Now what to do?

[Knoxjoelee]

Live rock is in. Now what to do? Lol

 

[jent]

Do you have an ammonia source? A possible source would be if the rock is not cured, or was shipped in, the stuff dying on it will be an ammonia source? If that is not the case, you need to add an ammonia source, then test and test and test. Watch the cycle till the system is cycled (will go from ammonia -> Nitrite -> Nitrate).

Search on "Cycling a saltwater aquarium"...you will find tons of info.

 

[Knoxjoelee]

The rock I got was from a guy on Craig's list 20 min from my house so it want out of salt water for more then 1/2 hour will there be any die off an if not what should I do just keep testing ?

 

[VicD81]

Anytime you move anything you are going to get a cycle. You should be good with just the rock, sand and water. As stated previously you will see your ammonia spike then decrease as your Nitrite goes up then decrease as your Nitrate goes up

 

[Knoxjoelee]

Here's what I got going on.

 

[saltyphish]

looks like diatom bloom part of the cycle process. patience is important in this hobby. All you need to do now is wait. maybe add an ammonia source if you don't show ammonia. Once ammonia and nitrites stay consistently at 0 the it's time for a cuc.

 

[cymonous]

Since the rock was out for at least a half hour, there probably will be some dieoff. I would do some tests for ammonia and nitrites. If you actually have 0, I would add some kind of ammonia source to cycle your tank. You can use pure ammonia, a cocktail shrimp(put in filter sock for easy removal) or add a couple pinches of fish food daily till you get an ammonia reading of at least 1ppm. I like to start the cycle of my tanks with 4ppm of ammonia using pure ammonia from the store.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Since the rock was out for at least a half hour, there probably will be some dieoff. I would do some tests for ammonia and nitrites. If you actually have 0, I would add some kind of ammonia source to cycle your tank. You can use pure ammonia, a cocktail shrimp(put in filter sock for easy removal) or add a couple pinches of fish food daily till you get an ammonia reading of at least 1ppm. I like to start the cycle of my tanks with 4ppm of ammonia using pure ammonia from the store.

+1. This is exactly what I would do. It also gives you some time to see if any unwanted hitchhikers pop up.