cloudy water with a slight smell

[fishguy007]

just set up a 90 gallon...... added live rock...... after doing that my tank was smelly and cloudy...the smell was bad.... then the water cleared up and was okay for a few days... today the tank is cloudy again and a mild smell to the water. is this normal with the rock curing?

any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Skimmerking]

could be a ammonia spike in the water from the rocks, was the rock out of the water for a long time or is curing ...

[BMW Rider]

It sounds normal. Depending on the condition of the rock, ie: lots of die-off, it can foul the water quite a bit. It does help to clear the detritus out, also helps to scrub the liverock initially to remove excess dead stuff. It should take at least a month, maybe more to fully cycle and clear up. Then you can do a large water change and start slowly stocking. Be sure to add new livestock slowly to avoid upsetting the balance and triggering a repeat cycle.