Live Rock Question

skyler78 · 02/06/2012, 11:15 PM

I bought 8 lbs of LR from a LFS cured sitting in a tank. Then bought another 34 lbs from a friend that has an established 200 gallon tank. My original water and filters were given to me from another friend with an established tank. Was it a bad idea to put 42 lbs of this rock into my tank even though it already has bacteria and is cured?

My tank has a horrible Nitrate problem after a 50% water change it decreased to half as I thought it would. But then shot back up a few hours later. I'm wondering if the nitrates are in the live sand bed and or LR? What could cause the nitrates to spike this fast?

thanks to anyone that can help.

Garia666 · 02/06/2012, 11:26 PM

well i think your going for another cycle. so prob expect algea.
anyway i just got here. so wait for an awnser of an pro reefer.

sporto0 · 02/06/2012, 11:28 PM

How old is the tank? How big is the tank? Do you have livestock in it? Why on earth did you use "old" water from your friends tank? The water could have been loaded with nitrates to begin with.

skyler78 · 02/07/2012, 08:45 AM

Yeah I think it was loaded with Nitrates. Well he's my girlfriend's dad and he bought me an aquarium and got me started. I didn't ask or anything he just brought it over one day so its not like I had time to research what was about to happen. Looking back I'm sure his water was loaded with Nitrates because it came from one of his tanks he neglected and the tank had algae on the side. He also dropped 15 fish in my 30 gallon - 13 damsels two scissorfish.. So I've been trying to catch up on reading and figure out how to correct this problem. The first step I took was to take the 13 damsels to the LFS. So now I only have 2 fish in the tank. I did a 50% water change and now that I think about it the numbers were right, it went from 160 to 80 and it's been on 80 ever since. Would it be a good idea to do 30% water changes once a week for a month then cut back to 5%. I really want to quit messing with it and just let nature do it's thing?

RubberFrog · 02/07/2012, 08:55 AM

Letting nature do it's thing is great, but nature gets rid of nitrates by growing algae. I would do 20% per week and refill with salt mixed with rodi. And keep cleaning out the algae.

skyler78 · 02/07/2012, 09:41 AM

Would it be ok to put a few hermit crabs in there to help with the algae? The fella at the LFS said it was ok to put those in before my tank finishes cycling. But I'm starting to figure out if they're on commission they are difficult to trust.

Curtis.H · 02/07/2012, 09:55 AM

Assuming you have a sump put some macro algae in it for nitrate export. Do your reseach on the different types of macros first. Cheato is usually the most popular because it doesn't go asexual like some caulerpa do. Use a CFL buld (5.5k or 6.5k) on it and you should see your nitrates decrease pretty quickly. As the macro grows cut it back and throw it out.

The macro in the sump will compete with the algae in the display tank for nutrients. If you have lights on your display tank turn them off for a few days. Leave the light on the macro on 24/7 until you get things under control.

02/06/2012, 11:15 PM	#1
skyler78 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Fort Wayne, indiana Posts: 71	Live Rock Question I bought 8 lbs of LR from a LFS cured sitting in a tank. Then bought another 34 lbs from a friend that has an established 200 gallon tank. My original water and filters were given to me from another friend with an established tank. Was it a bad idea to put 42 lbs of this rock into my tank even though it already has bacteria and is cured? My tank has a horrible Nitrate problem after a 50% water change it decreased to half as I thought it would. But then shot back up a few hours later. I'm wondering if the nitrates are in the live sand bed and or LR? What could cause the nitrates to spike this fast? thanks to anyone that can help.

02/06/2012, 11:26 PM	#2
Garia666 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 64	well i think your going for another cycle. so prob expect algea. anyway i just got here. so wait for an awnser of an pro reefer.

02/06/2012, 11:28 PM	#3
sporto0 Moved On Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Pittsburgh, Pa. Posts: 2,924	How old is the tank? How big is the tank? Do you have livestock in it? Why on earth did you use "old" water from your friends tank? The water could have been loaded with nitrates to begin with.

02/07/2012, 08:45 AM	#4
skyler78 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Fort Wayne, indiana Posts: 71	Yeah I think it was loaded with Nitrates. Well he's my girlfriend's dad and he bought me an aquarium and got me started. I didn't ask or anything he just brought it over one day so its not like I had time to research what was about to happen. Looking back I'm sure his water was loaded with Nitrates because it came from one of his tanks he neglected and the tank had algae on the side. He also dropped 15 fish in my 30 gallon - 13 damsels two scissorfish.. So I've been trying to catch up on reading and figure out how to correct this problem. The first step I took was to take the 13 damsels to the LFS. So now I only have 2 fish in the tank. I did a 50% water change and now that I think about it the numbers were right, it went from 160 to 80 and it's been on 80 ever since. Would it be a good idea to do 30% water changes once a week for a month then cut back to 5%. I really want to quit messing with it and just let nature do it's thing?

02/07/2012, 08:55 AM	#5
RubberFrog Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 286	Letting nature do it's thing is great, but nature gets rid of nitrates by growing algae. I would do 20% per week and refill with salt mixed with rodi. And keep cleaning out the algae.

02/07/2012, 09:41 AM	#6
skyler78 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Fort Wayne, indiana Posts: 71	Would it be ok to put a few hermit crabs in there to help with the algae? The fella at the LFS said it was ok to put those in before my tank finishes cycling. But I'm starting to figure out if they're on commission they are difficult to trust.

02/07/2012, 09:55 AM	#7
Curtis.H Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 139	Assuming you have a sump put some macro algae in it for nitrate export. Do your reseach on the different types of macros first. Cheato is usually the most popular because it doesn't go asexual like some caulerpa do. Use a CFL buld (5.5k or 6.5k) on it and you should see your nitrates decrease pretty quickly. As the macro grows cut it back and throw it out. The macro in the sump will compete with the algae in the display tank for nutrients. If you have lights on your display tank turn them off for a few days. Leave the light on the macro on 24/7 until you get things under control.