PaulP Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 I am setting up a JBJ nanocube. I put in 12lb sand, 8lb uncured live rock. After two weeks, my ammonia cycle still hadn't started to come down. Talked to the LFS and then pulled the rocks out to inspect. Found the live rock had four small clam/mussel/oyster/whatever that had died in the process. Under one of the rocks, I found a large mass of glop, I am guessing the insides of the critter. really vile and obviously dead. I cleaned out the mess as best I could, shook off all the bad stuff from the rock, cleaned about 1/4 cup of red sponge off one of the rocks. Replaced 50% of the water and am still trying. The ammonia still hasn't come down but on my last test, I am now starting to get some nitrite action. My question is the chances of anything in the rock surviving this ordeal. What are the chances that I will get something to crop up out of the rock? Or do I let the cycle complete and go looking for another interesting small rock to add? Thanks for helping Paul P Link to comment
birdman204 Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Just let it cycle... and coral frags fill in the rest... give it 2 months I'd say with that mess Plus the micro fauna will have a much better chance of populating.... Link to comment
IllusionaryDreams Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 I agree with Birdman, just be patient. Sometime cycling can take months. Yes there will be some die off on the rock, thats a part of cycling. But it's worth the wait Link to comment
Aiptasia Posted March 10, 2004 Share Posted March 10, 2004 Aaah grasshopper... Give your tank more time to properly cycle out. Even big tanks with high quality LR can take six weeks to establish populations of healthy beneficial bacteria. It's good that you scooped out the dead stuff and did some sponge scrubbing. Even if you didn't, it's just a matter of time before the nitrogen cycle starts to break those wastes down. Be patient. You can also add daily suppliments of cycle and/or fritzyme #9 to help speed up colonization of beneficial bacteria. Add double the dose for SW tanks as recommended on the label daily. Cycle contains 11 strains of beneficial bacteria (not just nitrosomonas and nitrobactir) and is excellent for helping your LR get established. Don't worry, there's still plenty of life in your LR and lots of things will survive this experience. Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.