Stacking LR and die off

[MadSkillzMan]

hi guys. Simple question. Ive got some live rock, and i picked up about 10lbs of base rock yesterday. This is a 20gal tall setup, only about 2 months old.

Im having some issues fullly cycling, some of which is the fault of non-ro water, but im getting a system within the next few weeks.

Anyways, if i stack my LR, is the die off alot? none? some of the rock is dead on the bottom and i usually have it buried in the sand

Its an awkward setup. I rescued a clownfish from a neglected owner, got the fish, some LR and a disgusting tank. It was sudden, so i had no time to setup a cycle

I do have a seaclone skimmer running at all times.

so will stacking hurt? i know i should stack some live with the base to get it going

and another q, i came across a 130 watt compact flourescant fixture. ive got everything for it, as i intend to learn to do corals..would the really high lighting help the LR any? its a 1400K and 1200K bulb.

Thanks in advance guys.

 

[Chaotic Reefer4u]

hi madskillzman, there's nothing wrong with stacking the rocks, i would recommend that you not bury the rocks in the sandbed! the lighting you have is fine and yes to answer your question, it will boost up the corraline purple algea growth and also the corals will love it...hope this helps!

 

[MadSkillzMan]

thanks that does help

the rocks i got, were already burried, so theres good chunks that are the pale white.

thanks for clearing that up though, ill be re-scaping my tank asap!

 

[mikenpam]

It is recommended by some that rock be placed directly on the tank's glass and then place the sand in the tank. The reasoning is that a sand sifting creature will not be able to undermine your rock and cause the rock to shift. Just watch your tank to see if you have any die off and siphon any out on a reqular basis. If you moved it quickly from the one tank to yours there should have been little damage to the rock.

Also can you be more specific on what your cycling problem is?

 

[MadSkillzMan]

mikenpam, the rock i moved really fast from his miserable tank to mine. that was early december. its been doing fine, but most i have is the purple algae

my cycling problem, is like this. NOTHING ever reads 0. it reads close to it, never 0. At one point i had not tested for a week straight, and when i tested again, everything was exactly where it was 1 week ago. itll be just above 0, and ive been told its probably because i dont have RO water yet.

I checked about 2 days ago. my ammonia went from what we thought was between 0 and .25, to 1.0. The nitrate went from the constant 10 to 20. nitrite always sits at .3 for some reason, then jumped up to .5. and i had done NOTHING at all with the water.

that and my test kit is FW/SW, so im guessing maybe somethings wrong

the only things in the tank are 1 clownfish, 2 snails, 1 hermit crab...and well now starfish, i was given some chaeto and plants, and got all kindsa little goodies...copepods, a cup of live sand, etc..

 

[mikenpam]

I am not an expert but I have never read an article where ammonia can come from your water source. Normally it comes from something decaying in your tank. If the tank was in bad shape something could have dies on the rocks. A new test kit may help clarify things or have your water tested at your LFS. Also you could test your water source to see if there are any nitrite or nitrates in your water.