New Tank Help

[clumpypigeon]

I'm starting a 150g tank and I'm trying to start the cycle by adding liverock directly into the tank. I've added 50lbs about 2 weeks ago and none of my water parameters have changed. My ammonium and nitrite levels are still near zero. There seems to be some white-ish green and purple growth on the rocks though. This is my first attempt at a saltwater tank and I figured I'd see a change by now. The salt is a little high at 1.027. I do have my skimmer running. Any help would be great.

 

[UntamedBreez]

Water change to lower the salt....
get a few cheap and hardy damsels to start the cycle and/or put in to much food each day. lot of stores will buy them back from you when your done...or you can keep them they are good beginers fish anyway.
great that you knew you needed to cycle the tank...however for it to cycle it needs bio waste like fishy poop or rotting food

the purple growth is coraline a good type of algea

skimmer wont hurt but it cant really help at this point...

 

[UntamedBreez]

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=188433

 

[1F2FRFBF]

I'm going to recommend against adding damsels as a "test fish" unless you're sure you want to have them in your tank for eternity. From all accounts, they are very territorial fish that will give any subsequent fish a very hard time to the point of harassing them to death, and trying to catch them to remove them will probably require that you remove all possible hiding places from your tank - meaning your rockwork. Even if damsels are a must-have for you, add them last.

But I would also highly recommend that you avoid using any live animals to cycle your tank. The levels of ammonia and nitrite produced during the process could very well be lethal to them.

Use the food method instead, and continue to monitor your water for another couple weeks just to be on the safe side.

 

[WaterKeeper]

It sounds like the rock you added was fairly well cured. Therefore there was little if any ammonia spike. That's fine as curing rock is always on the messy side. What is growing on the rock is coralline algae and that is good.

I agree partly on the damsels. Never add just a single damsel to a tank or you will have a thug on your hands. A small shoal sometimes works in a large tank like yours as the damsels spend more time fighting amongst themselves than the tank's other fish.

Overall, I would consider adding more LR before adding any critters as you may not be as lucky and receive fully cured LR.

 

[Jalgar]

If 50 lbs didn't change the parameters, then I would add another 150 lbs. Like someone said, it sound like your orginal LR was pretty well cured.