New Rock...A little help please

[ynotynot123]

I ordered the 10g package from tbs, and i picked it up on friday. this is my first reef tank. So far, there has been absolutely no spike in my ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels, but i see that some of the "stuff" on the rock is turning white. Should i be concerned? Do i need to remove the dying stuff before it causes problems for me, or just "ride it out"? Do i need to do a major water change? I'll probably do a 10% tomorow regardless.
Thanks for the help.
Tony

 

[hdtran]

Nothing to worry about.

My package had a giant killer spike of ammonia--to 0.25 ppm (if I was interpreting the colors pessimistically).

Yes, some of the stuff on the rocks will die, but the critters will eat it all up.


PICTURES! WE WANT PICTURES!

 

[Splach]

Hey Hdtran, is mg/L the same as PPM? From what I understood I only had to be concerned if the reading went up to 1.0 mg/L (that is where I have done my water changes) but you are saying that .25 is a giant killer spike. What up?

 

[ynotynot123]

I'll get you guys some pics when the algae bloom goes down a little and i can snag my roomies digital camera. This rock is awesome. They picked out a rock that fits perfectly in my tank. looks great. Just like everyone else i'm amazed at the amount of life on this rock. No really interesting hitchhikers though. I think there's a really little porcelain, but i haven't seen him in a few days. if i hadn't already paid for the whole package, i'd almost just leave it like it is.

 

[Cearbhaill]

From what I understood I only had to be concerned if the reading went up to 1.0 mg/L (that is where I have done my water changes) but you are saying that .25 is a giant killer spike. What up?

I think he was speaking tongue in cheek?
i.e. joking

 

[hdtran]

Sorry, should have had a smilie in there, a giant killer spike at 0.25 (tongue-in-cheek smilie) to reassure ynot that he (she) need not worry. The TBS rock and sand cycles very very fast, compared to traditional LR.

Yes, mg/L is approximately equal to ppm.

Hy

 

[Dexter1334]

The stuff turning white is probably sponges that didn't make it.
I had quite a few sponges that died.. If you take the rock out and smell it you will have no doubt if it is dying. I peeled off quite a few dying sponges but many survived and many more are growing back. Once they start to go, I don't think they will recover,at least mine didn't and removing them will reduce ammonia ( and the smell ) .

 

[ynotynot123]

thanks guys. I removed the dead/dying sponges and they really stunk. I have one more question though, when i got my rock it had a pretty thick algae coat on it. I'm only running my lights 4 hours a day, and the algae appears to be going away at least a little bit. Is there anything else i could do to speed this up a bit?