Cycle Help Please

[rhughart1]

I have a 150gal tank. I ordered the 150gal package from Tampa Bay Saltwater. The rock was beuatiful the first 2 nights and my ammonia level was pretty low. Now, my ammonia level has shot way high, pieces of the rock are breaking off, and there is a white film on everything in my tank. The water is also now cloudy. Needless to say I am starting to panick. I have changed 85 gallons of water, but the film is still there, and the ammonia is still high. My water temp is 76degrees. I have 2 300w heaters in the tank. I have a WetDry Bio filter. I have one Damsel in the tank.

 

[tru conch]

the only thing that comes to my mind is that the rock was not cured, and are now dying off. i am sorry to hear about this, and i hope you can solve your problem. you might want to contact the company you bought the rock from and ask for help.

 

[cyn]

If you are trying to cycle the tank, then stop the water changes. This will only prolong the process. I agree that it sounds like the rock was not cured, but that is history now. Maintain good water flow and dont skim for now. In time the ammonia will go down and the trates and trites will go up and then back down.
If the rock you bought was supposed to be cured, I would definatly call the supplier and let them know what is going on.
Best of luck and keep asking questions, we all learn from them.
cyn

 

[wamp]

Wait a minute... I just read that your not to skim for now... I will have to disagree.. Every where I have been (including some wholesalers) has had massive skimmers on their tanks while cycling live rock.. Dissolved organics and proteins are not broken down during the cycling process and must be removed by other means. IE. water changes and protein skimming.
If it were me. I would skim heavily and change water in a week and then let it go a while and do another change around 2 after the first one. The ammonia will slowly go down and your nitrites will spike. well... you know the cycle.
The point of water cahnges is not just to remove ammonia but also to remove these other organics and to replinish trace elements.
anyway, good luck with your rock and curing your own rock can be rewarding.

 

[rhughart1]

Thanks for the tips! I kind of felt that the answer might be skimming. I am really nervous about the water change issue, as it seems that people are really split on this. Some people say do not change water at all during cycling, others (including my live rock supplier) suggest frequent water changes during cycling along with skimming, which is where I think that I was going wrong. I did perform some water changes, but it did not even put a dent in my ammonia levels. Tonight I have seen more life in the tank to date. I counted 9 clams, numerous crabs and starfish, along with snails etc. All seem to be alive and well, I just dont know for how long in these conditions. I dont want to do anything to kill the life that appears to be doing good. To change and skim, or not to change and skim......that is the question.

 

[rhughart1]

What is everyone's thoughts on using a water supplement such as BacterVital to change the ammonia's toxicity to nitrites? I understand that ammonia will still show up on the test kit reading, but the ammonia in the water will not be toxic. My local store owner advised that this would be good for the cycle. One more question, on the TBS website they advise that the they reccommend the CPR BakPak skimmer and that it will easily work on tanks from 25 to 200 gallons. Everything that I have read about this skimmer says it is only reccommended for tanks up to 60 gallons. Any thoughts???

 

[karlas]

best bet is to leave it go. it has to go through the cycle no matter what. also you got your lr mail order? even if it was fully cured with mo there will always be die off which will give you an ammonia spike. i cycled lr with no skimmer with no problem. you'll be surprised how much can survive the cycle off of the lr. yes some will die but most of it will live or eventually grow back. the lr i got mo was fully cured also but i cleaned alot of the dead stuff off (plants, sponges) and it is coming back great. if you can get fully cured locally chances are you could add some of that w/o any spikes.

 

[blackdog]

Rhugart, I don't necessarily have any knowledgeable advice, but as someone who just went through the same situation with my new 55 gal tank, I just wanted to chime in and sympathize. It's very difficult to watch this great stuff that looked nice and healthy on day 2-3 all start to choke and die. I don't know what the correct answer is, but at the time it seemed like all the ammonia was just killing things faster and creating a bad spiral. My ammonia topped out around day 9 or 10 I think. The only change of water I did was because I used a chopstick and toothbrush to get off a lot of the sponges and things that died and were creating a huge stink. I siphoned as much as possible as I brushed it. I don't know if it was coincidence or what, but things turned around after I got rid of a lot of the stuff that was really putrifying.
I have a CPR Bakpak on my tank, and so far I'm not happy with it at all. I don't have much luck getting a head of foam going unless I turn the bubbles way up. Turning the air on the slightest causes bubbles to exit from the outtake -- well before I can get any positive skimming action. On the other hand, my understanding is that skimming is collecting protein waste, which I'm not sure is produced during the cycling process. I don't have anything to compare the BakPaK (Bubble Producing Kontraption) against, but given a second chance I would try buying a Remora instead.

 

[richard rendos]

I would say goodbye to the damsel... sorry, but he probably won't make it. (which in my opinion is okay cause I hate damsels anyway) I would definitely skim but no water changes at least until ammonia and nitrites are gone and you start to see some nitrates. Take it slow...the biggest problem I have seen in reef tanks is people trying to rush things to fast. Bacteria will only grow at a certain rate and you cannot speed that up. You can add Bacter-vital or something like that, but why? Nature will take care of things on its own. Good luck and definitely call the place you got the rock from and tell them your situation. Being that they are online, good luck. They already got your money. I doubt they will really care what happens from here out.

 

[rhughart1]

Well, my LR supplier just advised me that if the ammonia level stays high, it will kill everything in my tank. This is frustrating. The advice that they are giving me is to change water until the ammonial level comes down. I do not know what to do. I have changed over 50% of the water in the past two days, and the ammonia has only went up. The clams and crabs are still alive along with starfish and some worm looking things. I wish there was a definite process for this....