Another Cycling question

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#1
I have about 25-30 lbs of rock in a tub of about 8 gallons of red sea max water from a LFS. I got the live rock from another reefer, but had it out of water for about 3 weeks (so I assume all dead). The rock was kept in some 5 gallon buckets with covers and moist when I took them out. I pulled off most of the dead tube worms, brushed the rock generally, and rinsed in some more salt water before finally putting them in the tub for cycling. Temp is around 78 and there is a koralia powerhead keeping flow in the tub.

I first put in all the rocks in the water on april 14. I first tested the ammonia the next morning and it came out looking like it was around 0.25 on the test. I did the full testing for pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate 2 days later on april 17 b/c I didn't have the chance to the first day. Numbers came out to be pH at around 8.0, ammonia at 0 ppm, nitrite at 0 ppm, and nitrate at around 80 ppm.

I was assuming that the rock was mostly dead and wasn't expecting any ammonia reading. however ammonia the initial start at 0.25 made me think that it might be slightly alive. I was re-reading cycling procedures again to try to figure out. I plan to put in a little live rock in on Sunday from a buddy's tank.

did I do first the test wrong? i guess adding the live rock on sunday will seed it eventually, but I wanted to know if my first test was just wrong or could in fact the ammonia go up a tiny bit before dropping because there is some bacteria (long shot)
 

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#2
There is a very strong probability that there will be some die off. Your initial ammonia test was probably accurate. I would test again before adding the rock to the display. Either that, or be prepared for an ammonia spike of some sort in the DT. being that the rock was still moist at the time you put in the buckets for the initial cycle, there was probably still live nitrafying bacteria present and will speed thing's along. Just don't be surprised to see some sort of spike.
Good luck, and be patient. Many a seasond reefer will tell you, nothing good happens fast in this hobby.
 
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#3
Yea I wasn't expecting it to be cycled already. I assumed everything was dead already after three weeks. But yes it was still moist. When you say spike do you mean another ammonia spike?
 
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#4
Possibly... Until everything is zero... Ammonia and Nitrite, there is the possibility of a spike. Sounds like you did your homework and scrubbed all the obvious stuff off. Good start, then went with buckets and power head. Good follow up. As for adding live rock from a buddies tank, even better.. I think you are definitely on the right path, just don't be surprised to see a bit of a bump of ammonia and subsequently Nitrite. Possibly not much, since you are going about this the right way. Just don't be over anxious to drop a bunch of corals or fish in right away. Like I said earlier, patients is key. Add slowly and you will be rewarded.
 
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#5
I'm going to try to put in the live rock today and maybe wait another week or two. I'll test some more later. I'll also dose with ammonia afterwards and see what happens. I'm in no rush since I don't really have a ton of time to do a big project at once, so it works!
 
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#7
Hey Bruindave,

How is it looking now? After reading the thread, I'm curious about how it is sizing up.
i had to get some time to actually be able to test the water, but they're exactly the same as when i first tested the water on 4/14. i have like 2 small pieces of live rock in there still (i took one out for the QT) from a friend's aquarium. those 3 pieces or LR from my friend's aquarium have been in there for 3 weeks now. So I'm going to guess that it's cycled...

i'm just surprised that the live rock stayed cycled with being out of water for about 3 weeks at the beginning. true it was in a moist, dark environment, but still 3 weeks out of water?
 
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#8
i forgot to mention that i have been feeding invisible fish once per week and so the ammonia doesn't seem to build up either. so i guess all good.
 
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