Help with dying "Bugs"

[ElMonoDelMar]

Hey guys. I need some help with an issue that may have come up. I just set up my tank on Tuesday with livesand and one small piece of LR. I've noticed that the little black "bugs" that normally swim around the live rock are all at the surface dead. I'm not sure what's causing this and I'm sorta worried because my friend who also has a reef tank says this isn't normal. I've checked the water on my tank and the amonia is a little high but nothing abnormal since it's in the middle of it's cycle. The SG of the water is 1.0235. It's a bit high but I don't think that would kill the buggars. Do you guys think something's wrong with my tank or will this tank be ready for fish once it finishes its cycle. Thanks in advance for your help.

[Geoff]

since it is in the beginning of the cycle i would not be to worried about it. 1.023 is not high, unless you are thinking of doing a FOWLR and do not want any invertibrates. i keep my reefs at 1.026. depending on what the S.G. of the tank that the LR came out of, this could have killed the pods. i quick change of S.G. could cause the pods to either pop or implode.

i would just keep an eye on the water quality for the next couple of weeks. by this time you should start seeing more pods lurking around.

G~

[ElMonoDelMar]

Bueno. Everything seems to be fine now. I guess I kept the live rock out of water for too long and it killed all the life on it. I've got more live rock now and all is good. Thanks for your input.