Live Rock

[Jim Tansey]

I purchased and placed in my new 75 gal about 45 lb of live(?) rock from saltwaterfish.com the rock still looks as it did when I put it in a mo. ago, totally void of any life. Within 30 hr of placing the rock in the tank my nitrates went from 0 to over 100 ppm, nitrites went to 10 ppm both have remained at that level for almost a month, early on the ammoni went to .5 ppm for two days then fell to 0 and is still at zero. I did a 21 gal water change yesterday but the readings are about the same. This rock did not even have live Coralline algae on it, is it possible it has polluted the tank? Help what do I do from here.

[reese1906]

Do you have a protein skimmer?
DSB?
Live Sand?

I would not worry about the rock. With the right ingredients, the rock will be teaming with life in no time!

[zooqi]

Those rocks must have been cured and that is a good thing. First when you rocks from the ocean they come with all kinds of colors and then all the sponges and stuff will die and they will look bare. Caroline algae should start growing back. Your nitrate and amonia is normal when you get them and sometimes they last longer than that if they have more die offs. Here is the link to how rocks look when they come from the ocean and they are not cured and cycled.
fresh rocks (http://petcitypa.com/liverock.html)

but if you buy them right away then they need to be cured and cycled before you add fish and corals and they won't look as colorfull as those in the pictures.

[DaveJohnson]

Originally posted by Jim Tansey
Within 30 hr of placing the rock in the tank my nitrates went from 0 to over 100 ppm, nitrites went to 10 ppm both have remained at that level for almost a month, early on the ammoni went to .5 ppm for two days then fell to 0 and is still at zero. I did a 21 gal water change yesterday but the readings are about the same.
How does your water test right after you mix a batch for a water change? What sort of water are you using for top-off?

Cheers,
Dave Johnson

[Jim Tansey]

Water for change is R/O, aged 48 hr. tested fine.

[DaveJohnson]

Dang, was hoping you'd say "I use tap water". Then it would have been easy. :D

Cheers,
Dave Johnson

[arche]

does tap water kill everything on the live rock even if you use a water conditioner?

[mr_alberta]

Its not that tap water kills everything, its just that tap water may contain things that aren't good for reefs such as phosphates and various other minerals/metals.