help

[ubasst]

ok i have a 30 gallon sw tank (ok i know its small) i let it cycle for a month i had 2lbs of live rock 3 blue claw hermits and live sand the reads were good i had no problems..2 days ago i added 8 lbs of live rock and today my ammonia is at 0.6 and my nitrite is at 0.2 my ph is still good at 8.3 and my salt is still 1023 what can i do about this also my beautiful fiji rock is getting this white stuff on it and my purple coraline is starting to look funny i have a coralife 2 bulb 65w light fixture ---im very fustrated can someone help me on this thanku

 

[Erika_4404]

you may have to much live rock i have a 20 gallonSW and only have about five pounds also if you want the levels down right away you can buy this stuff called prime and do a water chang... you did do water chang before you put all that stuff in there ya. and as for white stuff on you live rock there has to e something in your water. you haven't put any copper in your tank have you? i would take out the live rock and do a water change get this sutff called PRIME and then throw your live rock back in there and see what happens also you could get this stuff called cycle and it might eat up the white stuff sorry i can't more help.

 

[Great Lakes]

Ubasst, you do not have too much live rock. Keep an eye on the readings and you should see the ammonia drop further. It sounds like you are getting close.

The "white" stuff you are seeing is your coralinne algae bleaching out. The largest reason could be your lighting. What is the spectrum? ie; 6500k, 10,000k. 50/50?

Another reason could be low calcium. I kinda doubt this, but it could hapen.

I would like to see a hardnees test and a calcium reading. I also run my SG at 1.025. But hey, people are all over on that.

Also, what tank temp are you running?

GL

 

[ostrow]

Where'd you get the rock? If it was from a GOOD lfs that cures it there in tubs, no doubt they had halides on it. So the shock of the lighting change is causing the bleaching. The ammo and nitrite are die-off inevitable when you move lr, it should stabilize in a couple days I'd imagine, unless the die-off continues due to parameters GL asked about.

 

[RamJet]

Did you scrub the live rock before you put it in your tank, if you didn't this could be the start of your problem. Fully cured live rock has been scrubbed, my LFS does not do this and there is alot of die off still on the rocks which can cause things to spike. I would do a 20% water change and get out an old tooth brush to knock any dead matter off the rock. Scrub them in the water you take out of your tank. You can put as much live rock as you want in that tank, I have a 75 gallon with over 200lbs. in it.

 

[ubasst]

I DEAL WITH A REALLY GOOD GUY FOR MY FISH AND ROCK THE ROCK THAT I BOUGHT LOOKED JUST LIKE YOU WOULD SEE IT IN THE MAGAZINES IT HAS ALL THE NICE COLORS ON IT ANYWAY BEFORE I PUT IT IN MY TANK I DID A SALT WATER WASH AND THEN I PUT THEM IN MY TANK..FOR LIGHTING I HAVE A CORALIFE 2 BULB LIGHT FIXTURE ONE IS A 10K AND THE OTHER IS AN ACTINIC 65 WATT EACH I DO THINK I HAVE ENOUGH LIGHTING WHY IS THE PURPLE AND NOT THE ORANGE YELLOW AND GREEN GET AFFECTED BY THIS?..SHOULD I BUY THAT PRIME STUF LIKE ERIKA SAID OR NO? HOW MUCH OF MY WATER SHOULD I CHANGE I HAVE BEEN USING POLAND SPRING WATER I DONT HAVE AN RO UNIT...THIS DOESNT MAKE SENSE TO ME I BOUGHT 2 POUNDS OF ROCK EARLIER AND I HAD NO PROBLEM NOW I BUY THE REST AND IM GETTING ZAPPED..IM NOT MAD JUST CONFUSED AND YOU GUY HELP BETTER THAN THE BOOKS SO I HAVE TO KEEP ASKING YOU AND THANKS AGAIN

IF I NEED CALCIUM WHICH KIND SHOULD I BUY DOES KENT MARINE SELL SOMETHING TO HELP??

 

[ubasst]

DOES FASTEST MAKE A HARDNESS TEST AND CALCIUM KIT THIS IS THE KITS IM USING I DONT HAVE THEM SO I HAVE TO BUY THEM WOULD ALKALINITY BE THE HARDNESS OF THE WATER THANKU FOR YOUR HELP AGAIN

 

[Great Lakes]

Yes, Alk is hardness.

 

[Erika_4404]

Kent dose sale a CALCIUM suppliment i would get the prime to help but don't use it all the time because you do want your biological filiter to do the job of the prime eventiually. i don't really know the problem with your Live rock maybe you just got a bad bach or something sorry. I might buy some cycle and see if that helps too. Did you buy the water testig kit?

 

[ubasst]

i bought the fastest master kit it comes with ammonia nitrite nitrate and ph thanku for your help i will buy the cycle and the other test kits

 

[ostrow]

I may have missed it but did you test pH? I wonder about that Poland Spring Water as a viable source.

Odds are it is still the change in lighting that is at issue, IMO.

 

[ubasst]

man i thought i would have enough lighting in my tank..i have a 10k bulb and a actinic bulb what more should i get? my ph was fine its at 8.3 the lr that i had in my tank since the beginning still has the purple coraline but the new that i added recently has lost most of it purple and is turning white

 

[ostrow]

Your lighting is fine. The point is it is different. It is possible the coralline is responding to the difference.

I switched my MH bulbs from 6500K Iwakis to 10K Ushios. The top of all my rock bleached white/gray. It is now coming back with coralline all colors of the rainbow. Slowly, much more slowly than the purple grows. But when the process is complete months from now it will be quite striking I think. Course, by then the bulbs will be aged, and it will probably all turn purple