Uncured Milliput And Other Newbie Cycling Questions

[CageUK]

I have an orca that I'm just setting up.

The additional powerhead that I put into the left most chamber was leaching air into tank via it's speed control switch. I found the best way to stop this was to use milliput over the offending gap. Not wishing to permanently wreck the switch though I have just used the yellow part of the putty which obviously will not cure. Is it likely to be harmful to the future occupants of the tank in this state?

My gut instinct tells me it should be ok as I wouldn't have thought that any part of this product would be toxic at any stage but just want to check prior to stocking.

Also, I have read that there is no need to feed a cycling tank but an lfs tells me to put some food in to start the process off. I have got some household ammonia which I have used to cycle several freshwater tanks (the Homebase one) and would prefer to use that instead if suitable. I will be using live rock which I hope to get immenantly. If ok to use, and is necessary, what sort of ammonia level should I be aiming for or is it just a token amount to kick things off?

Thirdly, how robust are the hitch hikers on live rock? It seems to me that you go to all that trouble to acclimatise your fish stock and softies etc but you just bung the live rock into whatever water you first start off with (assuming that you have checked your basic parameters) and of course this water has not yet gone through a cycling process. This does not seem to kill all the critters off so whats the deal here...and why don't they make your normal tank stock from critter material?

Cheers

Mark

 

[xxBarneyxx]

What size orca did you get?

I think the milliput will be ok. Not 100% sure but like you I assume that if it is ok when its mixed it will be ok on its own.

With regards to cycling if you are using live rock that all you need. you do not need to add any food and don't use any ammonia in there. Basically live rock is like buying a mature canister filter you just have to watch out for the die off and spikes (which if it is cured shouldn't be to high or last too long).

Its amazing how hardy life on live rock can be! It does seem though that the bad critters tend to be able to survive a lot better then the good ones but in general I don't think a lot of marine critters are as sensitive as we think they are. That being said you can probably assume that for every critter you see another 2 or three didn't make it. My tank has been set up for about 5 months now and I'm still finding new stuff in it on a regular basis