Live Rock in Freshwater

[RedTail87]

Probably a stupid question, I'm sure. Today I bought all the supplies to convert my freshwater tank to saltwater and I fear we did something very stupid.... We put the sand and cured rocks in, filled it up with freshwater then added the salt mixture. Should I assume we killed everything in the rocks and sand?

I know now that you're supposed to mix the water first then add the sand and rocks after ... Thankfully I only have like 4 rocks in the water but I'm worried I killed everything off. I have some sand still in the bag so I can add some of that to replace any killed critters. I will eventually buy more rocks and I know that will contribute more critters but I'm still curious about the current rocks.

So like I said, stupid question I'm sure. But I'm awfully curious! I plan on letting the tank sit with its rocks and sand for probably a month or two before getting fish. I want to try and get the water perfect then get a couple of those blue/yellow damsels. Read that they're good starter fish.

Thanks!

 

[Reefmack]

Thread moved You'll probably be OK if it was just rock and sand. It may take a while to re-establish the bacteria in the rock, and hopefully a lot of the life forms got through it OK. Yes - mixing the salt in the water before adding the rock would have been best. Undissolved salt landing on corals, etc. can be pretty toxic.

 

[DaveK]

Most likely you did kill off everything. However, you need not discard the LR or LS. Once you get the SG of the water balanced, you can add a few more rocks and some additional live sand and over time it will reseed the original LR and LS.

It also might be a good idea to use the one small shrimp, purchased from your local grocery store or seafood market to make sure the cycle starts.

I would consider damsels, almost all types, to be a less than ideal fish to start with. They can get really nasty, and unless you plan a tank of similar nasty fish, you exclude lots of other desirable fish.

 

[PIMPALA]

I would consider damsels, almost all types, to be a less than ideal fish to start with. They can get really nasty, and unless you plan a tank of similar nasty fish, you exclude lots of other desirable fish.

best. advice. EVER.

 

[jjmoneyman]

I had to rip my rocks apart to catch my damsels to return them to my LFS. They are easy starter fish but once you get beyond them and start adding other fish they just aren't friendly.

 

[RedTail87]

Thread moved You'll probably be OK if it was just rock and sand. It may take a while to re-establish the bacteria in the rock, and hopefully a lot of the life forms got through it OK. Yes - mixing the salt in the water before adding the rock would have been best. Undissolved salt landing on corals, etc. can be pretty toxic.

Thanks for the tip. I didnt realize the salt could hurt the corals as well.

Most likely you did kill off everything. However, you need not discard the LR or LS. Once you get the SG of the water balanced, you can add a few more rocks and some additional live sand and over time it will reseed the original LR and LS.

It also might be a good idea to use the one small shrimp, purchased from your local grocery store or seafood market to make sure the cycle starts.

I just placed two shrimp in there today.

I had to rip my rocks apart to catch my damsels to return them to my LFS. They are easy starter fish but once you get beyond them and start adding other fish they just aren't friendly.

...I would consider damsels, almost all types, to be a less than ideal fish to start with. They can get really nasty, and unless you plan a tank of similar nasty fish, you exclude lots of other desirable fish.

I didnt realize damsels were like that. Glad I posted something here. I had just noticed that the little blue/yellow ones were fairly cheap and supposedly tough. So I figured they would be good starter fish for the tank.

So I'm guessing not everything died because now I have these little brownish/red things popping up. I'm assuming they are glass anemone?

I also spotted this guy a few days ago:

Picture of my tank from a few days ago:

My tank is still fairly foggy. I bought a sponge today to wipe down the inside walls of the tank and that helped a little. Does it usually take this long to clear up?

It is a 55 gallon tank. The test results have been the following since Thursday:

Gravity is 1.022-1.023
PH 8.0
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
temp 75

I have the skimmer, the powerhead and a Fluval 305 going. I would like to put about 80-100 pounds more rock in (theres 20 now) but I was told to only put small amounts in at a time?

 

[Ssullivan]

that reddish brown thing looks like aptaisa and ive never heard of only adding a few lbs of live rock at a time usually you add it all at once and let it cycle

 

[flyline]

hey red tail just so that you know no question is a stupid question...there are many people here that can help you out and its not like a lfs on here they are not trying to sell you anything they honestly just want to help..many people on here myself included have kepy saltwater tanks for a while and are still asking help from the "pros" good luck im sure everything will turn out for the best

 

[RedTail87]

that reddish brown thing looks like aptaisa and ive never heard of only adding a few lbs of live rock at a time usually you add it all at once and let it cycle

Yeah, after doing some research I discovered that. Went to the store and bought some Aiptasia X and used that. Seems to have killed them all? Going to wait and see if any pop up.

hey red tail just so that you know no question is a stupid question...there are many people here that can help you out and its not like a lfs on here they are not trying to sell you anything they honestly just want to help..many people on here myself included have kepy saltwater tanks for a while and are still asking help from the "pros" good luck im sure everything will turn out for the best

Thanks for the assurance! I just felt so goofy asking that question because it really seemed like a "Duh!" question.