help with LR and cycling?

[bill109]

hi
i have my tank up with just water ! tomorrow i am buying live rock and live sand

do i start puting my krill in to start my cycle or do i wait for the rock.
i heard uncured rock will smell if you put it in during the cycle? how true is this??

if i could have some responses tonight so i know if i should start putting in my krill!
thanx :help:
PS the live rock i am buying has been in a tank at my lfs . does this mean it is cured??

 

[sepulatian]

You can cycle your tank while curing your rock. Live rock when it is harvested gets exposed to air. Some of the organisms on it are going to die off and cause an ammonia spike. This is the beginning of your cycle. Nitrifying bacteria will break down the ammonia into nitrite which will then be converted into Nitrate. Your rock will smell if you let the ammonia get real high. Just monitor it and when it gets up to 1-2 do a water change. The rock at your lfs that is in the water is in the curing process, it depends on how long they have had it to know how far into the process it is.

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
You can cycle your tank while curing your rock. Live rock when it is harvested gets exposed to air. Some of the organisms on it are going to die off and cause an ammonia spike. This is the beginning of your cycle. Nitrifying bacteria will break down the ammonia into nitrite which will then be converted into Nitrate. Your rock will smell if you let the ammonia get real high. Just monitor it and when it gets up to 1-2 do a water change. The rock at your lfs that is in the water is in the curing process, it dependrss on how long they have had it to know how far into the process it is.

hey
to start off THANK YOU for all the advice
ok so tonight i can start to cylce and put in my krill and the rock has been in the tank for over 6 weeks.. thtat is how long i have been goin there but i mean he has beeen there for MANY years and im sure the rock has been there for an extent of time. I dont have the lr yet but can i start my cylce with krill tonight?? LR is commming tomorrow
also my lfs said to leave 2-3 inches off the top (so the water isnt to the top yet) and the salinity is rediculosly high like to the top of the scale why did he have me not quite fill the water? for lr +sand
thanx in advance

 

[wattsupdoc]

i wouldn't do any water changes untill you cycle is finished with 0 ammo, 0 nitrite and some nitrates. Water changes will slow the process.

 

[wattsupdoc]

well you can start it tonight. But if the soon coming bacteria doesn.t have something to live in you wont be doing much good. The lr will start you're cycle. The krill will start it too but it has to decompose to create ammonia, this will take a day or 2. If you're getting the LR tomorrow the krill wont really gain you anything. But if you want to... sure, go ahead.

Enjoy you're newfound addiction!

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
well you can start it tonight. But if the soon coming bacteria doesn.t have something to live in you wont be doing much good. The lr will start you're cycle. The krill will start it too but it has to decompose to create ammonia, this will take a day or 2. If you're getting the LR tomorrow the krill wont really gain you anything. But if you want to... sure, go ahead.

Enjoy you're newfound addiction!

haha thanx so ill just wait for the lr to start my cycly ... wait will the lr create amoneia?

 

[wattsupdoc]

Are you getting quite a bit of LR or just a few pounds? There will be some die off from the rock. Pulling it from the LFS tank, bagging it up, transporting it home. All this are factors in how much die off you'll have. 5 or 10lbs. wont give you much filtration and die off will be determined on time out of water. However if you just get a few lbs. I wouldn't suggest leaving it out longer intentionally. There will be some die off on it and that will start the cycle. The more LR, the more die off. You can give it a bit of krill if you like.
Charlie

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by wattsupdoc
Are you getting quite a bit of LR or just a few pounds? There will be some die off from the rock. Pulling it from the LFS tank, bagging it up, transporting it home. All this are factors in how much die off you'll have. 5 or 10lbs. wont give you much filtration and die off will be determined on time out of water. However if you just get a few lbs. I wouldn't suggest leaving it out longer intentionally. There will be some die off on it and that will start the cycle. The more LR, the more die off. You can give it a bit of krill if you like.
Charlie

i am planning on buying aound 12 lbs since my tank is a 12 gal. i heard you need your tank in lbs 4 fish and doublr for inverts with fish or doulbe (24) for inverts. true??
he said that the lr is transporting with damp towelets i think tht is what he saidis die off going to help my tank as far as cycle length or just raise and gimme problems.
also do you think that i should bring water for testing even though i have nothing in it but the krill i put in like 5 min ago?

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by bill109
i am planning on buying aound 12 lbs since my tank is a 12 gal. i heard you need your tank in lbs 4 fish and doublr for inverts with fish or doulbe (24) for inverts. true??
he said that the lr is transporting with damp towelets i think tht is what he saidis die off going to help my tank as far as cycle length or just raise and gimme problems.
also do you think that i should bring water for testing even though i have nothing in it but the krill i put in like 5 min ago?
Hey bill, Get your rock and put it in. Forget about the krill for now, you can add it or not. Once your rock is in wait a few days and see if you get an ammonia spike. If there is die off on the rock it will show in a few days time. If you get no ammonia you will want to add some food source to get the cycle started. Also I am a little concerned about the salinity. What is it testing exactly?

 

[bill109]

i dont remember but the tank isnt all the way filled but i guess it will go down and i think that i nned to buy a master test kit to test 4 amoneia or go to the store ALOT huh? lol :hilarious

 

[sepulatian]

Yes you definately need a master test kit to test for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, and Kh. You also need some means of measuring salinity. A refractometer is prefered, but if price is an issue you can get away with a hydrometer for now. What are you using to measure salinity now?

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
Yes you definately need a master test kit to test for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph, and Kh. You also need some means of measuring salinity. A refractometer is prefered, but if price is an issue you can get away with a hydrometer for now. What are you using to measure salinity now?

i am using a hydrometer and the readings are high like 1.032 i think so i have maybe 1.5 gllons to put in yet will that bringit down or should i do a water change?
and test so it is a litlle above?
also the back of the hybrometers box didnt say anything in how to use it so i assume that you fill it as much as possible?

 

[renogaw]

1.032 is pretty high. 1.021-1.025 is where it should be depending on what you're doing for livestock. you could take some of that water out and put in some fresh water, then fill your tank after you get the rock in it.
yes you want to fill it up and make sure there are no air bubbles on the pointer. the air bubbles help raise the pointer and give a false reading. also clean it with fresh water after every use, and rince it in your salt water before using.

 

[renogaw]

also, salinity is based on temperature of the water, so make sure you are reading it at around 76-80 degrees.

 

[bill109]

Originally Posted by renogaw
1.032 is pretty high. 1.021-1.025 is where it should be depending on what you're doing for livestock. you could take some of that water out and put in some fresh water, then fill your tank after you get the rock in it.
yes you want to fill it up and make sure there are no air bubbles on the pointer. the air bubbles help raise the pointer and give a false reading. also clean it with fresh water after every use, and rince it in your salt water before using.

thanx i am going to read the temp and change water and check salinity again and i will post again in a little while!

 

[bill109]

TEsted my salintiy

it is 1.023and prolly 1.022 because i put a little extra fw in after i had it set. for water changes i use freshwater, i just wanted to double check because mylfs is selling gallons of premixed saltwater.

 

[renogaw]

from what i've read you should top off with freshwater but use salt water for water changes.
as your water evaporates the salt doesn't leave the water, which raises the salinity. freshwater top offs will fix that
but when you suck out 5% of your water you're also sucking out the salt, so you want to add salt back in when you do your water change.

 

[catahoulas]

To the O Great Wise Ones!!! :cheer:
Just starting a 46g;
This is what I have done so far. I bought 20lbs LR, 60 lbs. LS, 22lbs reef rock.
I ran the tank with everything for 48 hr. to check equip & leaks( again). Drained water again to relevel tank. I cleaned lr to rid of pests. Got several mantis!!. I put the cleaned lr, rr, &ls in . The tank has been running for 7 days with everything in it. Everything is still 0. When should I see changes?
This is going to be a FOWLR. I don't know about coral, but I think there are still some hitchikers of coral left,they are orange. Is this good?
What if i didn't get all the pests out?
I know I have more ?'s all advice is greatly appreciated!!
I just hope I haven't messed up yet!!
I am doing the QT tank tomorrow. Any advice for that?

:help: