Live rock questions.

[woody189]

I bought some pre-cured LR from another website. i'm recuring it in my tank right now.
I was wondering if this thing i got i the pic is good or bad. should i leave it alone or inject it w/ lemon juice or something. whatever it is, it's flexible but tough like a root or something
also, how long before my amonia SHOULD go up. It's been 2-3 days and the ammonia hasn't gone up. Should i wait longer or should i add a shrimp or something??
I have some of the rubble and nasty water in the bag that the rock came in, will that be dead enough by now to cycle the water
thanks

 

[scsinet]

looks like some kind of macroalgae or something. I wouldn't worry too much about it.
I frequently do not experience an ammonia spike when curing live rock. I wouldn't worry too much... if you wait a few weeks, and the rocks do not smell foul, then you are probably okay to put them in your tank.

 

[bubba1984]

i just put my 50lbs of LR (Figi) in my 55gal tank and ammonia was fine before it went in and i just checked it today and its really high. Tank readings is
Salinity 33
PH 7.9
Ammonia 3.7
Nitrite 0.8
They were all normal before the rock went in.

 

[bizzmoneyb]

did you have the rock shipped or pick it up directly out of a tank that pre cured it?
if it was shipped theres a good chance there was SOME die off even though it was pre cured so some ammonia should be normal. keep checking it.. should be ready to roll in a few weeks.

 

[bubba1984]

its was shipped to my LFS and i picked it up there and they told me it would be fine to just take it home and throw it in the tank and dont do a water change till about the 5th week which i thought was a little bit to long so they might not know anything about it.What do yall think?

 

[woody189]

I forgot to mention i was going to be using this rock to cycle my new tank. I have 2 powerheads, an eheim ecco canister filter, and a protein skimmer i'm trying to figure out how to use properly
So I should leave that root looking thing?? It's not an anemone right??? and I thought macroalgae was like colorful growths, not tentacle looking things..
And yes I purchased it from online. I was expecting plenty of die off, i was actually relying on it to cycle my tank.
And my question was...just because my amonia hasn't gone up in 3 days of having the rock in, does that mean it won't ever go up and i should cycle it w/ some dead shrimp??
I WANT the ammonia to go up so i can cycle it.

 

[granny]

I think they are being conservative, in your favor, not to rush the cycle. Keep in mind that your biological filtration will increase in proportion to the bioload you put in your tank. If you quickly go through a cycle with your live rock now, then go ahead and add something yucky like a dead, smelly piece of fish or shrimp. Then let it cycle through again, do a water change, check all your parameters again and then and only then add your first fish.

 

[granny]

Originally Posted by woody189
http:///forum/post/2486395
I forgot to mention i was going to be using this rock to cycle my new tank. I have 2 powerheads, an eheim ecco canister filter, and a protein skimmer i'm trying to figure out how to use properly
So I should leave that root looking thing?? It's not an anemone right??? and I thought macroalgae was like colorful growths, not tentacle looking things..
And yes I purchased it from online. I was expecting plenty of die off, i was actually relying on it to cycle my tank.
And my question was...just because my amonia hasn't gone up in 3 days of having the rock in, does that mean it won't ever go up and i should cycle it w/ some dead shrimp??
I WANT the ammonia to go up so i can cycle it.
Yes, leave it. You actually dont want all the good stuff on your rock to die off. I have seen that stuff before and cannot think at the moment what it is called, but its in the sponge family, I believe, a low light organism.