cycling with uncured live rock

[Dave1993]

ok so i had no clue what this was and it has been in my tank for about 5 days now the ammonia is off the F charts even half rodi half tank water it is still off the charts (red sea test 2ppm) i have a api test coming today seems better goes up to 8ppm what should i do water change? let it be and do its thing? i think if any inverts ect were on the rock they will be dead now with the massive ammonia spike i do have traces of nitrite and nitrate but nothing compared to the ammonia like i said even with half rodi half tank it is still off the charts

 

[Dave1993]

i thought buying live rock i would just put the rock in and some bacteria in boom its done and good to go in a week i spent double the money on this ****** indo live rock wish i just went dry seems like less hassle

 

[ReefRusty]

Have you dosed any additional pure ammonia chloride? What were your test on day 1 to day 5?

 

[Cell]

If the live rock was shipped damp, its recommended to cure first to deal with any die off. If it were me I'd either pull the rock and properly cure it in a brute or do a 100% water change and hope I got most of the die off.

 

[Dave1993]

no not dosed any ammonia atall its off the rock i have no clue ammonia is completely off the charts i just done a test 1ml tank 4ml rodi and it came out about 1 so i think ammonia is 5ppm

 

[Dave1993]

i dont have room to cure it in a trash can and i can do 6 gallon water changes a day its a 200 litre tank

 

[Cell]

You can only do 6 gallons per day max? You might be dealing with this for awhile if that's the case.

 

[Dave1993]

maybe i can do 12 but rodi would have to be running all day

 

[don_chuwish]

What was the source of the live rock? How was it shipped? Like mentioned by @Cell if it was ‘damp’ instead of in water it will take quite some time to process the dead organics.

 

[Dave1993]

it came damp and it was in delivery for 3 days cause customs decided they wanted to take a look and see what was in the box

 

[DickCleveland]

If there is only rock and no sand cure in the tank even though it's less then ideal, If that is your max RODI capicity I would possibly see if you can store up capacity to complete a massive water change after scrubbing the live rock with a soft biristle brush. Three days in a box is very much a cause of die off of various thing on your rock, just exposing it to air for a second can kill some types of sponges. Also do not add anything additional to the tank and if you already added live sand it will absorb additional nutrients and may cause challenges moving forwards.

 

[Dave1993]

live sand is already in like i said i thought buying live rock would just be plug in and play

 

[DickCleveland]

Live sand or live rock with minimum air or dark exposure can cycle a tank very quick, I for example have a 30 L or so nano that I put fish in near immediately because of live sand and I was able to purchase pre cured rock it was exposed to air for less then an hour and I still had a small spike from things dying off.

If anyone want to chime in on the potiental for saving the live sand.

This will take some time and a huge suggestion is increase your RODI storage/production capacity, in this hobby the ability to do a massive water change in emergency can be key.

Best of luck.

 

[Dave1993]

i dont care if the sand dies it was cheap anyways it was ocean direct live sand so probs not alive i just want to rock to work

 

[Midrats]

Carbon, skimmer, high flow, water changes and time. This is the way. It happens with all live rock unless you get stuff shipped in water.

 

[mallorie.gaughran]

maybe i can do 12 but rodi would have to be running all day

If you plumb your RODI unit into a plastic garbage can with a float valve, you can in a few days have that can filled up and then be able to do one large water change. We used to do this method. It would take a few days to get the can filled up and then we would pump over the RODI into another plastic garbage can and make our salt water in it. Then the RODI can would start filling again. May be better to go this route so you have the ability to do a large water change in case of an emergent situation.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Do a major water change, as much as you are able. Can you buy bottled bacteria? Fritz, dr tims or microbacter?

 

[Dave1993]

Do a major water change, as much as you are able. Can you buy bottled bacteria? Fritz, dr tims or microbacter?

got frizt turbo 900 on the way soon

 

[Brew12]

5ppm ammonia isn't too bad actually. Well, as long as you don't have livestock you are trying to keep. You can safely reach over 10ppm without harming the nitrifying bacteria that should have come on the rock. The fact you are seeing some nitrite is also an indicator that your cycle is still progressing.
If your rock has visible "life" on it that is fairly loose, such as sponges or algae, I would try to rinse some of that off. Tap water is fine.
If it looks pretty clean, I'd sit back and relax. The die off should end soon enough and the rock will have plenty of bacteria. Unfortunately, because of the shipping delay, the process isn't going to go as quickly as it otherwise would have.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Make water until the fritz arrives. Do your water change and dose the Fritz in your display after the water change.