live rock question

[cioutlaw]

tank (55gal) was set up a week with an undergravel filter which was removed(thought it was a good time to upgrade) 48 hrs ago along with the crushed coral before removing amonia was at 1.0, I then added & a live sand floor, 60lbs of live rock & an cannister. Now 48hrs later I have amonnia at 8.0!! ...I got the live rock from a local store (that I trust) I was told it wasnt nessasary to clean or cure..I did dunk it in a bucket of aquarium salt water to get rid of anything loose. I now wonder how fresh this stuff was, i guess i should have asked more questions.

Is this normal or is it because there is dead stuff in the rock? How long should i expect the ammonia level to come down? I havent seen any critters yet or anything else that looks alive. there is some plant material that might come around

[reefking]

That may have happened if you put all 60 pounds of live rock in at one time. :cool:

[cioutlaw]

That may have happened if you put all 60 pounds of live rock in at one time. :cool:

yes i did...what sort of time table should i expect to see the levels come down or anything I should do in the meantime? Are water changes good or bad at this point?

[reefking]

I didn't do my first water change till I was at my 2nd or 3rd month I think, I would give it about a week and check it again.

[cioutlaw]

Thanks for the info....just so I understand "why" this happened...is it because of dead plants & bacteria on the live rock? And is this normal or did i get some poor quality rock. I read posts of other hobbiest seeing different hitch hickers with their live rock...should I expect to see something within the first few days or should I assume I have no critters?

[reefrash]

Sponges many times are the culprit, just give it a little time and you should be fine. Wait until you are showing minimal or no ammonia and do a sizeable waterchange it'll be all good. Of course you were expecting to "get the show on the road" sooner, just be patient and you might find some cool stuff on the rock that survived.

[cioutlaw]

I thought I might have a rise in amonia but didnt expect 8.0 I wasnt impressed with the look of the rock either but maybe it is normal. I have what looks to be coral attached to a rock...maybe its a sponge, picture attached (lense on my cam is not good for close ups) you can see it in the 2nd post of this thread http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65443

[reefrash]

If I put on my xray goggles it looks like a sponge. :joe: