dolphinsfan
02-16-2004, 8:29 PM
I'm getting frustrated and really need some help here.
Last spring I bumped into the Garf site and decided to try using their method for setting up a coral tank. I started making rocks and let them cure in a bucket outside. I was doing frequent water changes for a while to help the rock cure and after about 5 months, noticed algae starting to grow on them. From what I had read, I thought that they were fully cured. Mistake #1 - I didn't check the ph of the water. A couple rocks were cured and a couple were not.
I decided to start with a 29g and if all goes well, I want to also start a larger tank and use the 29g for growing coral frags. (This may have been mistake #2).
About 3 months ago, I put the rocks in the tank and ordered 9lbs of Garf Grunge. After about 4 days of the rocks being in the tank, I noticed small bits of concrete floating on the water. I checked the ph and it was 10. I took all of the rocks out of the water, put them in separate buckets of water and tested the ph after 2 days. Only 2 of my 6 rocks were fully cured.
Next, I did a 5 gallon water change and put the 2 cured rocks back in the tank. After a week or 2, I started to get an algae bloom and started testing for ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia was 2ppm and Nitrite between 2 and 5 for about 3 weeks. When nothing was really moving, I changed the powerhead from a maxijet 400 to a 1200 (It is used as an undergravel filter for the first couple of months and I felt that the 400 might not have been able to pull enough water through the 4 inches of aragonite). Now I have a 29 gallon whirlpool.
For about 2 weeks now, ammonia has read 0 and Nitrite is still reading between 2 and 5. I was concerned that with nothing alive in the tank, the bacteria may begin to die off. After mentioning this, I was told to get a couple damsels as the tank is almost completed its cycle (Mistake #3 - should've just got shrimp). I bought them early last week and they looked ok so on Saturday I bought 2 scarlet reef hermits and 1 margarita snail. I was hoping they would be ok and could start the cleanup process. After dripping them for about 2.5 hrs, I placed them in the tank. The snail fell off of the glass after about 1/2 an hour and hasn't moved since. The hermits are alive but not really moving around. Then, today both damsels died.
Can someone please give some good advice what I should do? I want to use their method as I am planning on setting up a very large tank in about a year and will need to be able to do it cheaply (It will be in an addition that I'm putting on the house).
My most recent tests showed 0-.25 ppm Ammonia, 2-5 ppm Nitrite and ph of 7.85 (I started yesterday adding Seachem Marine buffer to increase).
Sorry for the long post.
Last spring I bumped into the Garf site and decided to try using their method for setting up a coral tank. I started making rocks and let them cure in a bucket outside. I was doing frequent water changes for a while to help the rock cure and after about 5 months, noticed algae starting to grow on them. From what I had read, I thought that they were fully cured. Mistake #1 - I didn't check the ph of the water. A couple rocks were cured and a couple were not.
I decided to start with a 29g and if all goes well, I want to also start a larger tank and use the 29g for growing coral frags. (This may have been mistake #2).
About 3 months ago, I put the rocks in the tank and ordered 9lbs of Garf Grunge. After about 4 days of the rocks being in the tank, I noticed small bits of concrete floating on the water. I checked the ph and it was 10. I took all of the rocks out of the water, put them in separate buckets of water and tested the ph after 2 days. Only 2 of my 6 rocks were fully cured.
Next, I did a 5 gallon water change and put the 2 cured rocks back in the tank. After a week or 2, I started to get an algae bloom and started testing for ammonia and nitrite. Ammonia was 2ppm and Nitrite between 2 and 5 for about 3 weeks. When nothing was really moving, I changed the powerhead from a maxijet 400 to a 1200 (It is used as an undergravel filter for the first couple of months and I felt that the 400 might not have been able to pull enough water through the 4 inches of aragonite). Now I have a 29 gallon whirlpool.
For about 2 weeks now, ammonia has read 0 and Nitrite is still reading between 2 and 5. I was concerned that with nothing alive in the tank, the bacteria may begin to die off. After mentioning this, I was told to get a couple damsels as the tank is almost completed its cycle (Mistake #3 - should've just got shrimp). I bought them early last week and they looked ok so on Saturday I bought 2 scarlet reef hermits and 1 margarita snail. I was hoping they would be ok and could start the cleanup process. After dripping them for about 2.5 hrs, I placed them in the tank. The snail fell off of the glass after about 1/2 an hour and hasn't moved since. The hermits are alive but not really moving around. Then, today both damsels died.
Can someone please give some good advice what I should do? I want to use their method as I am planning on setting up a very large tank in about a year and will need to be able to do it cheaply (It will be in an addition that I'm putting on the house).
My most recent tests showed 0-.25 ppm Ammonia, 2-5 ppm Nitrite and ph of 7.85 (I started yesterday adding Seachem Marine buffer to increase).
Sorry for the long post.