KPA Live Rock Cycling

[pinocchio]

I recently started my new ProStar 90 tank, and put in 50lbs of KPA live rock. I read that using true live rock from the ocean expedites cycle time. Is this true? For my last tank (many years ago) I used store bought live rock and waited a month.

I was also wondering what parameters I should be checking and how often? When will I know it’s ready for it’s first fish?

Thanks in advance

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I recently started my new ProStar 90 tank, and put in 50lbs of KPA live rock. I read that using true live rock from the ocean expedites cycle time. Is this true? For my last tank (many years ago) I used store bought live rock and waited a month.

I was also wondering what parameters I should be checking and how often? When will I know it’s ready for it’s first fish?

Thanks in advance

You should be checking for ammonia because even if shipped in water the live rock willl have some die off and this will cause ammonia which is toxic to living animals

 

[stoney7713]

You should be checking for ammonia because even if shipped in water the live rock willl have some die off and this will cause ammonia which is toxic to living animals

To add to this, watch for ammonia and nitrates. You might actually skip seeing ammonia at all and simply see nitrates rise.

There may be enough bacteria to handle any die off.

 

[bushdoc]

Live rock shipped in water will have some die off, but not a big amount, so ammonia may drop in just a day or two. Years ago most of live rock would come wrapped in wet paper and there would be more die off, hence longer cycle. You may also want to keep live rock for few days in separate container with powerheads and heater and examine daily for undesirable hitchhikers. I eliminated mantis shrimp that way.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I've started 3 tanks recently all with kp premium live rock and all the tanks got dinos within the first 3 months, they all went away in about a month. Its Some of the best rock I've seen, with tons of algaes good and not so desirable, along with bubble algae too.

If you watch ammonia and the die off for a week or two you should be good to go, its best to "cure" the rock in a bare bottom tank so you can see everything that falls off the rock and any unwanted hitchhikers and remove what you don't want. When I thought I got all the crabs there's always one more, and still couldn't get all the bristle worms or pistol shrimps but I would still definitely recommend their rock, and great people to work with.

My last order was the best, they hooked me up with flat bottom shelf rock, I was more than happy as I requested this type. 5/5* A++

 

[pinocchio]

@thatmanMIKEson what are Dinos?

Currently my ammonia is like .5 - 1. I’ve been doing 20% water changes every other day. No nitrites or nitrates yet. If I do see rises in those what should I do?

As for hitchhikers, there were for sure a few super tiny worms that I saw in the tank, can’t find them any more. Other than that there’s a handful of start fish, hermit crab, and either shrimp or lobsters. Too small to tell.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

@thatmanMIKEson what are Dinos?

Currently my ammonia is like .5 - 1. I’ve been doing 20% water changes every other day. No nitrites or nitrates yet. If I do see rises in those what should I do?

As for hitchhikers, there were for sure a few super tiny worms that I saw in the tank, can’t find them any more. Other than that there’s a handful of start fish, hermit crab, and either shrimp or lobsters. Too small to tell.

●Dinos are all over this forum!

●If your doing waterchanges you shouldn't see a rise in anything.
●those tiny worms are probably bristle worms, the starfish are probably brittle stars or serpent stars, the hermit crabs are probably gorilla or emerald crabs, and the shrimp or baby lobsters are probably pistol shrimp.( do you hear loud popping sounds)

All good reasons to "cure" this rock in a small bare bottom glass aquarium for a few weeks prior to placing it in a main display tank.

 

[stoney7713]

One of these ammonia alert badges are nice to watch too. I just completed my live rock cute using it.

 

[pinocchio]

●Dinos are all over this forum!

●If your doing waterchanges you shouldn't see a rise in anything.
●those tiny worms are probably bristle worms, the starfish are probably brittle stars or serpent stars, the hermit crabs are probably gorilla or emerald crabs, and the shrimp or baby lobsters are probably pistol shrimp.( do you hear loud popping sounds)

All good reasons to "cure" this rock in a small bare bottom glass aquarium for a few weeks prior to placing it in a main display tank.

Are the starfish and those other hitchhikers safe for the tank? Or should I be removing them as I see them?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

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Are the starfish and those other hitchhikers safe for the tank? Or should I be removing them as I see them?

Thats up to you, everything has a purpose, I would try to identify what you have and then see if that's something you want, if not you can remove them. Removing them can be difficult, I have a few pistol shrimp I couldn't remove but they seem to die off after a while, or atleast the popping stops. The brittle stars and small crabs are a little difficult to remove because they are so good at hiding in holes, but definitely try to identify what your seeing and decide if thats something you want in your tank. Some of the hitchhiker algae is what concerns me, and that too can be pretty difficult to fully remove.

But your question about fish, it should be ready to go add a hardy fish and try it out add a few the first week and a few more in the second week if everything looks good and is eating food, it should be good to go, 50lbs of rock in a 90g tank should have enough nitrifying bacteria to sustain a few fish and as the weeks go on that will multiply quickly.

slow is safe

 

[pinocchio]

Awesome. Thanks for the info. I’m consistently seeing about 1ppm of ammonia and zero nitrite and zero nitrate. Should I wait for the ammonia to go down at all?

 

[DaJMasta]

Your cycle will not be complete until your ammonia is all the way down and you have some nitrate present. If you want more of the stuff on the rock to survive, get your ammonia down and quicker is better.

My preference for good live rock is 'soft cycling' where you do big water changes from the first day to try and minimize the ammonia spike and additional deaths because of it - many things could have made the trip but then die in the ammonia wave once in the tank. This means the 'cycle' results take longer, but you'll still end up at no ammonia and some nitrate at the end, plus all of the hitchhikers that came in and survived the trip, and since all of the live rock was already well seeded with useful bacteria and microorganisms, it's already 'cycled' in the practical sense and just needs to gradually colonize the rest of the system.

 

[pinocchio]

Your cycle will not be complete until your ammonia is all the way down and you have some nitrate present. If you want more of the stuff on the rock to survive, get your ammonia down and quicker is better.

My preference for good live rock is 'soft cycling' where you do big water changes from the first day to try and minimize the ammonia spike and additional deaths because of it - many things could have made the trip but then die in the ammonia wave once in the tank. This means the 'cycle' results take longer, but you'll still end up at no ammonia and some nitrate at the end, plus all of the hitchhikers that came in and survived the trip, and since all of the live rock was already well seeded with useful bacteria and microorganisms, it's already 'cycled' in the practical sense and just needs to gradually colonize the rest of the system.

@DaJMasta Anything I can do other than water changes to get Ammonia down? Been doing consistent 20% water changes.

 

[stoney7713]

@DaJMasta Anything I can do other than water changes to get Ammonia down? Been doing consistent 20% water changes.

Water changes are best, since it's just the live rock the larger the better. I did nearly 100% on my recent tank but it was only 13.5 gallons.

 

[DaJMasta]

I guess in conjunction with water changes, I would just make sure that if anything is obviously dead, to remove it. Less ammonia in with less death, and I would refrain from feeding until the ammonia drops (maybe live foods - copepods or phytoplankton would be ok). It's also important to have your normal circulation pumps going and your lights on at least some - some of those creatures are filter feeders and photosynthetic and allowing them to do their normal thing helps reduce excess casualties.

Since the rock already has the bacteria in good populations, you shouldn't be seeing ammonia for a long time - maybe a week of daily water changes should be plenty (and most of mine have been only a few days worth). The idea is to dilute it sufficiently that things can live (preventing generating extra), but still allow it to be processed by the bacteria so they can keep colonizing the tank.

 

[Tired]

You either need to be doing large water changes or dosing something to detoxify the ammonia. That'll kill your beneficial organisms if you don't get a handle on it.

Gorilla crabs should be removed and humanely killed, as they're destructive to reef tanks. Polyclad flatworms are another to watch out for, again to remove and humanely kill. Beyond them, most things you're likely to see are harmless if not outright beneficial. When in doubt, catch it alive, put it in a big cup of water, and take pictures to show us. Someone can probably ID it for you. Keep a pair of tongs (preferably soft-tipped) and a turkey baster by the tank, so you can catch mystery critters easily, and check for critters at night.

 

[pinocchio]

I’ve been doing about 20-30% water changes everyday and still hovering around .5-1ppm. I’m starting to think maybe it’s just the API tests I am doing. Maybe I should try another brand?

The live rock has been in the tank for about a week. How long should I wait before trying to add something that will help detoxify? I don’t want to kill stuff on my new rock.

 

[Tired]

API frequently gives small false positives, but that seems like more than just a small false positive.

Now! You can add an ammonia detoxifier, like Prime, now. They're safe to use with livestock- that's the entire point of an ammonia detoxifier.

 

[GatorGreg]

Your 50lbs probably came air freight wrapped in wet paper towels. Probably took 2 or 3 days to get to you? That’s why you’re seeing a cycle. Your ocean rock is still preferable to dry rock and bottled bacteria. Hang in there. It’s worth it. Don’t get frustrated

the only way to expedite or skip cycle is to have rock that’s shipped in water over night (nano and pico amounts of rock). Even then there may be a minimal ammonia spike. My Tampa bay saltwater rock that was overnighted in water during very mild weather saw absolutely no ammonia spike and was instant. But my Aussie rock from unique corals was shipped in wet paper towels overnight. I let sit in a bucket for like three days and did daily water changes. Didn’t even test for ammonia until the 4th and there was none present using seachem free and total ammonia test kit.

hang in there. Use this time to dial equipment and everything in. Don’t use it to worry and question your cycle. Throw a pic of the tank up?

 

[19Mateo83]

Put the api test in the garbage can where it belongs. Find a quality one like salifert.