Will my live rock live?

robw

robw

New Member
My 125 was half way through cycling when I added 60lbs of live rock from a well established tank. The LR is loaded with more critters then I've ever seen in LR. There are little snail looking things, feather dusters, clams, weird looking insects (they look like short centipedes and they run so fast that I have trouble getting a good look at them. any idea what they are?) pollips and flower looking things, a couple small patches of coral and a small patch of anenome. I did a test after adding everything and my readings were:
ammonia .25 - .5
nitrites around 3.0
nitrates around 30
ph 8.1
temp 80
salinity 1.025
I'm worried that these high readings will kill everything before the cycle is complete.
Also wondering what the little insects are?
 
pontius

pontius

Active Member
I think you'll be fine. it just sounds like the addition of all that new rock sent the tank into a new cycle, which should be expected. there may be a minor die off, but I don't think it will be significant at all.
 
pallan

pallan

Member
wait for someone with more experience to reply but i would guess your gonna have to let it cycle. a water change would only prevent the ammonia from being turned into nitrite and so on and not letting your tank develop the bacteria it needs to form the nitrogen cycle. that just my understanding of it. someone with more experience is sure to post something soon on this and to keep the critters alive a water change might be the correct answer. sorry for the pun but its the proverbial (between a rock and a hard place) dilema
AS to the insect looking things look in the hitchhicker thread probably a bristle worm.
Good luck
 
robw

robw

New Member
I dont think they are bristle worms. They are very small and short. They look almost like a minature shrimp and they move extremely fast. I just found a rather large black colored crab in one of the holes. He is larger then your average emerald. I hope he does'nt die.
 
caomt

caomt

Member
how long was the rock out of water before it was put into your tank? rock comming from a already established tank into another tank without letting it sit outside of water wont be a problem.
 
robw

robw

New Member
It was out of water for 15 min. max. I pulled it from his tank, drove 10 min home and emmediatlely put it in my refugium. Any idea on the insect looking things?
 
robw

robw

New Member
do you have any info on them? are they bad? They just seem to run around. I've actually seen them chase each other. They are about the size of a fruit fly and almost transparent.
 
robw

robw

New Member
right on! I just did a search on them and saw some pics. They are defenitaley pods. There are tons of them running around, along with probably 30-50 things that look like snails without shells. the tank has so much life already, i almost dont need to buy anything else :joy:
 
robw

robw

New Member
holy crap, i just found another crab. this one is darker in color with smaller black eyes, but he is bigger. the other one is smaller, a little lighter and has bigger red eyes. they both have kinda furry legs. Not sure what kind they are. I also saw a little bristle worm. I can't get over how much stuff was in only 50 pounds of LR. I hope the Nitrite levels come down quick enough, so they don't die.
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
water change is your only real solution to getting those nitrates down.I would do a 25% water change and test the next morning see how things look then the water change is not going to kill off the life but the high nitrates sure will
 
robw

robw

New Member
Actually, My nitrates are'nt that high, its my Nitrites. My tank is new and 3/4's of the way done its initial cycle. I dont want to do a water change yet and lower the amount of good bacteria.
 
jumpfrog

jumpfrog

Active Member
The bacteria is in the rock and not in the water. If it's cured from a tank that's been up for a while (sounds like it with all the great life you have) it should be loaded with nitrifying bacteria. Your tank's water and rock just need to reach their balance.
I too would recommend the water change. If it was uncured rock I'd say let it go as there is so much die off you need to let the system stabilize more on it's own. With cured rock you are jeapordizing the life with those high numbers.
Just my humble opinion though.
Good Luck!
 
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