Water changes during cycle?

oakleerulez

oakleerulez

Member
How often should I do water changes during my tanks cycle? I have a 24g jbj nano cube and just got 22lbs of pre-cured LR two days ago. I did water tests prior to adding the rock, everything checked out just fine. I did tests this morning:
-Ammonia .25
-Nitrite 4.0
-Nitrate 30
Should I do a water change now, or should I wait a few more days? Thanks in advance to any help/advice
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
During a cycle with live rock, I'd recommend water changes when the ammonia gets to 1 ppm. That'll ensure the live rock critters survive. It'll extend the length of the cycle, but it's better in the long run.
So next is the live rock that you got. Is there any particular reason you chose cured live rock? When doing a cycle, the rock gets cured, and with the die off from the curing process, the cycle has the "fuel" needed. Unless you threw in a raw cocktail shrimp to kick things off, chances are that there isn't enough fuel to get things going.
 
oakleerulez

oakleerulez

Member
Thanks for the help M0nk. I chose the pre-cured because the price was right
. I am confident that there was tons of die off though (shipped across the US, lots of "dust" on the rock). I am actually a little disappointed at the amount that the rock has deteriorated. The colors has definitely faded over the past two days. But I read that it should come back in time. I will post pictures, sorry the glass is a bit dirty :)

 
lexluethar

lexluethar

Active Member
Nice looking tank. Go with what Monk said, on that note though, it seems that your ammonia is on the downswing anyways since you have a decent amount of nitrite. Just ride it out at this point, once you have 0 AM and 0 NI, do a 30% water change.
Looks like you are off to a great start.
 
mcbdz

mcbdz

Active Member
OK, I see it

Originally Posted by Ketill
tope piece of rock is awsome looks like a nose. :O)
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Monk is right on... do water changes as needed to keep Ammonia below 1.0
Can you get us a better pic of the rock? It doesn't look particularly "live" to me. It could very well be the pic, however. Are you seeing any growth on it? Any critters, especially at night?
 
oakleerulez

oakleerulez

Member
I can try and take a better picture. The rock was live, not sure though. It seems each day it gets less and less colorful. there are/were critters on it. Haven't seen much besides small feather dusters (haven't shown crowns yet) and maybe some sponges. The color has definitely decreased since they arrived.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Well, as long as the rock was colorful and had critters alive when you got it you should be ok. You can expect the rock to bleach at first, but provided you maintain water parameters during the cycle you should be ok.
Like I said, the pic you posted just makes the rock look more like base rock than like rock. But sounds like you're in good shape.
 
oakleerulez

oakleerulez

Member
Thanks for the response. Its not base rock, That much i am sure about. But I don't think its the "premium" quality that I was told I was getting. I havent seen much for inverts moving around the rock, although I havent checked at night. The colors were a bit faded when they first arrived but had all different variations of orange, green, yellow and purple. I hope they all come back
 
dogstar

dogstar

Active Member
I agree with changeing water to keep ammonia down, but should also try to keep nitrites below 1.0 as well. They are also very toxic and will only turn into higher amounts of nitrates too. Keep doing changes.
 
oakleerulez

oakleerulez

Member
I sent the company I bought the LR from pictures, and they gave me a full refund. Which seemed a little too easy... What should I do now? Order more? Or just ride this out to see what happens? Where I live going to a LFS isn't an option.
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by OakleeRulez
I sent the company I bought the LR from pictures, and they gave me a full refund. Which seemed a little too easy... What should I do now? Order more? Or just ride this out to see what happens? Where I live going to a LFS isn't an option.
Wow..
Ya, sounds to me like they knew they messed up.
Take a look at some of the pics here from people that have ordered live rock and see how different it looks.
What kind of tank are you planning?
 
oakleerulez

oakleerulez

Member
I would like to have a little nano reef, nothing major, but I would love to have nice looking LR. Where I live, I cannot buy LR locally
 
lecithin

lecithin

Member
In all honestly it doesn't look like your LR has much life on it but I have seen countless others with the similar looking stuff and after a few weeks they find all kinds of things. While you may want to find a LFS w/ a really nice chunk of LR to assist you, I also think you're better off waiting for awhile to see what you can find.
 
m0nk

m0nk

Active Member
Do you have any local reefers near you? I would personally just try to get a couple small pieces of live rock to help seed this stuff along a bit, but considering you've got a nano setup you don't really want to order a shipment from online (they usually start around 25lbs). I think as long as your cycle progressed you could just hold on to your refund there and get some livestock with it once the cycle is complete. JMO.
Alex
m0nk
 
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