Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Hi Bob
I would like to say that all is well, but it turns out that the rock the supplier sold me is only part cured, as I suddenly started to notice small white patches of decay forming on the surface of the rock, even though the rock looked healthy at the beginning. The water also started to turn cloudy and stank rather badly. I did an immediate water change, 20% NSW, and set the protein skimmer running. All else as per your instruction. The cloudiness has gone, the smell from the water is now a rather earthy smell, while the decay on certain items is evident, such as sponges, the remainder of the rock looks ok. The protein skimmer is pulling out a dark brown soup, about 50ml every 24 hrs. The foam is solid and not watery. Should I stop protein skimming once the tank appears normal again and restrict it to only if the problem re-appears again?
I looked at a site last night advertising Aquarium test kits. They had a full Master test kit for 60 dollars that did 10 different tests, the description as advertised....
The HAGEN Aquarium testing made simple and accurate. The Master Test Kit includes everything you need to quickly and easily obtain precise measurements of your water's chemistry. This kit tests 10 different water parameters including: low and high pH, iron, nitrite, phosphate, nitrate, calcium, GH, KH and ammonia. For fresh and saltwater.
Not having ever gone the route of Live Rock before, and never having seen the stuff or had the chance to handle it, it's a little difficult to know what is right and what is wrong. So I thank you for kindly holding my hand through the process...And I do not want to slow the process down, mess up what I have already, loose the contents or kill off anything that could be saved, or spend un-necessary money on things when the same money could go into my livestock.
Patience I suppose is the key and doing the correct things.
I have one other good piece of news, the fact that I found a company supplying R/O Water in 5 ltr canisters. They sell it at my local supermarket for about $1,00 per 5 liters. I phoned the company who sells it as they had a number on the side, and he assured me that a lot of fish keepers are now using his water... so lets see.
Well, until later
Regards,
Mike Leppton, Cape Town
Hi Bob, me again! I found this rather informative site detailing the curing process, the second one detailing in tank curing; would this be correct for rock that is not fully cured yet? I have included the shortcut...also the dealer that I am thinking of using for my test kits..... take care
Mike.
Hi Mike,
What you did was correct, and keep the skimmer going, however, discontinue any lighting. Apparently got was uncured live rock and that's the worst possible way to begin a new system. It just presents far too many nutrients to a system not yet microbially stable, and this generally encourages unwanted algae, sooner or later. And once started, its extremely difficult to keep under control for many reasons. If I had known this, we would have gone another route. But it's too late now, but am a little upset about this whole thing, but we need to move on.
And one dollar is far too much for about one gallon of "RO" water. Please, read the SpectraPure product review of their RO/DI on my website so you better understand the difference between them and why "both" processes are the way to go when tap is used in the aquarium.
I recommend the Aquarium Systems Fastest kit for calcium, nitrate, alkalinity, and pH. Get the Salifert kit for magnesium and phosphate. Find someone who sells them. Believe me, experience counts as to what brand kits you get, and I've had almost all brands.
And "patience" is the key word! Haste makes waste so to speak.
For now, keep skimming, keep the lights off, don't put anything into the aquarium (fish or inverts), get the proper test kits, do a 10% weekly water change, and simply be patient! When you have all the kits, send me their results and we'll move on from there.
Cheers,
Bob
