Live rock complicated scenario.
- Thread starter Theo1972
- Start date
Chiefsurfer
New member
It can be anything that decomposes. a LOT of die-off will include sponges, worms, and algae. Usually the die-off is minimal, and much more survives than dies, but enough dies to start the cycle.
Usually there are pods just present in the rock, and you may never see them. Some fish thrive on having a lot of pods in the system, one main one being mandarins. A lot of pods will find refuge(hence the term refugium) in clumps of seaweeds, or macro-algaes. Like sea lettuce, chaeto, etc. So you can add it. I am going to experiment with adding local "pods" to my tank out of my bays and oceans. This will not be until at least june this year, but I think I will be adding them.
Usually there are pods just present in the rock, and you may never see them. Some fish thrive on having a lot of pods in the system, one main one being mandarins. A lot of pods will find refuge(hence the term refugium) in clumps of seaweeds, or macro-algaes. Like sea lettuce, chaeto, etc. So you can add it. I am going to experiment with adding local "pods" to my tank out of my bays and oceans. This will not be until at least june this year, but I think I will be adding them.
Going to get my skimmer pump today sedra 9000 with needle wheel, fish a garden house down the wall from my dining room where the tank is to the basement for easy water changes or fill ups, then install everything, plumbing, power, etc...should be running by Monday then going to go buy my live rock to cycle........wish me luck guys...hehehe
reefienick
New member
This may be a stupid question but can pods and other small creatures get from the sump/refugium (under DT) to the DT? Or would they just be chopped up in the pump?
If you wanted to move pods and other creatures to the DT I am guessing you just have to catch them and move them up with a net or something?
If you wanted to move pods and other creatures to the DT I am guessing you just have to catch them and move them up with a net or something?
Hi Theo,
I noticed you mentioned that you were going to use the garden hose to fill 'er up. Will you not be using RO/DI water?
Looking forward to your updates. I've always wanted to see a "build thread" from the very start, and from a beginner. Lots of valuable info for others who are starting out new.
Thanks.
I noticed you mentioned that you were going to use the garden hose to fill 'er up. Will you not be using RO/DI water?
Looking forward to your updates. I've always wanted to see a "build thread" from the very start, and from a beginner. Lots of valuable info for others who are starting out new.
Thanks.
well, i bought two 65 Gallon plastic garbage bins, heavy duty ones.. One is mixed with salt water and has a heater in it with a circulation pump, low speed just to have it mixed. The other garbage bin again 65 gallon in my basement, is just filtered RO water, with a heater also...no circulation in this. my hose from the tank upstairs comes down to the bins. All i need now is a pump to push the water upstairs. The pump for future, maby in a month, im going to wire it myself to a relay, flowswitch, and a power source, i fished even the wiring upstairs low voltage. So when i close the circuit, my pump turns on through the relay 120 Volts and pumps me what water i need let it be salt mix or regular water from the bins. But to answer your question kinda went off topic, yes, all my water is RO, my filters or water going to them coming in to the house, are at .3 microns. My whole house is filtered, so i save on heater elements getting calcium build up and lasting longer, my shower, my fridge, anything with water in my house, goes through a .3 micron filter....two stage.....and i stil get 50 psi coming out after it...anyhow, today i did all the plumbing. Going to finish my electrical, with timers, etc...Bought a back up 1500 watt 12 volt to 120 v power converter incase of power outages. That is almost hooked up ready to go...Ya i went full out on this, everything i do in life is full out....lol...going to post some pics coming up soon.
But reefienick made a very good point...put things in my head now...all my pods in my sump, will or could get crushed through my pump going to the tank...And all the pods or creatures lets call them, from my tank coming down to my sump will get caught in my mesh filter. So? do they kinda dont move around? or they get sucked and killed? good question....
But reefienick made a very good point...put things in my head now...all my pods in my sump, will or could get crushed through my pump going to the tank...And all the pods or creatures lets call them, from my tank coming down to my sump will get caught in my mesh filter. So? do they kinda dont move around? or they get sucked and killed? good question....
Chiefsurfer
New member
assuming you mean green, yes it could be. Most-likely the lighting has changed from its prior housing to it's new housing. Because of that, corraline will die off for a while, then it will come back. Give it some time, it should make the turn.
Chiefsurfer
New member
nah, don't give me that much credit. Can't wait to see some post-cycle pics of this tank.
Help guys..........
o.k. i put in my live rock will be two weeks this saturday, today is Tuesday. Been testing for Amonnia every other day. It was at 0. Two days ago it went to .5 then today back to 0. I then checked for Nitrites and its at 0. Checked Nitrates and its in the middle, not sure of the figures or number, but on my test chart its in the middle towards teh top end...So.
How can i have nitrates if i never went through amonnia and nitrites? If something else is causing me to have nitrates up high, why isnt my tank cycling? my skimmer is on, do i take it off? If i throw in a shrimp or damsels, just for clarification, its for them to make waste...ok...so if im making waste, why have the skimmer on to clean the waste? its counter acting eachother. If i keep skimmer off, then my waste will build up in the tank..i just want to have a solid, cycle, so i wont have any future cycles going on ....any advice, or help would be appreciated about now.
oh, and i tested everything 3 x today to make sure its right, which it was done perfect.
o.k. i put in my live rock will be two weeks this saturday, today is Tuesday. Been testing for Amonnia every other day. It was at 0. Two days ago it went to .5 then today back to 0. I then checked for Nitrites and its at 0. Checked Nitrates and its in the middle, not sure of the figures or number, but on my test chart its in the middle towards teh top end...So.
How can i have nitrates if i never went through amonnia and nitrites? If something else is causing me to have nitrates up high, why isnt my tank cycling? my skimmer is on, do i take it off? If i throw in a shrimp or damsels, just for clarification, its for them to make waste...ok...so if im making waste, why have the skimmer on to clean the waste? its counter acting eachother. If i keep skimmer off, then my waste will build up in the tank..i just want to have a solid, cycle, so i wont have any future cycles going on ....any advice, or help would be appreciated about now.
oh, and i tested everything 3 x today to make sure its right, which it was done perfect.
Live rock contains a lot of living organisms, and there's no way of telling how the curing process is going to proceed. I suspect the rock just had enough ammonia-consuming organisms to handle the decaying matter. I wouldn't worry, but you could start some light feeding if you think there's not enough processing capacity. Feeding would help the animals on the live rock grow and reproduce, too.
My Euroreef Skimmer in sump
Looks as though your skimmer is running really wet anyways so I would dial it back a good bit. Why did you put in the shrimp this way? Best way would have been to use pantyhose or something like that with the raw shrimp inside for easy removal. I would also like to say that once you see nitrate it is unlikely it will go away without a water change. Nitrate does get turned into nitrogen gas but the process is slow and in all likelihood it is too slow to keep up with the nitrate your system will be making. This is why we do water changes (or one of the reasons). I am not saying do a water change because this will slow the cycle. You should see your cycle pick up dramatically in the next few days/weeks because of the shrimp, but I wouldn't suggest doing anything else to the tank. Just be patient and let it do its thing. (You still need to run your tests)
Hey Matt, thanks for the reply, yes i threw in the shrimps in the blender made milk and tossed it in my tank, its worst then the pic u seen on here....that was with no milk, and now its a mess. Well im going to let my tank cycle again with teh shrimp and do tests daily as needed. Just only concern was..ok u do a test wiht live rock...u get a mini cycle cause u dont have enough lets say live rock...but u still had a mini cycle...Well, to have a robust cycle, what do u do now? ur rock is cured...cant put more rock in yet i want a more robust cycle, so i thought ok let my tank cycle again..going to throw in the juice..but yes ur right...pantyhose wiht shrimp would been better...so is there a better way to cycle ur tank a second time after first wasnt so robust?
Chiefsurfer
New member
yeah, if you wanted more robust, you could have just thrown in MORE shrimp, did not have to liquify. You should definitely see an ammonia spike now, and very likely algae problems.
Run your skimmer very wet. It your skimmer has a drain hose, put it to a big container(5-gallon bucket) and check every few hours. Should try and get as much out as possible, as fast as possible to not do what I think it will do.
Run your skimmer very wet. It your skimmer has a drain hose, put it to a big container(5-gallon bucket) and check every few hours. Should try and get as much out as possible, as fast as possible to not do what I think it will do.
