I may have killed my live rock?(Chlorine)

[Strabo_jv]

Hi, I'm new to the hobby of keeping saltwater aquariums(I've always done freshwater)and Ive been searching for 2 nights now and i haven't really found the answer I'm looking for so maybe someone will know. I just started a 29g biocube about 3 weeks ago, for the first 1.5 weeks I just let the system run with only water in it. I soon got 50lb of Fiji live rock in by mail and started curing it. The rock was in pretty good shape from what i could tell. its been curing for about a week and a half now and the ammonia is reading zero.

The problem is I used tap water which I just learned has chlorine in it(around .52ppm is what I got from the county water website) and I'm afraid I killed the live rock. I've read its fine to use tap water when curing live rock from one site but the majority said its the worst thing ever. If someone could clarify that would be great! If the rock is dead should I be worried when I go to put in RO water and recycle the tank? I read I could seed the dead rock again with a piece of already cured rock correct?

Thanks in advance btw

[Steve McKay]

You could have used a large caliber rifle and killed it quicker. Welcome to Reefland.No,that's not how you do it.You need to research what you are doing,go to the top of Reef Aquariums forum and read the sticky entitled "Click here before you ask (Links to answers)".This will give you some general knowledge.

[Parrothead]

What does the tank smell like? if it smells like extreme low tide, you probably crashed the system, if it doesn't smell like that let it ride, what signs do you have that make you think you killed your rock??


Never ever use tap water for anything in your tank, ro/di is the way of reefing

[Strabo_jv]

The tank doesnt really have a smell to it. When I first open it, it smells like the Chesapeake bay, which is insanely dirty, but that goes away right away and i guess that is a good sign.
I've been taking nitrate readings and they are at a steady 30ppm. I figured they would drop since nothing is in the tank except the rock

Anyways i called my local fish store and they said they use tap water all the time for their tanks but i have a feeling the girl doesnt realize they have a system installed. Im going to let it ride for now and either buy a DI unit today or get a RO unit online and read more on the subject so hopefully i can avoid such a novice mistake again.

Thanks again

[Parrothead]

That's your best bet, check out the sponsor section on the main page, theres a really good company listed right at the top

[Doodaa]

The problem is I used tap water which I just learned has chlorine in it(around .52ppm is what I got from the county water website) and I'm afraid I killed the live rock. I've read its fine to use tap water when curing live rock from one site but the majority said its the worst thing ever. If someone could clarify that would be great! If the rock is dead should I be worried when I go to put in RO water and recycle the tank? I read I could seed the dead rock again with a piece of already cured rock correct?

Thanks in advance btw

I doubt you killed your rock with tap water. Chlorine is the most deadly chemical, but it dissipates pretty quickly. There are other things in tap water that are more serious especially long term...nitrates, phosphates, silicates, copper, lead, aluminum...just to name a few. Your rock will reestablish itself soon enough as long as you don't overload your system with livestock too soon. The thing with curing live rock is making sure all the dead stuff is decomposed and gone before adding it to the system. Yours is new, so keep an eye on the ammonia, like your doing, then nitrites, and finally your nitrates. The posts in the sticky are good reading. The nitrogen cycle is what you need to focus on right now.

What does the tank smell like? if it smells like extreme low tide, you probably crashed the system, if it doesn't smell like that let it ride, what signs do you have that make you think you killed your rock??


Never ever use tap water for anything in your tank, ro/di is the way of reefing

Yup, RO/DI...pure water...no contaminants. Even glass can absorb stuff, rock absorbs even more. Whoever told you to cycle your rock with tap water was wrong.

[Strabo_jv]

Alright so i got my RO/DI unit in last week and i've been doing about 30% water changes to get all that tap water out. The live rock seems to be fine from what i can tell. The ammonia levels are now zero and the nitrites are somewhere between 1-2 ppm and are just taking forever to fall, but they are falling since it was at +5 ppm when i first started testing. The nitrates are rising and are somewhere between 20-40 ppm so hurray i didnt kill my live rock!

I just wanted to pop in and say thanks to everyone who responded to my thread, it was all pretty useful, I put in some mushrooms that my brother gave to me from his tank that he didnt want anymore(his over growth) and they are doing really well surprisingly, im kind of wondering how accurate my nitrite readings are but we will see

[Ninong]

Alright so i got my RO/DI unit in last week and i've been doing about 30% water changes to get all that tap water out. The live rock seems to be fine from what i can tell.

All of the chlorine was gone within 12 hours. You didn't really do very much, if any, harm to anything because you don't have any fish in your tank and they're the ones most sensitive to chlorine. It irritates their gills. Your live rock will be fine.

Using R.O./D.I. water is a good move.

The ammonia levels are now zero and the nitrites are somewhere between 1-2 ppm and are just taking forever to fall, but they are falling since it was at +5 ppm when i first started testing. The nitrates are rising and are somewhere between 20-40 ppm so hurray i didnt kill my live rock!

I just wanted to pop in and say thanks to everyone who responded to my thread, it was all pretty useful, I put in some mushrooms that my brother gave to me from his tank that he didnt want anymore(his over growth) and they are doing really well surprisingly, im kind of wondering how accurate my nitrite readings are but we will see

It would be a good idea to hold off adding any more corals, even mushrooms, until your nitrites are down below 0.1 ppm and your nitrates have finished rising and then dropped below 25 ppm.

Good luck!