cycling again ?

trickle25

trickle25

Member
ive had my tank for over a year ...i removed all my live rock from the tank to treat for ick ...i tested the water today and the amonia and nitrate were up ..i did the color strip thing and they were both in the stress part...is it cycling again ..and will my fish die from the cycling ?
 
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bildotang

Guest
Did you remove the rock to do a freshwater dip? Have you put the rock back in? By treating the rock in a freshwater dip, or by putting it in a hot dip (running the salinity high), it can create some dead growth on the rock, which in turn might create a mini cycle in the tank from die-off in the water.
 
dreeves

dreeves

Active Member
Unless you put the rock in saltwater...the bacteria growth within its pores will die...if you place the rock in freshwater...they will die rather quickly...
You should never treat your main tank with copper...copper binds with most items in the tank, including the glass...
The high amonia was probably caused by a few things...mostly from removing the liverock...you took out a chunk of the bio-filtration and probably disturbed the substrate when you did that...now what ever remaining bio-filtration you have has to increase its bacterial growth to compensate.
 
trickle25

trickle25

Member
i took water of of the tank with the lr when i seperated it sothat find and i took out a few lbs of ls with it....will the high amonia wind up killing my fish ? or will they be able to tolerate it ?
 
birdy

birdy

Active Member
If I were you I would do water changes to keep the ammonia level down for the fish, it should cycle faster than an initial cycle, just test the water everyday and do 10% water changes as needed (probably every other day).
 
nacl-man

nacl-man

Member
You will probably be ok with the mini-cycle, just test everyday and do water changes (10%) everyday IMO until things settle down. The copper could end up being a problem because it does attach itself to everything as stated earlier, I would get a copper test kit and see if it does become a problem.
How many fish are in the display tank?
 
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bildotang

Guest
When the copper binds to things, how does it become a problem. I have never used copper, so I'm curious. Does it clog up pumps, or leave a haze on the glass? Can all fish tolerate copper in the water?
 
B

bildotang

Guest
So that's where the problem is? By having copper in the tank one time, it can affect things (inverts, maybe fish) down the road, quite some time later! That isn't cool.
 
dreeves

dreeves

Active Member
The bound copper will slowly release into the water column over time.
As for the higher amonia...it will stress the fish...it is something to keep an eye on. You could also use a commercially available detox like amo-lock or something to aid in keeping it less lethal. Water changes will work too, but the way I see it, you want to build the bio-filtration up until the rock is put back in, providing the rock bio isnt damaged or dead. By doing the water changes as mentioned above...the amonia will be reduced as will the ability or need for the filtration capabilities to grow.
 
trickle25

trickle25

Member
well i screwed up ....it was over a 100 degrees here in california and i forgot to turn my chiller on when i left the office...so the water temp went well above 90....all my fish were gone when i got in this morning....
ok here my question...since my tank is going threw a mini cycle will the copper in the watter effect the cycle.....
i was thinking of waiting till the cycle was done till i statred with the copper remover and put my lr and corals back in.
 
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