novice needing some help

[checht]

questions about tank
I am a novice and feel more and more like a failure daily. I have had several african tanks without this much trouble. My tank is a 30gal long, with a coralife 2-96W compact light, an emperor 400, protein skimmer (seaclone) powerhead 226. I have 15 lbs of live rock, had one damsel until tonight, and three snails. My tank cycled for six months without fish or live rock, then I added a damsel, then the live rock two weeks later. After reading on another website about liverock, it was suggested that I pull out any liverock with white areas (dead as they were described), scrub them in a salt water solution, then return it to the tank. After doing this last Friday, my tank had all major readings (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) spike, which in turn made me panic. I did a 10% water change two days in a row. My nitrate levels are still high now, but the other two levels have returned to within normal limits. Was this a huge mistake? Can the live rock live? What do you suggest now?

 

[dad]

OK, This is my guess.
Your tank never had really cycled in the beginning. Just because reading are ok does not mean it cycled?
By adding the damsels and rock you then made it cycle. The high readings are from the cycle.
Scrubbing dead rock? I have heard of it but this did not make the high readings.
I would wait for a few weeks and see what the readings do.
I would NOT do any more water changes until everything settles down. This will only prolong things.
Maybe someone else has another opinion? HTH

 

[dburr]

You put it into a cycle with the LR. Let it run it's corse. At the end of nitrites add 1 or 2 fish. This will keep the bacteria going. Oops, I see you are at the end. I would add the fish. Without any waste product the bacteria will die off.
The white spots are where the rock was broken, IMO. Either in shiping or when it was collected. Granted LR should be gently scubed anyway before added to a tank. If you add more rock in the future, use a plastic trash can(clean, used ONLY for SW)and cycle it before adding it to your display.
Happy reefing, BTW, we are ALL learning. I have felt real dumb sometimes too.

 

[checht]

Thanks so much for everyone's help. I have not found a consistent place for good advice it seems before this website. I will let the tank cycle for two weeks with LR and then add more. My goal is 30-50 lbs of live rock, is that too much? Should I add it in small increments? What about adding nitrifying bacteria? Thanks so much.

 

[dburr]

If you add more rock in the future, use a plastic trash can(clean, used ONLY for SW)and cycle it before adding it to your display.
Can you do this? Or add pre-cured rock. Yes, at small increments.
IMO, buying the bacteria is a waste of $.