Got Live Rock Today! Any Advice?!

[lesleyanndunn]

i got 24 kilos of uncured live rock today...

brought home and put in tank with powerheads and skimmer running

we have placed live rock on egg crate so water can flow all around

now.. some advice, and have read things to do next, but lfs told conflicting advice

1. do you do water changes while live rock is curing? or do you just syphon some dirt off the sand bed when required and top up water when needed?
2. when do you start testing the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate? and how often?
3. do you cycle with lights off or on?


how soon should you see any life come out of the rock? any wee critters?

 

[SkiFletch]

1, no water changes till cycle completed. Just leave it for now

2, ammonia 24 hours later, nitrite soon too. Once a day is fine. Once ammonia is 0, start testing for nitrite and nitrate. then when nitrite is zero, keep testing for nitrate for a couple days to see if it rises. If not and nitrates are 20ppm or higher, then do a single BIG waterchange to get them down before you add stock.

3, cycle with lights on say 6 hrs a day minimum. You can go for a more "normal" 8-10hrs, but it's not really necessary.


Critters will begin appearing within days and will continue to appear for the coming weeks/months

 

[lukkylady]

well a wee update

have had my live rock in curing for 10 days...
diatom bloom in full swing
some water stats done today

amm 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, ph 8.2

are these ok?
anything else i need to be doing at this stage?

or just leave alone to cure?
cheers!

 

[SkiFletch]

Sounds like its already cured. Get those cleanup crew in there

 

[lukkylady]

ooooh can i !!!

wee trip to lfs i think then!

cheers for info!

 

[littleme1969]

As long as you have had zero ammonia for about 5 days straight then you are OK for CUC. Also your nitrates need to be constant at between 0 -10 for a few days too to be on the safe side

 

[@ombomb]

As long as you have had zero ammonia for about 5 days straight then you are OK for CUC. Also your nitrates need to be constant at between 0 -10 for a few days too to be on the safe side

slightly misleading... as long as you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and nitrate is under control (10 or less) you are ok to add CUC.

 

[lesleyanndunn]

thanks for all the advice

am doing a big water change tomorrow, and siphoning off all the stuff off sand

will test every day until thursday, and if stats stay down

gona get some clean up crew on thursday

no life came off the live rock

so wana get some critters in the tank

we wont be putting any fish in until the end of may cos we are away for 2 weeks and no-one to check on tank

so plenty of time to settle tank down

any advice on how many clean up crew i need? and what kind and numbers?

is it too early to add a starfish? does the tank need to be more matured?

cheers