newbiereef
Member
:help: i started a 29gal about a week ago and was told to use uncured lr for about 2 weeks to cycle. i have noticed the lr has so white stuff on it that wasnt there before and i was wondering what it is and is it bad?
liverock
- Thread starter newbiereef
- Start date
newbiereef
Member
what should i do, i was told the uncured would speed the process and then i could add cured lr to build the tank. what is the white stuff?
emoezekiel
Member
That white stuff are die offs. When you first put in LR, any, uncured or not in a new tank. It will get some die offs...meaning the coraline algea dies but give it a few months after the whole cycle and it will get its color back. I suggest take your time and cycle the tank, make sure that all test are right. If you keep your Calcium at 400-450 and KH at 10-12, preferably 11, your coraline would grow a lot faster.
ophiura
Active Member
Originally posted by newbiereef
what should i do, i was told the uncured would speed the process and then i could add cured lr to build the tank. what is the white stuff?
You are totally fine using uncured LR to cycle the tank. They die off yields ammonia which is "food" for the "good" bacteria we desire to grow. If you used cured LR, I would still suggest adding dead shrimp to challenge the tank before adding fish.
Have you seen any ammonia or nitrites yet?
jjlittle
Member
when i started my 150 gal tank I used 95% live cured rock with live sand and I had a very fast cycle time . I added a few damsels to help as well. My tank is over a year old never had any bad nitrate / ammonia/nitrite breakout. I never had the white die off on any of my rock. there are millions of opinions out there and no one way to do things but this worked well for me and was reccomended by every retailer in my area.
ophiura
Active Member
This is true, there are many different opinions, and using uncured rock is just as OK as using cured. It is very difficult to come across cured LR in large quantities at times. If you buy it online, it needs to be cured...if you buy it at an LFS, unless it was there a few weeks, it generally needs some curing. All the curing is doing is basically providing an ammonia source without having to use live fish such as damsels to provide it. There really isn't much difference, IMO, between cycling using cured LR and uncured LR except perhaps for the cost. Buying cured LR from an LFS may be relatively more expensive. 
newbiereef
Member
my readings at this point are as follows
*nitrate - 15mg
*nitrites - o.4mg
*ammonia - 0.1
*ph - 7.8
this is after a week
is that good for where i am at
*nitrate - 15mg
*nitrites - o.4mg
*ammonia - 0.1
*ph - 7.8
this is after a week
is that good for where i am at
bicolor225
Member
You might want to get that pH up around 8.0 at the least.
ophiura
Active Member
7.8 isn't all that bad...but there are a lot of reasons that the pH could be on the low end and it might be worth looking in to some.
Could be time of day
Could be type of test kit
Could be person testing
Could be container water sample was in
Could be low circulation in the tank leading to increased CO2
Could be low alkalinity
So is it 7.8 and stable, or is it lower in the morning before lights are on? What sort of circulation is there on the tank?
Could be time of day
Could be type of test kit
Could be person testing
Could be container water sample was in
Could be low circulation in the tank leading to increased CO2
Could be low alkalinity
So is it 7.8 and stable, or is it lower in the morning before lights are on? What sort of circulation is there on the tank?
newbiereef
Member
its stable at 7.8 and the circulation is just what came with the tank. its a 29 gal eclipse system
ophiura
Active Member
Try taking water out in a bucket, and aerating it for several hours or overnight and seeing if the pH increases. I would say you do not have enough circulation, personally. One of the reasons I am not particularly fond of the eclipse system for a saltwater tank, without modifications to it.
But 7.8 and stable is not an emergency issue...but you should investigate it in the future.
But 7.8 and stable is not an emergency issue...but you should investigate it in the future.
newbiereef
Member
ive added a maxi-jet 600 for circulation. and now my readings are
*ph - 8.0
*ammonia - 0.25mg
*nitate - 22mg
* - 1.5
is this better? iv added three camelback shrimp, and now have a total of 7 hermit crabs. I also added a featherduster. is this all ok? :happyfish
*ph - 8.0
*ammonia - 0.25mg
*nitate - 22mg
* - 1.5
is this better? iv added three camelback shrimp, and now have a total of 7 hermit crabs. I also added a featherduster. is this all ok? :happyfish