle stars, bristle worms, etc.). Which suggests that just because your LR loses color(ie. snails clean it)does not mean it is dying.
If your situation is similar to mine, then I would not say yet that your LR is dead. If you are concerned pick up a few more pieces and it will promote your other rock to become live.
Anyone else feel free to chime in as to whether I am correct in this. I am basing my answer on my own experience, but to this point you had only recvd negative feedback and I thought it necessary to suggest a different scenario.
Jenn
Agreed
The only reason i put livestock in in soo soon was because i was following the instructions of my LFS. He told me to buy this stuff called Stability. he said put 1 1/2 capful in for 7 days then none for another week then i was ready to put in livestock. i now know that this was a bad decision. Also the liverock they sold me for $6 bucks a pound is crap. Its not that i was impatient and wanted to put in livestock as soon as possible, i was just following instruction. I am going to buy Some liverock from a guy of craigslist in the new few days. hopefully i will be able to get my tank going correctly without losing my goby and blood shrimp... Anyways, thanks for the help...
Bonsai7255
New member
Don't get discouraged alot of LFS are just there to make money and want you to have to keep coming back to get the same livestock over and over. Just check around for a good LFS and other reefers and you will do ok.
first off, evermann, love your avatar, we are everywhere!
today there are sooooooooo many grades of live rock being offered, and it looks like a lower grede to me. keys rock and tampa rock tend to contain alot of macro algae and looks great initially, but due to it's lack of "maturation" (the cheezit commercial comes in mind) it typically looks about like yours after a short period. typically bargain rock is just that and the nicer rocks (that are purple) demand higher prices.
live rock is really any "rock" that harbours bacteria that help metabolize the waste produced in the aquaria.
IMO, the nicest rock at the moment is coming out of Indo. it is usually expensive as it is flown here, but it is worth it!
today there are sooooooooo many grades of live rock being offered, and it looks like a lower grede to me. keys rock and tampa rock tend to contain alot of macro algae and looks great initially, but due to it's lack of "maturation" (the cheezit commercial comes in mind) it typically looks about like yours after a short period. typically bargain rock is just that and the nicer rocks (that are purple) demand higher prices.
live rock is really any "rock" that harbours bacteria that help metabolize the waste produced in the aquaria.
IMO, the nicest rock at the moment is coming out of Indo. it is usually expensive as it is flown here, but it is worth it!
meco65
New member
Find a REEF club in you area, most have a forum and have lots of stuff for sale The one here has LR that people are sailing, getting out of the hobby, down sizing and the like. I see live rock all the time for $3 lb. You might get some one at the reef club to sale a small amount of good LR cheep to help you get started. and most clubs have events and meeting to sale or swap frags as well. Our club has monthly meetings to learn new stuff and DIY projects as well.
Ohio
New member
When I was setting up my tank, I would drive to not so LFS to find nice products and browse through the livestock. If you are willing to drive, LR will but fine splashed with water in a foam cooler(be sure it has not been used with chemicals). I found this approach very enjoyable as I got to see different setups and it helped me decide how I wanted to complete my own setup.
Flippers4pups
Home made abyss
If I couldn't get any "good" live rock with coralline algae and good hitchhikers on it locally, I would buy LR online from a well known source. At least a few pounds of it to "seed" the base rock you have now. There are many members here that can guide you to a online store that is trustworthy. I wish i could help you to one, but i got mine from my LFS that had well cured LR with tons of coralline and "critters" on it.
meco65
New member
Here is what I found.
http://floridareefclub.com/
http://floridareefclub.com/forum/smfforum/index.php
http://floridareefclub.com/
http://floridareefclub.com/forum/smfforum/index.php
indo rock comes in waves, catch it when you first see it as it is "fresh" at that point. i have cured rock for years, and indo rock takes practically no curing, it is that fresh.
indo rock is about what fiji rock was 15 years ago. when it comes to town it is usually short lived and worth every penny of the premium price. i have seen it from 8 to 15 dollars per pound, and while that is twice the cost of fiji, hatian, and many others, it is worth buying at least 10 percent of total weight to cash in on the actual benifits it affords (unwanted things aside, crazy diversity)
indo rock is about what fiji rock was 15 years ago. when it comes to town it is usually short lived and worth every penny of the premium price. i have seen it from 8 to 15 dollars per pound, and while that is twice the cost of fiji, hatian, and many others, it is worth buying at least 10 percent of total weight to cash in on the actual benifits it affords (unwanted things aside, crazy diversity)
Ohio
New member
Aquatic technology is an Internet based store. The have a large variety of live rock and will let you buy it by the lb(some places require 50lb purchase). I have been to their store personally and their rock looks good you may not get the coraline algea but it will definitely have plenty of critters. I have not ordered from them via the Internet, so I could not advise on the experience. Also, they do not list Indo rock at the present but there is still a good variety to choose from.
