Dunk Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 Originally i was going to set this up as salt at work but decided not to. Instead im going to use it as a little growout tank for some peacock fry i have at home. Here's my problem... It's been a week and i'm cycling the tank with about 4lbs of live rock from my salt water tank at home in malawi lake water. I rinsed the rock real good before i added it to the tank and scaped everything out but the die off seems to be unbelievably potent. Im still waiting for my ammonia, and nitrite levels to zero out. There were so much living things in these rocks its ridiculous. Bristleworms, pods, slugs etc...on day 2 were all dead in the tank. I cleaned up the mess and did some water changes EOD but i still cant get my Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrates are through the roof. Even after water changes i make EOD. Im wondering if live rock was a bad idea to start a cycle or great in kickstarting the bacteria that i need. If so how long before all this die off slows a bit?
supreme_spork Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 you're using live rock in a freshwater tank?
Scott Riemer Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 If so how long before all this die off slows a bit? Until it's all dead....who can say how long. Why are you using LR in there?
Dunk Posted November 14, 2007 Author Posted November 14, 2007 Until it's all dead....who can say how long. Why are you using LR in there? because i had a whole bunch extra in a 10 gallon tank that i like the way it looked. Later down the line i will convert this to a salt tank. More so for the look and i only had to spare a little. How long does it typically take before live rock dies off completely. Should i keep doing water changes EOD?
Matty1124 Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 are you kidding... you should have just got regular rock and rinsed that off in fresh water... what a waste of money... its going to take for ever... if its rock that is full of life some of it will be traped in the rock i would imagine... and then that will have to decay and leach out of the rock... you might as well just scrap it at this point and go to a rock store and buy your self some regular rock... if this is a fry tank i would assume you would just throw in a piece of PVC and a sponge air lift filter...
Dunk Posted November 14, 2007 Author Posted November 14, 2007 are you kidding... you should have just got regular rock and rinsed that off in fresh water... what a waste of money... its going to take for ever... if its rock that is full of life some of it will be traped in the rock i would imagine... and then that will have to decay and leach out of the rock... you might as well just scrap it at this point and go to a rock store and buy your self some regular rock... if this is a fry tank i would assume you would just throw in a piece of PVC and a sponge air lift filter... The cost of live rock vs cost of regular rock at this point doesn't concern me. My concern is the cycling of my tank. The pieces I used were used because 1) i have spare that were not being utilized for anything in an empty tank and 2) they look really nice. You can still have a showtank and grow fry out at the same time. Ill pass on the PVC. I was just looking for input on when this die off would subside. Hopefully sooner rather than later. So no, i am not kidding anyone. Plus i thought the initial ammonia spike would aid in the beneficial growth of denitrifying bacteria.
reefone Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 it will probably take a good month to cycle. like stated the stuff inside the rock has to decay.
supreme_spork Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 i think the general consensus was that this was ill-advised on a number of levels... and why you'd want to rip something that had a ton of life on it and kill all of that life for no apparent reason i have no idea.
schwaz Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 I am confused. Is there any marine bacteria that is beneficial and/or lives in a freshwater environment? Basically... why wait for a cycle? You've already killed the organisms that lived in or on the rock. Dump it and start over with base rock.
Scott Riemer Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 I am confused. Is there any marine bacteria that is beneficial and/or lives in a freshwater environment?Basically... why wait for a cycle? You've already killed the organisms that lived in or on the rock. Dump it and start over with base rock.The OP sacrificed the life on the LR for cosmetic purposes. What I don't think he realizes is it's not going to look the same in FW.i like the way it looked.... More so for the look
Mr. Fosi Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 Is there any marine bacteria that is beneficial and/or lives in a freshwater environment? Not generally, no. This was an interesting idea but not a very good one. Not only the obvious death = stink water reason but also because that rock, if it is aragonite, will keep your pH fairly high and your water very hard. You could see NH4 leaking out of that rock for months to come.
Dunk Posted November 14, 2007 Author Posted November 14, 2007 Oye. I didnt think it was going to be that big of a problem. Thanks for everyones input. Luckily it was only 3 or 4 small pieces.
Dunk Posted November 14, 2007 Author Posted November 14, 2007 The OP sacrificed the life on the LR for cosmetic purposes. What I don't think he realizes is it's not going to look the same in FW. How's it going to look? Is it going to break down on me or something? Change shape?
Scott Riemer Posted November 14, 2007 Posted November 14, 2007 How's it going to look? Is it going to break down on me or something? Change shape? Well, if it's just the shape, that probably isn't going to change. But as far as the appearance of the rock, that'll change as coralline will die off. I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't get a lot of algae on it.
Dunk Posted December 5, 2007 Author Posted December 5, 2007 an FYI. The tank is fully cycled and my ammonia is 0. Took about 4 weeks.
Scott Riemer Posted December 5, 2007 Posted December 5, 2007 an FYI. The tank is fully cycled and my ammonia is 0. Took about 4 weeks. I think you've missed my point, but whatever.
AcroporaLokani Posted December 6, 2007 Posted December 6, 2007 I don't understand why you "dunk" ask a question and then give lip about it. If you are going to use it as a fry tank why have anything in it? Most fry tanks have no substrate and no rocks in it (for cleaning purposes) fry tanks can get very filthy especially in a freshwater tank. I have had many freshwater fry tanks and i would never even consider putting a porous rock in it, And until the fry have grown a bit i would not even put a rock in there (fry's "motor skills" are not very good and i would not want to have my fry killed because they swam in to a rock). If you want the tank to look "pretty" put a few free floating plants in there and let your fry grow. If you can get clean fresh water from a lake or river why wait about 5 weeks for a tank to cycle because you put saltwater live rock in there? By now your fry are probably old enough to have a piece of slate or a few smooth non porous freshwater rock in with them, but like i said your tank will get filthy with to many rocks in there, most people recommend PVC but i have never used this method so i don't know i would assume they use it because plastic is easy to clean were as you have found out rock is hard to clean. I do not understand why you would kill all the life that was in your live rock, And for this much trouble. Saltwater bacteria can not survive in freshwater (that is like you living with no air, it just wont work). AcroporaLokani
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