Noxious Brew!

[scumonkey]

I started curing 30 lbs of uncured Marshal Island live rock in a 35 gal rubbermaid container 2 days ago. I cleaned off all sponges, soft spots, anything black, and the dying macroalgea.
I have 4500 gph flow in the can, a heater keeping the H2O at 78 degrees, and I'm running an Eheim 2217 canister filled with GAC and poly filter pads. I have had to do 2 - 100% water changes in two days
AND i still have ammonia levels reading around 3.0mg/l within 20 minutes of a water change. The rock has no bad smells coming from it and the water looks clear, and smells fine.....but the Ammonia!?!?
I've cycled fish only Salt tanks for over 30 years...and I've never seen such persistant High levels of ammonia?!?! This can't be good for the rock? I've gone through over 100 gallons of RO/DI water and now it looks like I won't be able to make it fast enough to keep up with this NOXIOUS BREW!
What kind of damage will I do If I have to start using Tap water for
my water changes (my TDS only reads 37ppm from the tap). Also, since
I've never cured rock before...is this normal? Is there anything else I can
do to control this ammonia? I can't run my skimmer in the can (it's running in my sump)! :eek2:

 

[HippieSmell]

Totally normal, don't worry. The ammonia won't go down for about a week IME. Then nitrites and nitrates will skyrocket and won't get to zero for another 3 weeks or so. Just be patient, keep skimming, keep good flow and skip the massive water changes. I think the water changes will actually increase the cure time. Also, and this is my personal preference, put some light on it. The algae bloom will help sop up the ammonia and trates.

 

[RichConley]

are you sure the test kit is any good?

Usually when theres enough ammonia to push it up that high, it smells pretty rank.

 

[scumonkey]

Test kits seems ok- checked it against some new water.
I do have some light.....I have the Bulb Melev uses on his fuge shinning into the can,
and My loft lets in a ton of Natural sunlight -but I don't have it shinning directly into the container.
I just tested again and the levels have drooped just a little-1.90ish
Maybe I'm just watching it too closely?
I dont want it to stew in all that NH3 and kill off all the life.
Guess i'll leave it alone and check the params again tomorrow.

 

[ACBlinky]

I'd add some Prime or Amquel to help detoxify the ammonia and nitrite, it should preserve some of the life. If you want to do a water change using tap water, I'd test nitrates and phosphates. If you find that NO3 and PO4 are undetectable and the TDS reading is only 37 I see no problem with using tap for the curing bin.

 

[scumonkey]

I'd add some Prime or Amquel to help detoxify the ammonia and nitrite, it should preserve some of the life.

Thanks ACBlinky! It's been a while and I had forgotton about those fine products. :rollface: