Setting up a new tank.

GUS · 07-12-2004, 05:11 PM

Can anbody help with setting up the new tank. I'mgoing to transfer everything from my 20 gallon tank to a 70 gallon. I know I need more rock so I'm going to get some from aquarium arts. they stated that I can put that rook in the tank and it would cylcle becuase it is fully cured. No die off! has anybody gotten rock with them and how long did it take to cycle if any? Thanks for your help!

motorslave · 07-12-2004, 05:32 PM

Hi! And welcome to TRT! Youll find a wealth of info and experiance here.
From what Ive found by reading and listening to the folks around here, any live rock shipped by whatever means is going to have some amount of die off. Alot of the places that sell rock over the net say that it is fully cured. It seems that "fully cured" can have several meanings. You might want to do some research on the company and how they cure the rock. Do they do it themselves or is it shipped straight from the source? How do they package it? These two things will impact the state of the rock upon arrival. As far as the time to cycle, you will have to keep tabs on your water parameters regulary untill everything levels off. Paitence is the only way to go, it will save money on livestock in the long run.
Hang around as Im sure more folks will chime in with even more and better input than myself. As I said, there is a wealth of knowledge here at TRT.

Robert

GUS · 07-12-2004, 05:58 PM

Its packaged with water and there curing process takes 30-60 days. They are only about 2-3 hours away so I will probably pick it up myself. They also package it with ice packs.

SPC · 07-12-2004, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GUS

Its packaged with water and there curing process takes 30-60 days. They are only about 2-3 hours away so I will probably pick it up myself. They also package it with ice packs.

Hi Gus,

If you plan to pick it up yourself then this will help alot. Just make sure you treat it like a living animal and there shouldn't be much of a problem with die off.
Steve

taboo · 07-12-2004, 08:27 PM

yeah i think that might make a difference. when i got mine shipped, it was suppose to be cured. I learned the hard way. I ended up curing the LR in my tank. And my room stunk for 3-4 weeks. Even with hardcore water changes, and skimmer going full blast. Never again! hehe. I'm sending all new rock i get into a rubbermaid tub. It also gave me loads of phospahtes that took me forever to fight.

yardboy · 07-12-2004, 10:21 PM

Yea Gus, despite what the lfs says, and even if you feel confident that you got it home quickly, the proof is in the chemistry. Set up your new tank with the new rock supported off teh bottom and no sand, run it with a skimmer and water movement, then monitor the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and see what happens. After a week or so, if you don't see any ammonia or nitrite it might be fully cured. If a lot of detritus forms on the bottom, vacuum it out and put a little food in the tank and watch the ammonia again. If after two weeks you still see no ammonia or nitrite (and you have confidence in your test kits) maybe the lfs was being truthful and you were able to transport it without any dieoff and you can go for the transfer. Now the above instructions are for the very impatient. If you value the livestock you're putting in on top of the new rock, like me you'll wait quite a bit longer ( I waited four months, but my rock was definitely not cured, though the lfs said it was. I didn't believe them anyway, so I wasn't disturbed by it.) before moving. Patience is a virtue, and livestock saver!
Oh my goodness, 999 posts. I guess my 1000th should be really profound, eh? Anyone got any suggestions?

GUS · 07-13-2004, 12:42 PM

Has anybody ordered from this company?