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)
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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