Things are not going well here...

seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
I am having quite a few problems

First I've been trying to grow live rock out of reef saver dry rock. I put 10lbs in my main tank and 10lbs in a tank along with a piece of live rock.

The rock in the main tank did great, but now I'm having a diatoms bloom so it is covered in brown over the red/pink/green that was growing.

In the other tank it has turned to crap... a little over 3 weeks ago I discovered that it had turned almost black on one side, the side facing the window. I took it out and scrubbed it the best I could, changed the tank water, and put it all back.

Now it is doing it again. I put a black background on the side of the window to block light. 1 rock isn't very bad but the other is going black on all sides now it seems.

I don't know what this black stuff is. It is not slimy at all. It is ever so slightly soft but it is also very small and so when you touch it you really just feel the rock under it.

Any advice on what to do? Should I bleach it and the tank and try to start over? The weirdest part is that in all this time the piece of live rock I put in with it to seed it has never changed. It is still a pretty hunk of rock with no black.



Next problem is I am having issues with nitrates in my main tank. It is almost always at 40ppm. I do a weekly 10% water change, so I tried a 50% last night. Now I'm having an ammonia and pH spike! I don't understand that at all. I've also got a diatoms bloom going pretty bad so I've turned the lights off in the tank until further notice.

Before and after water change the levels tested:
before- pH 8.2, ammonia .05, nitrite 0, nitrate 40
after- pH 8.4+, ammonia .2, nitrite 0, nitrate 20
 
silverado61

silverado61

Well-Known Member
I'm probably wrong but the black sounds like a cyanobacteria. Phormidium corallyticum but that only effects corals. But seeing as live rock is built out of coral skeletons???? Who knows. Somebody with more experience than I for sure.
Keep the lights off till you find out from some one better than me. GeriDoc or bang guy would be the best to ask. PM them.
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Hi,

API reads 4Xs higher then regular kits for nitrates. HOWEVER...you have ammonia, and nitrite readings, so your tank isn't even finished cycling yet. The only thing you should be testing for is ammonia, to test the other stuff right now is a waste of your test kit supplies. Once you have 0 reading on ammonia, then begin testing for nitrites....THEN after that drops to 0...test for nitrates.

Where did you get your dried rock, and what were the conditions that prompted the original owner of said rock to let it just dry out? Most tanks that folks remove the rock from, has had problems, you might consider cleaning the rock in bleach (I am not sure how to do that safely, and you will have to ask Bang Guy...so PM him)
 
seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
I don't have any nitrite readings and haven't for a month+.

The dry rock was bought from aquacave and is mined from an inland reef that has been dry for a long time.
 
seecrabrun

seecrabrun

Active Member
I moved a cycled 10g to a 29g and started testing often to keep an eye on it. I made the mistake of rinsing my sand before putting it in the new tank and cleaning my filters. So I started a mini cycle but it seemed to calm down quickly.

6/27 - transferred 10g to 29g
pH 8.2
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

6/30
pH 8.1
Ammonia <.25
Nitrite .25
Nitrate 10

7/4
pH 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrite .15
Nitrate 20

7/7
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite .15
Nitrate 20

7/11
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite .15
Nitrate 40

7/17
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate <40

7/21
pH 8.0
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40

7/26
pH 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40

7/31
pH 8.3
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 60

8/7
pH 8.1
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40


and then these were the before and after results of the 50% water change
8/13 at 10pm
pH 8.2
Ammonia .05
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40

8/15 at 10am
pH 8.4+
Ammonia .2
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 20
 
snakeblitz33

snakeblitz33

Well-Known Member
API has been known to give false ammonia readings. As far as I am concerned, your cycle is over with.


If your nitrate reading is 40ppm and you do a 50% water change, your nitrates will be cut in half, to 20ppm - so you have the expected result.

I would keep ghost feeding and do another small water change in a couple of days to check if nitrate comes down some more.

If you have a decent light, anthelia and xenia are two species of soft coral which is easy to keep and can remove nitrate and phosphate from the water column relatively quickly and easily. Plus, its fun to watch move.
 
silverado61

silverado61

Well-Known Member
seecrabrun said:
The dry rock was bought from aquacave and is mined from an inland reef that has been dry for a long time.
Click to expand...
The place you bought the rock from is about 1/2 mile from my house and I'm in there all the time. They have an excellent product reputation.
 
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