Live Rock Question

[ny reef]

I have new rock in the tank it has been in the tank for 3 days now and I have noticed a pretty sugnificant spike in Nitrites and Nitrates and amonia of 1.0 is this to be expected and how long will this last I have a 55gal with 60lbs of Live Rock.. <img src="graemlins//confused.gif" border="0" alt="[confused]" />

 

[dragonuwrasse]

Absolutely this will happen if the rock is not cured. Everything is fine. It will cycle the tank just like a fish will.

 

[ny reef]

ok thats a relief thanks...

 

[ny reef]

also will the cycle process kill any of the stuff that came on the rock??

 

[jester]

you may have some die off, but it should be ok. I would do a 10% water change just to be safe.

 

[spongebob square pants]

I cycled my tank this way and was told not to do any water changes till cycle was complete. If you do a water change its going to take longer to cycle.( that is if you are tryng to cycle tank. If not I would do water change to try to save fish.)

 

[marine fanatic]

I added 10 lbs. of Fiji and my water clouded up a bit and I think it was from some die-off. I did exactly what Jester already stated and did a 15% water change. The water was clear by morning and all levels are fine.

 

[crazyelvis]

A water change now might prolong your cycling process... You will see mixed oppinions about this on the board...Personally I didn't do a water change and my readings came back down rather quickly...

 

[ny reef]

ok I am going to not do the water change since I am cycling the tank ill cross my fingers and hope for the best!!

 

[jester]

The water change may slow the cycle process down a little, but at least you wont torture your fish in the process.

 

[ny reef]

I have no fish in the tank yet so I will let it go..

 

[karlas]

water changes will slow down the cycle or maby even restart it. this happened to me with bad advice from the lfs. its a cycle the tank has to go through. it is better to cycle your tank this way than with fish it is very hard on fish physically when cycled with. some times it can take a month and a half or a little more to cycle some tanks a little less so be patient with it the parameters will come down when they are ready. some stuff will die on the lr with the cycle but most of it will survive or come back after it gets established so no need to worry there. just give it time and patience