Live rock changing color or dying

[gmcbroom]

Hi All, I'm new to the salt water tank world and I have a few questions. When I purchased 2 pieces of live rock for my 55 g tank they were a tan shade with some great looking Purple and green tinges to them. Now 2 weeks later I've started to notice some coin sized bleeched white spots. True the green and purple tinges are still there but; Should I be worried? Is this normal for live rock? I spent over $100.00 for the live rock from Fiji and I'd like to know If I'm doing this right. We're going to wait a month or 2 before we add a pair of clowns. Sorry if I sound neurotic but I'd really like this to work out. All replies welcome.

[prof]

Where did you get the rock from? Live rock must be cured before adding it to a tank. It is also normal for live rock to bleach and look a little dead when it is first added to a tank. It will get better. Keep an eye on your chemical levels. Live rock will cause a chemical spike similar to adding the first fish to a new tank.

Dave

[Texreefer]

welcome to maast.... two pieces for over 100,, they better be BIG pieces, how old is the tank? what else is in the tank? what kind of lighting do you have. there are a lot of people on here that can answer your questions so if you new to this always ask first... you may get some suprising answers,, also invest in some good books and read a lot. this is an expensive hobby so let the mistakes of others guide you in the right direction.

[gmcbroom]

I bought the LR at Petco(Austin) and there is also 15lbs. of Live sand in the 55g tank. The tank is 4 years old but this is the first time its been used in 4 yrs. It was a salt water tank back then too. I'm using a Coralife Aqua light Delux series double linear strip.260 watts = 2-65 watt fluorescent lights, and 2 -65 watts Actinic lights. I'm also using 1 Rio 800 PH and a PF500 Tetra tec filter. I've been having the lights off until I get a fish. One LR is pretty big and the other is about the size of 2 fists together. Thanx for the replies.

[matt]

Having your lights off is the problem. The purple color on live rock is coralline algae which will die unless given enought light. The white spots are algae that has bleached and died. Try turning your lights on a normal cycle and see what that does. I'm assuming your 4X 65W lights are power compact? If so, you probably have adequate light to keep coralline algae alive in the 55 gallon tank.

You also have to consider the following water parameters, if you're not aware of it. (If you are, sorry!) All of these will affect the life on your rock.

1. Specific gravity 1.024-25
2. Calcium 400ppm (more or less)
3. Alkalinity 2.5 meq/l (or more)
4. ph 8.0-8.3

It is normal for some stuff to die on the rocks when you first put it in the tank, as the other replies mention, but you'll have to make sure all the stuff I listed is okay for the algae to survive and spread throughout your rock.

HTH
Matt

[Yano]

I never knew Petco sold live rock

[Tim Marvin]

How much do they sell it for?

[adaminaustin]

Tim,
Are you looking for live rock?
I will go in w/ you on 1000lbs of petcos finest. :lol:

[Tim Marvin]

I'm wondering how much they sell it for. I have some for sale at $3.50 a lb, but if it can be bought at around $2.00 per lb I'll get some with you.

[gmcbroom]

PetCo's prices are alot higher try 6-7 dollars per pound hence that $100.00 bucks doesnt go to far. My brother is aware of those things like calcium but I'm still learning. I'll try leaving the lights on maybe that will help. My brother is skepitcal but hey I pay the electric bill anyway.

[robertpower3]

We get (petco) our live rock from salt water inc. . It is cured and costs $5.50 to $7.50 a pound. I started getting the live rock at Brodie about eight months ago but I transferred stores. I will be selling it at Hancock Petco next week. If you want i can probably give you better deals than at Brodie because i have worked for petco for so long. The bleached spots are from the dead corraline algae like matt said. We don't keep lights over the live rock tank so a little die off is mormal and nothing to worry about.

[COBRA201]

just pick up your calcium and alk. also keep it with good lighting.

[gmcbroom]

Lighting must be the key. I left the light on for between 6-8 hours the past couple of days. Now I have some sort of mustard colored algea growing on both my Live rocks and over 75% of the sand. I think thats a good sign. I just have one more question. I just found some old dead Live rock all white in an old bag of my brothers. Will adding it to the Tank hurt or help it?

[gmcbroom]

Just a quik update. That mustard colored algea is now completely covering my live rock and sand. It's starting to climb the walls of the tank and my power head. I plan on getting one of those magnet algea removers with my next paycheck. in about 8 days. In the meantime I just need to know if this algea bloom is a good sign that the 55g tank is cycled? I figure its good atleast something is living in the tank. All advice is welcome.
Sincerely
Greg

[reefer74]

Well I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's cycled...but let's say that it is cycling. Are you skimming? If you have die off from live rock, your nitrates and ammonia are more than likely very high. You need to check your water parameters, as these will be the tell tale sign on whether you can add other livestock. Keep the lights on the same as if you were going to have your tank completely stocked.


Johnny G.

[matt]

If by mustard color you mean kind of a golden brown film covering the rocks and glass, you have a diatom bloom. This is very typical in a new tank; one thing the diatoms require is silicate, which is often present in a tank with new sand/rock/water. If you use a decent R.O./D.I. filter for all your make up and change water, the diatoms will soon exhaust the available silicate and die off. You can sort of help the process along by siphoning out this film whenever you get the chance. Also, it might be a good time to check your nitrate level, if it's really high you could do a sizable water change. If you have a sizable sand bed, like 4" deep or more, you may find that your sand bed will eventually process nitrate out of your system.

I wouldn't put the old rock in your tank. You don't know what's on it; maybe it had some copper treatment, and it will take a long time for that ugly white stuff to be overgrown. Both Tim Marvin and CB pets have good quality live rock for excellent prices. I got some stuff from Tim once that was really good; and this would help your tank mature faster.

Matt

[gmcbroom]

We do have a skimmer and are using it. We also went to Austin Aquariums and picked up some small hermits that the salesman said should eat diatoms. We will just wait and see what happens. Thanx again for all your replies. This is a constantly learning hobby.

It's hard for me to believe ;but I use to spend all my free time playing Diablo 2, now I use it looking through MAAST and Reef Central on a daily basis. There is almost always something new posted.

[matt]

If the hermits make a dent in your diatoms, I'd be VERY surprised. They might resort to picking at it once they've exhausted every other food source, including micro-fauna that you'd probably want to have growing in your tank.

[dabudkrew]

i also have this problem, i just bought a complete set-up a 75 gallon, the live rocks got a little dried, will they grow again? and how long should i keep it running before adding fish?

[dabudkrew]

an if i buy live rock again will it spread to all the other rocks?

[jroescher]

Yes, they will recover and grow again. Run it a few weeks and test for Nitrate and Nitrite levels to return to 0 before adding anything else.

And yes, it will spread to all the other rocks, glass, pumps, and anything else exposed to light in your tank. You just have to be PATIENT!!

[dabudkrew]

thanks, how do i know whats going to grow?

[DaBird47]

it's Diatom algea, part of the normal cycle...Keep up with your water changes and Welcome to Maast...

[Jeff]

to get coraline algea to grow better and faster, have your calcium at over 400ppm and run almost all actinic lighting. for some reason coraline grows better with actinics only.