Can i help my tang in any way `?

[Jim the noob]

I think folks were meaning to add rock, not remove what's already in there. How much live rock do you have?

im aware of that, but i had to remove the other one to make room, the new one stacks better, so its easier to build/add more on. I got 10kg in this shipment, might need more in the long run, but every bit helps

 

[((FORDTECH))]

So i finaly got my live rock, and just put it in tank, but it replaced my old "rock" is that gonna cause a problem now with the lack of bacteria, or should it recover in a few days by itself ?

+ when moving my corals, i saw some tiny animals crawl around (that i didnt buy myself) some tiny shrimp like...
is that good or bad & should they move back to the tank?

So this is one reason why a lot of people run sump filtration systems because all that extra rock would be put in the sump instead of having to be in the display tank

 

[Lyss]

im aware of that, but i had to remove the other one to make room, the new one stacks better, so its easier to build/add more on. I got 10kg in this shipment, might need more in the long run, but every bit helps

Can you leave it in until you get more that is better to scape with, though? I think 10kg is about 22 lbs, which is still pretty light for a 60 gallon tank.

 

[Jim the noob]

not without removing my corals from the tank, and until my epoxy hardens im affraid to put the old "rock" on top of the new, dont think it can carry the weight right now...

What about those tiny shrimp like things, are they good or bad?

 

[jfoahs04]

I think it's pretty essential that you find a way to put that old rock back in the tank if it hasn't been out of the water (or put somewhere it would be contaminated) for too long. Most of your biological filter is on that rock and it would have helped establish the new rock you added. Without it, your new rock won't be able to handle any of the bio load in the tank and you'll get an ammonia spike (and a new cycle - likely at the cost of much of your livestock).

It may not be pretty, but I'd put that rock back in the tank in any capacity you can.

 

[JXNATC]

I think it's spelled Nam. Don't make me swat at you with my cane!

 

[Jim the noob]

ok, did some moving around and got it back, now it just looks like crap...

how long does it have to be there for that bacteria to "populate"the new rocks? a few days, a week?

Only have 5 fish, 1 shrimp, and my CUC, so the bio load should be rather limited

 

[Lyss]

I think it's best that you got the rock back in. I missed the shrimp-like creatures Q -- they're probably amphipods, and not a worry. Can you get a picture of them?

 

[Jim the noob]

the only 1 left, the rest are hiding in the cracks in my fake rock. its about 1/5 inch long, some of the other i saw were bigger

 

[Lyss]

Yes, amphipods

 

[jfoahs04]

ok, did some moving around and got it back, now it just looks like crap...

how long does it have to be there for that bacteria to "populate"the new rocks? a few days, a week?

Only have 5 fish, 1 shrimp, and my CUC, so the bio load should be rather limited

Yeah, I can understand that it's not pretty. I'd probably give it 3 weeks at minimum before removing the rock. If you can aesthetically pleasing way incorporate it into the rockwork permanently, even better. feeding and waste from 5 fish is enough to cause an ammonia spike in a tank with uncured rock.

Alternatively, you can take the live rock out, smash it into little pieces ("rubble") with a hammer, and then put all of those little pieces back in. It'll have the same effect without being a giant chunk of rock.

 

[Jim the noob]

Yes, amphipods

hm a quick search, tells me they are beneficial, should i do anything for them? or is it just leave and let be?

 

[Jim the noob]

Yeah, I can understand that it's not pretty. I'd probably give it 3 weeks at minimum before removing the rock. If you can aesthetically pleasing way incorporate it into the rockwork permanently, even better. feeding and waste from 5 fish is enough to cause an ammonia spike in a tank with uncured rock.

Alternatively, you can take the live rock out, smash it into little pieces ("rubble") with a hammer, and then put all of those little pieces back in. It'll have the same effect without being a giant chunk of rock.

if its for a few weeks i guess i can ignore it... so all that extra rock, even if its not enough, that shuld reduce my nitrate greatly, right?

 

[jfoahs04]

if its for a few weeks i guess i can ignore it... so all that extra rock, even if its not enough, that shuld reduce my nitrate greatly, right?

No, the rock won't have a direct effect (but can have an indirect effect in the long term). That's sort of dependent on you and your care of the aquarium. Basically, the live rock is essential for creating a home for the bacteria that facilitate the nitrogen cycle which actually produces nitrate rather than eliminates it (it converts ammonia > nitrite > nitrate).

The reason your existing live rock is essential is that it already has that bacteria which will process existing waste from food/fish and over the course of a few weeks that same bacteria will spread from your existing rock to your new rock where it will grow and colonize and help your tank complete that cycle. Without the existing rock, your new rock would need to start the cycle from scratch leaving your tank susceptible to spikes in ammonia while the bacteria colonies establish themselves. That would likely kill (or seriously stress) your fish.

I say the new rock can indirectly help reduce nitrates because it'll eventually be home to large populations of tiny hitchhikers like the pods you already have, brittle stars, bristleworms, and other things that will clean up food waste, detritus, etc... all things that contribute to high nitrates. The more rock you have, the more of these little life forms you'll be able to accommodate. But the vast majority of nitrate reduction will come from you doing things like not overfeeding your fish (this is a big one), doing water changes, using RODI water for mix and top offs, eliminating "dead zones" where flow is low/nonexistent (and allows waste to accumulate), etc.

 

[Jim the noob]

hm they get 1/4 nori sheet/day, and a squirt of artemia, + a few formula two pellets to make sure they bottom dwelers get some as well, should i cut down a little ?

 

[((FORDTECH))]

hm they get 1/4 nori sheet/day, and a squirt of artemia, + a few formula two pellets to make sure they bottom dwelers get some as well, should i cut down a little ?

Quality nitrate and phosphate test kits will give you this answer.

 

[ApoIsland]

im aware of that, but i had to remove the other one to make room, the new one stacks better, so its easier to build/add more on. I got 10kg in this shipment, might need more in the long run, but every bit helps

I would smash that old rock up into smaller pieces that fit well and keep it in the tank. The more rock the better in the early stages.

 

[SlugSnorter]

ok, did some moving around and got it back, now it just looks like crap...

how long does it have to be there for that bacteria to "populate"the new rocks? a few days, a week?

Only have 5 fish, 1 shrimp, and my CUC, so the bio load should be rather limited

5 fish is a pretty large amount, cycling can take days, weeks months. Id recommend doing a bit of a deeper dive into researching the hobby

 

[Jim the noob]

signing off for today, thx once again for the help ill do some tests tomorrow to see if things have improved