New Tank Questions

[mcunnin812@aol.]

I have a new 10 gallon tank and I have a few questions regarding where I am at with cycling and curing LR. Here are the particulars:
-Bought 10 LBs of LR from LFS, UNCURED. Fresh off the plane, still smelly.
-LFS told me to put in tank and let cycle for 2 weeks. Do not need to do water changes in this time.
-Followed their instructions. It has been about one week. Appears that everything in tank is dead or dying, its very smelly, very murky, and there is a white wispy organic material covering 90% of the rock. Even worms are dying. In general the tank looks sick, but from what I gather in forums this is normal due to die off during curing?
-Question #1: Should I be doing water changes in spite of what LFS said?
-Question #2: Will what I am doing result in all hitchikers dying?
-Question #3: How do I get all this dead organic matter out of tank? with a turkey baster or if I put in CUC will they consume it?
-Question #4: In general am I on the right track and should I just be patient?

Thanks Everyone!

[Fish_wiz2]

1. NO
2. Yes but most hitchhikers are not beneficial.
3. A filter (DUH)
4. Yes ans Yes

[phenom5]

Question #1: Should I be doing water changes in spite of what LFS said?

Depends. What is your ammonia at?

Question #2: Will what I am doing result in all hitchikers dying?

Depends. Some may survive, many will die. Many will find their way back into your tank once your all setup if you plan on making this a reef tank.

Question #3: How do I get all this dead organic matter out of tank? with a turkey baster or if I put in CUC will they consume it?

Do not add a cuc at this time, or they'll probably die. You can suck up dead organic material with a turkey baster, or you can get some airline tubing, put a filter sock on one end, and drop that end into a bucket (or your sump if you have one, although it doesn't sound like it). Get a siphon going, and suck it out, then you can add the water back into your tank, and the filter sock will catch all the decaying stuff.

Question #4: In general am I on the right track and should I just be patient?

Patience is always a good thing. However, I would be a little concerned based on your description. You really need to run some tests on your water. Especially during your cycle you should be testing (daily):
SG
pH
ammonia
nitrite
nitrate

Without those test results, it's really hard to say if a water change is needed, although, I'd say that doing a water change is (almost) never a bad thing...even during the cycle.