is my live rock dead! please help!

[nickm748]

Ok, as you guys may know im having some trouble trying to set up my first marine aquarium. My clowns are doing better, but they just got ich, so they are being treated for that right now. I noticed a lot of white film on my live rock so I took a peice out and it smelled really bad. After doing some reaserch I found the white film and smell was due to dead organisms. Wich might explain why my ammonia level is so high.
Ok so what I did was took out the live rock and brushed it with a tooth brush. I found A LOT of black and brown gunk! I gave it a good rinse but wasnt able to get all of the black stuff off since some of it was like inside the rock. Was this a good move or a bad move on my part. Im really starting to get frustraded with this. I would just like to know what I can do to get my aquarium set up properly.
I have a 10 gal. 2 clown fish, 12 pounds of live rock. I am pretty sure my aquarium wasnt cycled when I added my fish and live rock. Im guessing it was cured LR becuse my LFS guy said I could put the rock in the same day as the fish.
Also I got some thorns stuck in my fingers from cleaning the live rock and it hurts pretty bad.

 

[shoimen]

wow
Doesnt sound like you're having very good beginner luck.
I am pretty sure my aquarium wasnt cycled when I added my fish and live rock.
First of all, how long was your tank setup (with water) before adding Live rock & the clowns? You should have cycled your tank with nothing but water and maybe live rock for at least 3-4 weeks.
Im guessing it was cured LR becuse my LFS guy said I could put the rock in the same day as the fish.
You should NEVER add any fish before the cycle is complete. Sad to say, but these fish will probobly not survive. DO NOT TRUST the sole opinion of anyone at any LFS. ALWAYS research any decision you make and get several different sources of information. YOU decide what you believe to be best.
I noticed a lot of white film on my live rock so I took a peice out and it smelled really bad. After doing some reaserch I found the white film and smell was due to dead organisms. Wich might explain why my ammonia level is so high.
This is definately NOT cured rock. If it smells, it is not cured.
Honestly, I would take the clowns back to my LFS store to give them any chance they may have at surviving. Let your tank cycle for at least 3-4 weeks with the live rock. Once your levels adjust, then you can think about fish.
AND use this site!! People here are more than happy to answer any sort of question you can think of. Which would have already saved you a large amount of $$ and frustration.

 

[offshore80]

Well, For 1. You have a very, very small tank for clown fish. At minimum a 20 gallon tank.
2. The tank isn't cycled yet to add the clowns. 3. A ten gallon tank might support 2 damsels at best. 4. After adding gravel & rock you might have 5 gallons of water in the system. If the clowns even survive I would take them back to the LFS and get a couple damsels. Good luck. a ten gallon tank with a 5-7 gallon volumn of water is very difficult to maintain.
Hmm, did you rinse the rock with salt water or freash water? Just had to ask.

 

[bailey52]

IMO, I know it might be rather expensive, but I believe the smaller the tank, the harder it is to have everything work well. I experienced this myself, I started with a 20 gal tank, and had all sorts of probs. One day everything is fine, the next a disaster. Some advanced people will disagree, but this is because they are capable of keeping a tank balances at a small scale. The best was I could explain it is with as little water as 10 gal, the slightest change, in anything will throw the tank into a spiral. Expecially since you have live rock in, although this is benificial to bacteria, this is decreasing your water level, so you are actually dealing with less than 10 gals of water. IMO it is very hard to keep a tank this size, expecially for beginers. If I were you I would check your local papers or yard sale, look for say a 55 gal or so.

 

[nickm748]

Thanks for the input guys. I might upgrade to a 20-30 gal tank but I dont have any money left at the moment.
Well see I dont know if this counts as a cycle, but it was my uncles tank for like 6 months before me(freshwater). Then I added the water, four days later I picked up my live rock and clowns. I added this stuff called Cycle though that has bacteria in it. So hopefully this helps. How long would it take for my fish to die. Also I would feel really stupid bringing back my fish to the pet store.
Should I just wait it out and see if my fish live or die?
Also regarding all of the black stuff on my live rock. Will this damage ruin it? Will the smell and black stuff go away once my tank is cycled?
THanks guys

 

[bailey52]

ok first you should read exactly what a cycle is, this will help you. Lets just say for instance, you have a established tank, when you add more live rock to this tank, some organism, bacteria will die, and release amonia. If the tank is already cycled this is ok because it will be converted over. Your tank has not been cycled. You should have added salt, sand and the LR, and the cycle bacteria will help, but not cycle your tank. The fish should not have been added until your tank has cycled. They are most likely exposed to very high levels of Amonia.

 

[nickm748]

OK, I will try to bring the fish back to the LFS i got them from unitil my tank is established. But is their any thing wrong with my live rock or should I just let that be?
Thanks a lot for the input, Im also considering upgrading to a 30gal fish tank.

 

[bailey52]

No most likely nothing wrong with the live rock. Sounds like normal die off (which is what I said will cause rise in amonia) I recomend getting the fish your, add a little live sand, and put in a power head for a little circulation in the tank. Also, for the rock, leave the light off for about 4 days

 

[shoimen]

Could use some backup on this comment, but isn't it common practice to do frequent water changes until the LR has cured(no longer smelling)? Not sure about this, since the tank is in the cycling process.

 

[boom215]

i am also a cherry at this but i leanred the hard way to with my frsh water tank that tanks dont cycle as quick as we wish they would. deff take the fish back and turn the light off in your tank for a few days. how many gph does ur filter do? it might be too small. i would deff wait a few weeks before putting anything beside the rock in there.

 

[offshore80]

If the fish have not died yet. Take them back.
Now, step back and take a breath. Look at your system. As small as it is it needs all the things a big system does.
Good filtration.
Good circulation
Good test kits
Good salinity gage
Live rock.
heater.
You don't need fish to cycle your tank. Just patients.
Your live rock has already kicked off a the cycle process.
Now just watch your ammonia, Nitrite & Nitrate levels over the next couple weeks.
Let the tank work on it's own. Eventually, the parameters will all equal 0. Then do a 20% water change. Now, you can add 1 fish (damsel or goby). The tank will have to grow more biology to accommodate the newly added bioload. about 3 weeks. This tank is a 2 fish deal.
The problem with a small tank is you have no room for error. Which is hard on the live stock. your salinity levels tend to swing up and down. you might start the morning out with a salinity level of 1.023 then as the water evaporates by the evening it's 1.024 then the next day it's 1.025 the next day 1.026. You come along with top off water and in one pour you drop it back to 1.022. and change the temperature 2 degrees.
So something that took 4 days to gradually change has now been shocked in a matter of a few minutes. This is just one aspect of the problem of a small tank.
They take a lot of monitoring and care.
Just something to think about.

 

[wax32]

If you are curing rock in something other than your tank, yes you change the water. In your tank the rock curing is what is cycling your tank, so just let it get funky. Might wanna keep fresh carbon in your filter though to keep the smell down so the neighbors don't report a dead body in your house.