Live Rock How long will it take to die off...

[jesikarose]

I have a new peice of live rock that i put in my tank.. no worries aboutfish... there are none... lol... Neways my question is how do you know when the live rock is "dying off" and how long does it normally take... I have had this new rock since last friday and i am starting to get greens and purples and reds color showing through... The rock went from fully cured in lfs to the house within 3 hours tops... is that long enough to even make the stuff that dies... die???
Thanks In advance I know I am a total newbi, and my lfs is like "great job" "your on the right track"... "sounds like you know what your dealing with"...Aurghh... that is great but not helping me!

 

[mandarin w]

You do not want the rock to die off. There will be a little from the move, but not all that much. In fact that is what will help start the cycleing process in your tank. But if live rock is no good. or has a lot of die off, it will stink. It will smell fishy. If rock is in a healthy tank there will be no smell to it, or it may smell like rock.

 

[jesikarose]

alright.. thanks... i keep testing my water and everything is perfect except the ammonia which is right at .25 which is where is seems to stay so maybe i am starting my cylce

 

[jokerj]

well if you want to make sure the tank cycles then drop in a dead raw shrimp. Leave it in for a day or two and you should see your amonia spike on up, then that should drop as your trites raise, then that should drop and the trates go up. You then know the cycle happens.

 

[renogaw]

depending on how fresh the LR is you may not see any die off. I got in 2 boxes that were pulled from the ocean in the morning and had in my tote at home in the evening and there was so little die off ammonia hasn't even registered.