OK finally got my LR 45 LB's from SWF

[sh2000]

I have a rubbermaid tub 25 gallons running wixiing with 2 maxi jets 1200 for 1 week now the ph is stable and salinity is 1.025 I have a 200w heater in there...so can some one tell me if i'm forgetting something I just put in the rock and then what do i do ?
also can I use purple up from now in the tub to get some pink coraline algae growing on it faster ?
Thnaks always

 

[earlybird]

Forget you ever heard of purple up. Do you have a tank that you'll be adding the rock to or are you going to cycle with it?

 

[sh2000]

I have to cure the rock for 2 weeks. then im going to add it to my DT.

 

[earlybird]

Then in the meantime check it for ammonia and nitrite (obviously) and you can do regular water changes.

 

[sh2000]

i was thinking 1 water change per week. when should i do the initial testing secondary and final testing ?

 

[earlybird]

I'm sorry I didn't catch it earlier. I just checked your profile, are you adding the rock to your 3yr old 80g? If so, 2 weeks will not be long enough for shipped rock IMO. It took me about a month when I cycled SWF rock. It's really nice rock but should have some dieoff. My ammonia never got above 0.25 or so. However, because the rock was shipped you should just leave it in the tub with the powerheads and not do a water change at all until ammonia and nitrite are at zero. Just like cycling your tank.
How much rock do you currently have in your tank?

 

[sh2000]

this is going into my 120 gal RT....i upgraded my 55 that was up for a year with 100 lb's og LR and put all its contents into my 120....so i have 100 lb's of lr in my 120 and 15-20 lb in my wet/dry....but am now using my 55 to rid ick from the fish that went into the 120...the 80 gal is a fowlr with semi aggresive fish in it and none of this rock will enter the 80 gal.

 

[spanko]

Agree with early, you want this rock completely cured before going into your display. Cycle the tub just like it were a new tank setup.

 

[sh2000]

let me understand you correctly; I put the 45 lb of lr in the tub with the power heads and heater and i leave it there until the ammonia nitrite and nitrate are 0 ? right now the water has been mixing for a week the ph is stabalized 8.2 and all params are in check....when will the params change ? after a day or 2 ? the idea is to see it spike then wait till all the params are at 0...so when do u do water changes when curing the rock ?

 

[spanko]

I would not do a water change unless the Ammonia level gets to 1.0, otheriwse just let it cure. Much the same as cycling. If you have and extra skimmer that could go on the tub also. No need for lights, just heat and circulation. Probably gonna smell a bit depending on how cured the rock was at SWF and how much die-off in between them and you.

 

[earlybird]

It may take a few days before the ammonia begins to spike.

 

[sh2000]

so if the ammonia stays below 1.0 leave the water alone and then whne it gets to 0 after 2-3 weeks put in the DT ?

 

[sh2000]

anyone ? also 1 more Q there's some foam buildup in the upper layer of the tub is that normal and what is it ?

 

[earlybird]

I would be a little more conservative and do a water change if the ammonia reaches 0.5. Doing this will help prevent the loss of sensative critters in and on the rock. The foam is the broken down organics and die off similar to skimate from a skimmer. It's normal if you don't have any mechanical filtration or skimmer. Use a turkey baster to suck that stuff out. If you want you can use a funnel with some filter in it and after manually skimming the surface you can filter the foam out through the funnel and let the water go back into the tub. Your water should be at 1.024-1.026 if you want to preserve the inverts in/on the rock so keep up with top offs.

 

[sh2000]

Some say don't do a water change just leave it for a week or 2 then when the params are ok its safe to put the rock in the dt....some say do 2-4 100 percent water changes paer 10 days. so what do u guys thank ?

 

[amyandbrandon2]

After a week or 2 of the parameters being zero give it an extra week hust in case. Since you have fish you should play it safe!

I hopep you enjoy the rock

 

[earlybird]

Changing the water while cycling will slow the cycle. You want to make sure that nitrifying bacteria colonize the rocks and to do so there must be ammonia. If you pull the ammonia out with water changes you may not have sufficient beneficial bacteria and when you add it to your DT you may have a spike. It really all depends on how much other rock you have and how much your feed or how much waste your tank creates. I would play it safe and cycle the rock until ammonia and nitrites are at zero and ONLY perform a water change IF the ammonia reaches 0.5 or higher. It may take 2-8 weeks for ammonia and nitrites to reach zero but probably closer to a month. So it's impossible to say how long it will take just keep checking the parameters. Amyandbrandon is correct in that it is good to wait a little after ammonia and nitrite are at zero and ghost feed the rock to see if there is sufficient nitriifying bacteria to handle the food. If so you know it is 100% safe to add to your DT and you will not have a spike which could harm your fish/corals.

 

[sh2000]

why do a water change if the ammonia goes over .5 ?
and if not just wait a month whne the params are 0 put in DT I have 125 lb's in the DT and 15 in the wet/dry..I will be adding 45 lb's but maybe 40 after the rubble...so if the ammonia is spiked at .5 or less just keep the same water and if it goes to like 2 or 3 which is possible then do 50 percent water changes ? last question why if it goes over .5 would I wanna do a water change ?

 

[earlybird]

Doing a change if ammonia goes to 0.5 is being very conservative. I would do a change at 0.5 to try to prevent the elevated ammonia from killing a lot of critters/hitchhikers. Most would only do it if it gets to 1.0 to prevent harm to nitrifying bacteria which can die at levels that high. We spend a lot of money on our rocks and there are a lot of creatures living in and on the rock that may appear several months to years down the road. Most of these creatures are inverts which are very fragile to water conditions and ammonia could kill them. Make sense?

 

[sh2000]

yes I guess my question was would the rock be harmed if the ammonia reached a very high level like 3 ?