Quick question on curring live rock

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BavarianBuilt

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To start, I've got a 44 gal tank which has had water and live sand in it for about a month. No fish or inverts yet. Two days ago I added 35 lbs of live rock. I'm a bit concerned about my live rock so I figured I ask here and see what everyone thought.

I ordered my live rock from a company in California and I live in Virginia. It was shipped via UPS on a Monday and I was to get it Friday. Due to some extreme weather somewhere across the US my package was delay and ended up sitting in a UPS storage facility for a weekend. I ended up getting it the following Monday. The live rock was packaged in a plastic bag which was then placed in a Styrofoam box, which was placed in a cardboard box. When I received the package the entire bottom of the cardboard box was soaked and any water inside had leaked out. The live rock also had a sort of musty/dirty odor to it. I went ahead and scrubbed it down in a saltwater filled bucket and put it in my tank.

Two days later, all seems fine. My ammonia level is currently at 1.0 and the protein skimmer is just now starting to foam up. My question is, should I be concerned my live rock sat out of water for a week? I don't want to have extreme die off and have uncontrollable ammonia level in my tank. I'm just afraid nothing living on/in the live rock may have survived. Any input or comments are welcome. Thanks in advance. :)
 

superlynx

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I am just starting out with live rock, but I think I read somewhere that someone has their in newspaper for a month and after a few months, it started to look alive. I think you maybe ok, but I am just a beginner is this.
 

BavarianBuilt

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Sounds good, thanks for the reply. Maybe some of these seasoned aquarists can chime in with some good info. :grinno:

EDIT: I also want to add that I don't have any power heads. The only thing circulating water in my tank is the power filter. What is a good power head for a FOWLR setup?
 
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Reefscape

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Two days later, all seems fine. My ammonia level is currently at 1.0 and the protein skimmer is just now starting to foam up. My question is, should I be concerned my live rock sat out of water for a week? I don't want to have extreme die off and have uncontrollable ammonia level in my tank. I'm just afraid nothing living on/in the live rock may have survived. Any input or comments are welcome. Thanks in advance. :)

The musty odour will be from the rock dieing off from transit. Some of the organisms on the rock will of died, but, on the whole, i dont think you have anything to worry about. By you giving a scrub before adding to the tank will help to control the ammonia ( ammount of die off )...However, ideally now, you do want ammonia to rise, to about 4 - 5ppm to start the cycle off in the tank...
 

Reefscape

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Sounds good, thanks for the reply. Maybe some of these seasoned aquarists can chime in with some good info. :grinno:

EDIT: I also want to add that I don't have any power heads. The only thing circulating water in my tank is the power filter. What is a good power head for a FOWLR setup?

Look into Hydor Koralia powerheads..These are good devices and give a nice wide dispersed flow....
 

BavarianBuilt

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Update for everyone, just checking to see if these water conditions sound normal. My ammonia is down to 0, nitrite is 10 and my nitrate is 160. My pH has also dropped down to 7.5. Yesterday my ammonia was at .5, nitrate at 10, nitrate at 160 and pH at 8.0. I'm going to try and do a 50% water change tomorrow to try and get those nitrate and nitrite levels down. Is it normal for it to cycle this quickly? How can I bump the pH back up to around 8.0?
 

Andrew225

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There's a few products out there that you could use.
Proper PH is one...One packet and it sets it at 8.2, pretty convenient stuff.
 

Catpicklesdog

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I'd wait til your cycle is completely finished before doing any water changes and worrying about PH. When your ammonia and nitrIte are zero and you nitrAte has come down and stabalized for a week, then you're cycled, then do a water change.:grinyes:
 
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