Should I keep doing water changes during rock cure/cycle in this scenario?

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Hi, not new to aquariums but no experience cycling a small tank with live rock.

I bought 5-10 lbs of live rock that was shipped to me overnight for a new 5 gallon pico. It was from a guy's tank in the US (near me) so it didn't spend long out of the water. When it arrived, it smelled fine, so I figured it didn't need a full cure. I put it in the tank to start cycling (no livestock in tank, but trying to preserve coralline and beneficial HH's on the rock).

Well, the first night my brand new heater malfunctioned and in the morning the tank was cold. There was a lot of die-off and a bacterial bloom. I have done multiple partial water changes (25-50% at a time), but the ammonia is still registering at 8 ppm (as high as my test kit goes). There is still lots of stuff live on the rock (sponges and coralline mostly), and the cloudiness in the tank has improved since the water changes and it no longer smells like death. Some of the sponges look dead/grey, others are still brightly colored.

My question is: the water changes don't seem to have a measurable impact on the ammonia levels. Should I keep doing them? Should I leave it alone and let the BB grow and take care of the problem? I don't mind waiting months, just want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. I've read that going above 5 ppm ammonia will kill what's left in the tank, is that true? Does ammonia kill coralline and sponges or was it just the temperature that did that?

Thanks

 

[saltyhog]

Larger single water changes (100% if it's a small water volume) will be far more effective in lowering the ammonia level to a more manageable level. I have never had ammonia affect coralline algae at all. My concern would be the sponges and other life. Remove anything that is already dead and keep doing what you're doing would be my thought.

 

[brandon429]

You should do a 100% water change

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Larger single water changes (100% if it's a small water volume) will be far more effective in lowering the ammonia level to a more manageable level. I have never had ammonia affect coralline algae at all. My concern would be the sponges and other life. Remove anything that is already dead and keep doing what you're doing would be my thought.

You should do a 100% water change

Thanks, will do that as soon as my new batch of saltwater mixes. If it still tests with high ammonia after a 100% water change (after a day or so) should I continue doing changes daily until it doesn't?

 

[brandon429]

after the total change we should switch to not using api to manage the ammonia, too many confounds.

we are better at it using tank pics actually, post your full tank shot real quick.

it will be rare for already cured tank rocks to keep leaking over and over, the first pass is usually the only dead worm avail. lets see how thick in growths this rock was


-water clarity matters. after your full wc if it stays clear, that alone reduces the issue of free ammonia. if it keeps reverting back to cloud/smelly you had some amazing rock

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Here's before and after pics, from the morning after the heater issue and just now. I'll post another once I do a 100% change.
Before:

After:

Guess it's not that much better now that I compare them. But the smell alone tells me things are improving because the whole house reeked the first morning. I siphoned out all the dead worms I could while doing previous pwcs

 

[brandon429]

agreed i have never seen a complete water change lend anything but clear water before. it does look the same. that looks like half changed out

 

[brandon429]

take one rock out and set it in a large cup of water and see if it goes cloudy within 2 mins like that above

 

[DeniseAndy]

I is better (slightly), but maybe wait 24hrs and do another 100% change. Such a small tank, should be easy.

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

agreed i have never seen a complete water change lend anything but clear water before. it does look the same. that looks like half changed out

Yeah that is after multiple pwcs. Waiting for water to heat and mix fully to do a 100% one. I will post an update once I do

 

[LivinTheSwreefLife]

Here it is immediately after 100% wc. Let's see if it stays clear... Fingers crossed

Ammonia immediately after change registered around 0.5 ppm

 

[DeniseAndy]

Much better. Give it some time and it should be a short cycle with some of the rock live to get it started and the die off boosting the bacteria.