A couple things over the next week or two and cycle help....

[DungSl1nger]

that arrangement there is the least likely to get dinos of any new tank in my opinion going off simple post patterns

dry rock starts comprise about 90% of dinos issues, per any dinos challenge thread

9% are live rock tanks with it
1% are kp/or TBS this sums up dinos invasion post ratios fairly in my opn

that being said, if some show up dont bother identifying them just siphon the heck right out, when the size of a half dollar, vs waiting until bigtime

I bet that diversity suppresses them though. height of bacterial heterogeneity is right now, curves down over time but still better than average tanks Ill bet. nice ocean sourcing

The KP rock is so much lighter than the dry stuff I replaced. The dry was as dense as lead and because of that I feel my mandarin clears out the pods that I cultivate and dump in every week due to lack of hiding spots. My desire was to add the biodiversity to support some SPS corals.

Now we wait

 

[MPCReefer]

Received 20 lbs today. Great rock, now to get ammonia under control. Already did roughly 30% and only brought it down to 1.2 on Red Sea test kit. Do you think Prime is necessary or no?

 

[DungSl1nger]

Received 20 lbs today. Great rock, now to get ammonia under control. Already did roughly 30% and only brought it down to 1.2 on Red Sea test kit. Do you think Prime is necessary or no?

I used used prime over night then changed water the next day. This went on for a few days.

 

[MPCReefer]

I used used prime over night then changed water the next day. This went on for a few days.

Will definitely give that a try. Thanks!

 

[DungSl1nger]

You’re welcome I called KP because the ammonia maxed out the Red Sea test. They said prime is fine.

 

[Bellamy803]

I am terrible with aquascaping but all 25 pounds are in. This rock compared to the dry rock I had is night and day. I think the pods will enjoy the hiding spots.

Looks great...how much rock total is that in the tank? The 25 lbs of KP is only a portion of that yeah? or is that all KP? They were not able to get out and harvest my rock last week so I have to wait for the next shipment now. I bumped my order up from 45 lbs now to 60lbs total. What is your tank size and how many pounds of rock is that? any pics you can share of whole tank so I can see the overall pic of the rocks in comparison?!?

Also total cure time??? 7-10 days?

Looking good!!!!!!!

 

[DungSl1nger]

Looks great...how much rock total is that in the tank? The 25 lbs of KP is only a portion of that yeah? or is that all KP? They were not able to get out and harvest my rock last week so I have to wait for the next shipment now. I bumped my order up from 45 lbs now to 60lbs total. What is your tank size and how many pounds of rock is that? any pics you can share of whole tank so I can see the overall pic of the rocks in comparison?!?

Also total cure time??? 7-10 days?

Looking good!!!!!!!

Thank you!

I put all 25 pounds of the KP rock in. I have circled it in the attached photo. It has about 50 pounds in the Red Sea reefer 250 (54 gallon display). I also saw another red Mithrax crab made it through.

I did have to remove 2 bulbs of bubble algae. I just pulled the rock, removed it and rinsed with new saltwater.

2 weeks cure time for me

 

[Bellamy803]

Thank you!

I put all 25 pounds of the KP rock in. I have circled it in the attached photo. It has about 50 pounds in the Red Sea reefer 250 (54 gallon display). I also saw another red Mithrax crab made it through.

I did have to remove 2 bulbs of bubble algae. I just pulled the rock, removed it and rinsed with new saltwater.

2 weeks cure time for me

Very cool. I thought I could pick out the fresh KP. Just barely though. My display is 73 gallons so I am thinking the 60 lbs of KP along with maybe 1-2 pieces of shelf from marco will be all I need.

 

[DungSl1nger]

Very cool. I thought I could pick out the fresh KP. Just barely though. My display is 73 gallons so I am thinking the 60 lbs of KP along with maybe 1-2 pieces of shelf from marco will be all I need.

Sounds good. I started with terrible blocky dry rock and hated the scape. The KP makes a difference a shelf or two is in my planning as well.

 

[schuby]

I can see from your side-shots that your two wave-makers are directly in line with each other and that your sand is lower in the middle. I initially set my tank up the same as you, with wave-makers on each side, pointed at each other. My sand had a large divot in the middle due to the turbulence where the two streams of water were colliding. I move them both off-center, in opposite directions, and the sand-hole in the middle stopped forming. Just something to consider.

Your new, live rock looks great!

 

[DungSl1nger]

I can see from your side-shots that your two wave-makers are directly in line with each other and that your sand is lower in the middle. I initially set my tank up the same as you, with wave-makers on each side, pointed at each other. My sand had a large divot in the middle due to the turbulence where the two streams of water were colliding. I move them both off-center, in opposite directions, and the sand-hole in the middle stopped forming. Just something to consider.

Your new, live rock looks great!

Thank you and Thanks for the suggestion. They do need to be adjusted since I put the rock in. Will likely do that Saturday. For a while it didn’t matter because the goby would replenish the center of the tank every day. He might have realized he was losing the battle against the return.

 

[Bellamy803]

I can see from your side-shots that your two wave-makers are directly in line with each other and that your sand is lower in the middle. I initially set my tank up the same as you, with wave-makers on each side, pointed at each other. My sand had a large divot in the middle due to the turbulence where the two streams of water were colliding. I move them both off-center, in opposite directions, and the sand-hole in the middle stopped forming. Just something to consider.

Your new, live rock looks great!

Got a pic? would love to see.

 

[schuby]

I don't have any pics of the divot (that was very early last year when tank was starting up), but I'll try to take a side-shot tonight.

 

[schuby]

Here's a side-shot. The distance each powerhead is from the side is just about the width of my magnetic glass cleaner.

 

[MPCReefer]

You’re welcome I called KP because the ammonia maxed out the Red Sea test. They said prime is fine.

Did your rock lose some of the deep purple color during curing? Sorry if I missed it but how much water did you cure it in? My 20lb is in 20 gallon long so probably 12-15 water volume.

 

[DungSl1nger]

Did your rock lose some of the deep purple color during curing? Sorry if I missed it but how much water did you cure it in? My 20lb is in 20 gallon long so probably 12-15 water volume.

It did loose some of the color, I ended up doing 25 pounds in 35 gallons.

One other thing I have noticed since I put that rock in was my calcium dropped about from 372 to 329 in two days. I did a water change so I will see what it is in the morning. I am making an assumption because the color is coming back that the Coralline Algae is using the calcium.

Additionally, I have noticed my test SPS coral is improving in color as well. That said these are just thoughts I don’t know enough to say the rock is the reason. I do stay on top of weekly water changes and maintain everything.

 

[DungSl1nger]

After a 8 gallon water change at 1.026 (instant ocean) I measured 362 calcium with the Hanna checker. I will probably do another 5 gallons today and will measure again. I also have kalkwasser being delivered, which I will dose in to my ATO at .5 teaspoon per gallon. From there I will again check calcium again tomorrow after noon.

Additionally, I will get my KH Director up and running today. I may also double check calcium with the siefert calcium test I have.

 

[MPCReefer]

Well, I think my cycle is finally starting to complete. Ammonia has been trending down to about .5 to .8 in the last two days. Did another 25% water change today and tonight found the first hitchhikers under red light - a huge brittle star and a decent size bristle worm. That seems to be the best confirmation yet that the rock is curing. Was getting a bit worried but that gives me confidence I may just be doing it correctly!

 

[DungSl1nger]

Well, I think my cycle is finally starting to complete. Ammonia has been trending down to about .5 to .8 in the last two days. Did another 25% water change today and tonight found the first hitchhikers under red light - a huge brittle star and a decent size bristle worm. That seems to be the best confirmation yet that the rock is curing. Was getting a bit worried but that gives me confidence I may just be doing it correctly!

That’s awesome. Initial ammonia numbers drove me a little mad because I was thinking all the hitchhikers were going to die but I found another brittle star and then a second red mithrax when the rocks went into the tank. I just finished checking Calc (375) and Alk (9.2) because I added kalkwasser to the ato a few days ago. At the lowest recommended dose I only lost 3 points of calcium but my Alk went from 8.7 to 9.2 (Hanna checkers). I may add another .5 teaspoon of Kalkwasser at my next ATO fill, I will likely go to 10 or 11 gallons (+ 2/3 gallons) on my next water change as well.

 

[MPCReefer]

That’s awesome. Initial ammonia numbers drove me a little mad because I was thinking all the hitchhikers were going to die but I found another brittle star and then a second red mithrax when the rocks went into the tank. I just finished checking Calc (375) and Alk (9.2) because I added kalkwasser to the ato a few days ago. At the lowest recommended dose I only lost 3 points of calcium but my Alk went from 8.7 to 9.2 (Hanna checkers). I may add another .5 teaspoon of Kalkwasser at my next ATO fill, I will likely go to 10 or 11 gallons (+ 2/3 gallons) on my next water change as well.

Same here, thought I was going to end up with dead rock, but it is really crazy-almost no detectable ammonia this morning and .2 nitrates. Good news on your params.