[squiggz98]

After posting a few weeks ago I have decided to start over and add live rock to my 65gal tank. I just want to make sure everything is going correctly which I think it is. I just added 45lds of LR to my tank the LR is semi cured. I read somewhere that I should scrub the LR everyday is this true? My pH is 7.8 and ammonia is very high at 8 I think this is all going good for the beginning to the cycle. If you have any suggestions for me or just want to tell me that everything sounds good it will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

John

[Samper]

Leave it alone for a while, scrubbing the LR can cause you to loose things that you might want to keep. If there is cyano or hair algae something along those lines then yes you can scrub it. Every time you add a significant amount of LR to a system it goes through a mini cycle. If anything I would suggest increasing your flow to help blow off some of the dead gunk.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by squiggz98

I read somewhere that I should scrub the LR everyday is this true?

If your life rock had any obvious dead or dying tissue on it you should have scrubbed that stuff off prior to putting the rock into the tank. I have never heard of scrubbing the live rock after you start the cycle but in your case it may be something to consider at this point if there is obvious dead stuff on the surface.

My pH is 7.8 and ammonia is very high at 8 I think this is all going good for the beginning to the cycle.

If your total ammonia is 8.0 ppm, that is extremely high. If it is only 0.8 ppm, that's fine at this stage. Normally you do not do any water changes during the early stages of cycling (curing) your live rock but if you really do have 8.0 ppm ammonia, you might want to consider doing a 50% water change or, if you can see obvious dead stuff on the surface of the rock, removing the rock to a separate tub of saltwater for a thorough cleaning.

If your rock was semi-cured, you should not be having ammonia readings that high at this point. Usually ammonia peaks at around 3.0 ppm or thereabouts, but 8.0 ppm is really very unusual unless you are curing totally raw rock that has not been cleaned at all.

The alternative would be to do nothing and then re-test for ammonia every day to make sure that it is falling. That is a viable option now because the 8.0 ppm ammonia has killed off just about everything except bacteria already.