Just looking for advice

So im sure you guys get this alot, but im just wondering if someone can settle my nerves, i just started my 55 gallon tank, today is the 3rd day, I put in some LR yesterday, that i got from some one on craigslist. Im worried that the rock might have been dying, I know my tank needs to cycle, and my PH level is close to perfect, its a little low. and my Nitrites is a little high not by much, but my Nitrates is off the chart. should i be worrying about the LR maybe causing the high Nitrate's due to it dying? or do i need to stop worrying about it and let the cycle finish and check the Nitrate levels later.
BTW my salinity is around 1.018 to 1.021, and my temp. is about 75 to 80 depending on what time of day it is...

also i will add this is my first attempt at a saltwater tank. well im off to do some more research! thank you in advance for any help or advice you can offer!

 

BTW the LR is 5 medium to large rocks, 2 small small rocks, and 2 pieces of hard coral.

:edit: sorry to any mods that need to move this, i just relized this should have been posted in the new hobbiest section. sorry for the slip up.

 

First of all your tank is not ready for coral yet . If there is any way possible you need to get those out of the tank. (unless you are referring to coral skeletons)

As for the live rock, die off is ok right now because you are cycling your tank. In the future, you need to cure your rock before placing it in your tank. Or else the die off will cause a nitrate spike and may harm your livestock. Have you tested for ammonia? Just be patient, let your tank cycle, don't run a protein skimmer during the cycle, and once the ammonia and nitrites drop to dead zero you need to do water changes until your nitrates are 0-10ppm and you can add a fish. But each time you increase your bioload you may have a small ammonia, nitrites, nitrate spike. Make sure you have enough live rock to handle the bioload (about 1-2 lbs of rock per gallon).

Are there any fish in there right now or is the die off the only source of ammonia for the cycle? Once your cycle is done and you have safely built up your bio filtration to match the bioload and you have good water conditions you can put the corals back in.

Oh and my pH was a little low during the cycle too. It should steady back out once your tank is mature.

Try to stabilize your temperature. Your heater shouldn't let the water get below 77-78 degrees F. If it gets above 80-81 you might want to run a fan. 80-81 is nothing to be alarmed about thought. And corals prefer a slightly higher specific gravity to around 1.024-1.026. Fish will be fine at 1.022 but corals will need more salt. try to raise that over the next few days. You said 1.018-1.021. That's a pretty big fluctuation. Try not to let specific gravity fluctuate outside of +/- .001
And are you measuring that with a swing arm hydrometer. If so, you should consider getting a refractometer in the future before you get any livestock. You will be surprised how far off those things can read. I would never trust one again.

 

there is nothing in the tank but the LR, and im almost postive the piece of hard coral is dead, its almost white, but has alot of green algae all over it. is there any good links you could offer to the best way to cure LR

 

Live Rock - Curing Guidelines - Marine and Saltwater Aquarium
this is a great site to learn about curing live rock in the future. Basically you are placing the rock in a large rubbermaid container or such with a powerhead for circulation and some mechanical filtration and letting the die off take place in the rubbermaid container instead of your aquarium. During the curing process the rock may have a sulfur "rotten egg" smell to it. Once it smells like a fresh ocean wave and is not introducing ammonia into the water, it's done curing. This also gives you a chance to remove any unwanted hitchhikers from the rock that may have snuck in such as bristle worms or mantis shrimp.

 

By the way welcome to 3reef. There is alot of helpful people and information here. Just remember, what ever mistakes you make, they have already been made by us, and we are here to see to it that you don't make the same mistakes, so don't be afraid to ask something. And you can also learn alot from reading other peoples posts.

 

After my tank has cycled do i need to cure LR every time i put some in the tank, i cant afford any more rock at this point. thanx for the advice, i also used 20 pounds of live sand new, and 15 pounds crushed coral new, and about 5 to 10 pounds of live sand from another tank, on top of that i put in about 10 gallons from an established tank hoping to speed the cycle along.

Im using a swing arm hydrometer that reads 1.018, but when i took a water sample to petco they the salinity they showed was about 1.021 - 1.022

 

If you don't cure the rock each time, you will have die off in your tank and depending what species of fish inverts and corals you have even the slightest spike in pollutants could kill your livestock. So I would recommend it especially for a small tank like a 55 gallon.

Since you are using live rock, established sand and water, your cycle may be very short. So good job on that. Just keep monitoring the levels.

 

Hi. Welcome to 3reef. Blue Falcon is giving great advise. I thought I'd throw some out from a different angle.

Good luck!

you and petco are both using notoriously inaccurate devices... the refractometer is basically always accurate, quick to use, less messy, and easy.


Good luck. Ask away... tons of questions, I'm sure. ;D

 

thanx so much.

here are my parameters,and yes im using test trips, and also never buying them again....my nitrate Looks to be about 200ppm , Nitrite about 2.0ppm, Alkalinity about 300ppm maybe higher (already hate these strips with a passion BTW) PH looks about 8.0 maybe 8.1