is one week for shipment of LR too long?

[SeanT]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6476305#post6476305 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Treg
Sean,

Did you cook this rock??

Looks pretty clean!

Man I wish.
Let's do the math on that one for price per lb.

My wifes engagement ring is a carat.
1 carat = .007 ounces.
There are 143 carats in an ounce (rounding up).
2288 carats in a lb.
That carat cost me $6,500.
So per lb it is $14,872,000.
Any takers.

Sean

 

[stingers81]

ok i did my first ammonia test
the reading shows between 1.0 and 1.5...closer to 1.5
would u say i should change the water??? if so...how much??? 10%, 25% or more??

 

[socalreefer73]

I believe one of the original posters recommended under .2ppm NH4 (ammonia) and under .6ppm NO2 (Nitrite)...

Which would pretty much put you at darn near 100% water change needed... Hope you have a tub of make-up water heated, salted, ph tested and ready to go... : P

 

[G_cuvier]

OK... No time to panic....

Did you raise the water temperature to over 86 degrees? That will help the bacteria.... I need to look at the Ph parameters for the NH4, give me a few minutes. If not, let's do so now... Do it gradually though, swinging your average thermometer's temp up a bunch usually ends in tears... Set it to 86 and see where it goes.

If you have sufficient water do a 50% water change... If not prepare for an 80% change... Let the water sit for at least 4 hours with a good powerhead going in it. No powerhead available? - do you have an air pump - use that... otherwise I would suggest leaving the water overnight - get some sleep - and then change as much as you can. All you are trying to do right now is minimize the toxic levels... If the levels stay high then keep changing as much water as you can. The first couple of days are the hardest, after that it will begin to settle down.

[EDIT]

Ok... what's the Ph? If it is above 8.1 then we need to bring it down. Do you have some white vinegar? Ask your neighbor - the cute one that is single would help... If you don't have a pH test kit then you will have to live with it until you do - don't add things to tanks that you can't test for - A mantra - yes.... But solidly founded in logic and good sense....

[/EDIT]

 

[stingers81]

i have enough for a 25% now and im making more water as we speak
I will test the pH right now and let u know
temp is around 77....I will set it to 86 and see if its going to raise....I have a feeling it wont cause its set to 81 right now and its not going up

 

[Agu]

Stingers,


Do you have a skimmer ? If so it's a good time to get it going taking out a wet skimmate.

Also, do you have some carbon. Carbon helps remove dissolved organic compounds (doc) and will limit to some degree the amount of spike from the rock.

You can also put filter media (polyester batting from the sewing department works well and is disposable) into your system to collect waste. The output of your overflow is a good place for this. Using a turkey baster to blow off the rock is a good way to get crud into suspension and out of the tank.

Finally, when you do water changes siphon off as much crud from the rock as possible.


hth,

 

[stingers81]

ok pH is around 8.1 to 8.2
I have a asm g3 skimmer and running it wet and i put in two bags of carbon

 

[stingers81]

how much vinegar would u say i should put in to bring the pH down?

 

[npaden]

None. The ph is right in line with where it should be.

 

[socalreefer73]

BTW guys, all the ramblings aside, this is a great thread...

 

[G_cuvier]

Not wanting to get into a discussion here, but:-

None. The ph is right in line with where it should be.

Ammonia is more toxic at higher pH's... as the pH tends to 7.9-7.8 it becomes less toxic.... it's an ion thing.....

As to how much vinegar to add to a 65 gallon to drop the ph by 2 points, (which woud be my target with a starting pH of 8.1-2), I'll admit I am guessing here but then again, we are doing "first aid". I'd start with 1/2 a teaspoon and see if it has an effect. Let it mix thoroughly before you test though. The work from there....

If anyone with the chemical background or personal experience with this kind of first aid is around I'm sure stingers would appreciate the additional advice....

 

[Pandora]

Why are we telling this poor kid to mess with his pH? He doesn' even have any life in his tank yet (in which case, I stll wouldn't be advocating for him to titrate with vinegar). This is an unstable system to begin with right now, and I suspect it is because he doesn't have good buffering capacity in his tank yet (and not something I would really recommend messing with right away either). He just threw a whole bunch of rock in there, and there is nothing for ammonia to be toxic TO yet. If there was life, wide pH swings would not help either. Let the dust settle, and he will likely find that things come to equilibrium.

 

[G_cuvier]

and there is nothing for ammonia to be toxic TO yet

You're sure about that, right?

If his pH is in the proper range, and bearing in mind there has been nothing in there to mess with his salt mix since he mixed the water then his burrfering capacity should be quite reasonable....

Stingers: I'm about done here.... Other than yourself the only responses recently are myself trying to help and others simply naysaying whatever I say... Do it their way, they clearly know best.

I wish you the best of luck.

Sorry, tired of the whining.....

 

[stingers81]

hey g_cuvier

I appreciate all your help
i think i've done all that i can for today....I can't do any more water changes (I ran out of salt) I will pick more up tomorrow and try to do more and hopefully ammonia will go down

I will add a little bit of vinegar and test pH again in the morning...if its still above 8.1 i will slowly titrate 1/2 teaspoon at a time until it goes down
I will keep you posted and thanks again for all the help

 

[stingers81]

Hey guys
just want to give you a little update of my progress
the rock is doing pretty good, I actually saw a little survivor on the rock once...it was a white looking clam or snail....haven't seen him since though....Im getting a little bit of green algae on few rocks...not crazy amount but around half a rock...

I've been doing lots of water changes...around 20% each day so i think that helped a LOT
my water parameters are like this now

0 for ammonia (so glad its not around 1.5 anymore...it stayed there for about 3 days)
40 for nitrite
80 nitrates
1.025 salinity
8.1-8.2 pH
380 Ca

Im thinking of adding another 20lbs of cured LR from LFS....do you think its a good idea to add it now or shall I wait longer until nitrites drop to 0?

Thanks again for all the help...Im so glad it worked out ok
Cheers!
Thomas

 

[socalreefer73]

...

...

I would think you would want to fully cure this rock first so that you can give it special attention as it "sheds." Having more rock in there might not allow you to do that. Remember, this Mantra "cough"

"Nothing good ever comes out of this hobby in a hurry"

Slow down and take your time...

while you're waiting, read this thread...

Maturity Issues

And post some more pics please!!!! I would love to see a video diary of your trials and tribs as I'll be in your shoes shortly...