OgreMkV
New member
Current Tank Status
Current Tank Status
It crashed. It was my fault. I didn't clean the part two rock thoroughly enough.
Saturday morning my ammonia was hitting 2.5ppm. Richard sent me a care package of some awesome critters, but I didn't want to put them in the tank because of the high ammonia and the mantises.
I went to the LFS and bought as much salt water as I could carry. I came home and did a 50% water change. 6 hours later, the ammonia was almost 5ppm. I pulled several rocks and found one that was slightly beyond rank. I just tossed it and tried to suck up all the junk lying underneath it. I did another 50% water change and went to bed. (This was about 11P).
I checked my ammonia in the morning and it was above 7ppm (the highest my test kit reads. the test tube was almost black.) I had enough for a 50% water change, but I though I would do something radical because WCs weren't helping and, besides, I didn't have anymore salt water and the LFS was closed for two days.
I pulled all the rocks, gave them an RO dip and a good scrubbing. I found three more rocks that were really bad. multiple scrubbings and RO dips didn't get them smelling merely bad.
I figure by this time, the only thing alive in the tank was the mantis shrimp. I pulled all the rock out and hosed it off. I'll start curing it tonight, when I get home. I have to sieve the sand to get all the dead things out of it. Hundreds of tiny little crabs, worms, and sea stars... dead.
Then I'll set everything up again and cure the rock... not having to worry about life in the tank other than bacteria.
Later, I'll call Richard for some critters, hermits, stars, snails, and a gongorian or two.
He's really done right by me, it's not his fault I screwed everything up.
Watch for Ogre's Tank v2.0 coming soon.
Current Tank Status
It crashed. It was my fault. I didn't clean the part two rock thoroughly enough.
Saturday morning my ammonia was hitting 2.5ppm. Richard sent me a care package of some awesome critters, but I didn't want to put them in the tank because of the high ammonia and the mantises.
I went to the LFS and bought as much salt water as I could carry. I came home and did a 50% water change. 6 hours later, the ammonia was almost 5ppm. I pulled several rocks and found one that was slightly beyond rank. I just tossed it and tried to suck up all the junk lying underneath it. I did another 50% water change and went to bed. (This was about 11P).
I checked my ammonia in the morning and it was above 7ppm (the highest my test kit reads. the test tube was almost black.) I had enough for a 50% water change, but I though I would do something radical because WCs weren't helping and, besides, I didn't have anymore salt water and the LFS was closed for two days.
I pulled all the rocks, gave them an RO dip and a good scrubbing. I found three more rocks that were really bad. multiple scrubbings and RO dips didn't get them smelling merely bad.
I figure by this time, the only thing alive in the tank was the mantis shrimp. I pulled all the rock out and hosed it off. I'll start curing it tonight, when I get home. I have to sieve the sand to get all the dead things out of it. Hundreds of tiny little crabs, worms, and sea stars... dead.
Then I'll set everything up again and cure the rock... not having to worry about life in the tank other than bacteria.
Later, I'll call Richard for some critters, hermits, stars, snails, and a gongorian or two.
He's really done right by me, it's not his fault I screwed everything up.
Watch for Ogre's Tank v2.0 coming soon.
It's tough to keep things going while the rock acclimates. I'm looking forward to seeing v2.0. 
the ammonia in our tank has hovered at around 1.0 ppm. it spiked once to 2.5 but we were prepared because I had been watching the snails and 8 of them didn't make the transition. husband did a water change and checked the ammonia and it was over 1.0 but under 2.0 so he did another water change which brought it under 1.0 where it has remained. we are now 5 days into the cycle and all we have lost are the 8 snails, 1 sponge that was growing on the rock, and the peppermint shrimp the bad crabs ate :mad2: 
