Live rock took a turn for the worse

I have a 110 gallon tall tank. It is four months old. Live rock was doing very well. Purple algea was starting to come out. Then I started having an algea problem on my glass. My water tests were fine. No amonia, no nitrite, not nitrate. Then a LFS guy recommeneded I put Nitrate Sponge in anyway. That's when things started going bad. My live rock started turning brown. Vey brown. Gold and brown. I had 8 fish with 2 cleaner shrimp, 18 crabs, and about 10 snails. I have been introducing things very gradually. Could the Nitrate Sponge have caused a problem with my live rock? Is this a normal process? Will anything help get rid of the brown?

 

Tank cycling:There are some who would tell you that once "the numbers" are all good the cycle is over and you are ready to go, I am not one of those. What many beginner (even some advanced) aquarium keepers are not (fully) aware of is that the full cycle takes at least 6-8 months. The reason being, mainly, is this is the time required to fully cultivate a total beneficial bacterial base and achieve a saturation of such. Also, allowing the tank to "season" and go through the inevitable mini-cycles and diatom blooms and get fully established is the key to a healthy and stable tank in the future. You could have one fish after about the 6 week mark, let the tank get established by light feeding and going through a moderate light cycle (6-8 hours) for the next 3 weeks.At the 2 month mark, A 25% water change of the "total"water volume is in order. After that, add a few clean up critters (crabs and/or snails) and allow the tank to "catch up" to the added load (you may at this time add some live bacteria to help in this process) and give it another 2 weeks doing all your tests on a regular (weekly) basis and determine if the tank is stable. Water changes of 30% should be carried out once a month to once every 5-6 weeks. Coral should not be introduced (even soft) until the tank is around 3-4 months old. Too many beginners don't exercise the proper patience and discipline at this early stage of getting their tank going only to have problems and head aches down the road. Once the tank has gone through this full cycle period and the tank is stable, then and only then, should you add more difficult coral like hard coral. I always employed a bit of advice I got when I was starting out to add bacteria after each water change for the first and subsequent next 4-5 changes. After the 4th water change then and only then add to the tank and minimally at that.
Another good tactic I learned is to add (whatever you are adding) a couple days after a water change. This gives the new creature fresh minerals and trace elements and a good 3-4 weeks (I adhere to 4-5 week intervals between changes) to adjust to the new water parameters, light, temp etc. before disrupting the tank for the next water change.
I hope this helps.

 

I agree with unclejed. I know it's hard to resist, but IMO that's a lot of fish for 4 months, especially on how big they are.

Rule number one, LFS will sell you pretty much anything just to make a buck. (unless they are truly into the hobby, the LFS I go to won't sell & will refuse to sell if it will not work in your tank.)

What's your setup? Do you have a sump, refuge, skimmer, etc???

How old are your bulbs & what are they?

As coralline algae grows, your calcium & magnesium will drop quicker. You didn't say if you had any coral, but they & other living things in your tank will use it up as well. You will need to add them both to maintain the proper level for both. I started my system 5/17/2010 & for the past 3 weeks I have been adding both, because it was dropping fast due to the rapid coralline algae growth.

Check to see if you have stray electricity in your tank. Probably not, but not impossible.

I would always ask here on 3reef before trusting what someone else is making a buck on.

 

I didn't introduce fish until after two months. The 8 fish I now have are on 1 to 1-1/2 inches. I have Metal Halide lights and PC lights. The bulbs are four months old like the tank. I have a refugium with protein skimmer. I really think that Nitrate Sponge stuff messed with my tank. The directions said rinse it first. Even though I rinsed and rinsed and rinsed there was still a powdery like clowdy stuff in my water when I introduced it. Next thing I know my tank that was looking great and doing way better than anticipated went downhill. Thanks for the tip on asking the experts first!!

 

That sucks.. Did you take it back out, I hope? I'd also bring it back.

 

What kind of filters are you getting your water from? Are you using R/O DI water?

 

Yes I did take the Nitrate Sponge out. But the damage was already done. I am using RO water.

 

You don't really have a clean up crew (CuC). That needs to be added/established before you start adding fish...

I've got around 200 snails (6 or 7 different species) in my 55 gallon... Your 18 crabs and 10 snails is barely anything in a 110 gallon...

 

good advise above. the first year is the hardest.

 

Thanks for the advice. I bought 20 more snails and dozen more crabs. I will add some more later.