ok so i have a 60 gallon tank that i set up for salt water have the salt levels at 1.020 for normal tanges and clowns and so fourth and i have bought 36lbs of dry pukani brach rock with a crushed coral bottom all was well for about 2 weeks and the rock seems to be shedding these orange flakes all over the tank i really have no idea if this is common or not the tank have been running for over a month now with NO fish in it but I'm just concerned if this is normal or not the flakes are everywhere when they are settled u can't see everything but as soon as u start to move the water with a suction to clean or do anything it all popes back up so will this go away or do i need to do something to make it go away
help please
- Thread starter tldentz
- Start date
flower
Well-Known Member
Hi, Welcome to the site!
Nothing is going to happen as far as cycling until you add some form of ammonia. So having the tank up for 2 weeks didn't do anything. You will never be able to keep any kind of tang in a 60g tank. Most require 75g or larger, and 6 foot of swim space. There are lots of other fish you can keep. A pair of clowns will be fine.
Either ghost feed an invisible fish flake food, or put a chunk of raw shrimp in the tank to kick start the cycle and get it going.
Crushed coral isn't a really good choice for substrate, most saltwater critters prefer sand, the crushed coral is too hard for them. It's also difficult for the clean up crew (CUC) AKA snails, crabs, serpent stars, and such to keep clean. Now is the prefect time to change it if you want, since you haven't got anything started going yet.
DRY rock of any sort has no life on it... I'm not sure what PUKANI is, but I have had branch rock. A picture would really help....It sounds like the rock had something on it, macroalgae or coralline perhaps that is flaking off, I don't think it's something to worry about...it may not look nice but it won't hurt anything.
Do you have power heads set up? They will keep the water moving so nothing settles, allowing the filters to suck up the solid stuff and clean the tank.
Nothing is going to happen as far as cycling until you add some form of ammonia. So having the tank up for 2 weeks didn't do anything. You will never be able to keep any kind of tang in a 60g tank. Most require 75g or larger, and 6 foot of swim space. There are lots of other fish you can keep. A pair of clowns will be fine.
Either ghost feed an invisible fish flake food, or put a chunk of raw shrimp in the tank to kick start the cycle and get it going.
Crushed coral isn't a really good choice for substrate, most saltwater critters prefer sand, the crushed coral is too hard for them. It's also difficult for the clean up crew (CUC) AKA snails, crabs, serpent stars, and such to keep clean. Now is the prefect time to change it if you want, since you haven't got anything started going yet.
DRY rock of any sort has no life on it... I'm not sure what PUKANI is, but I have had branch rock. A picture would really help....It sounds like the rock had something on it, macroalgae or coralline perhaps that is flaking off, I don't think it's something to worry about...it may not look nice but it won't hurt anything.
Do you have power heads set up? They will keep the water moving so nothing settles, allowing the filters to suck up the solid stuff and clean the tank.
lmforbis
Well-Known Member
I love pukani rock I have recently added some to my big tank to add more surface area for bacteria. This rock is pulled out of the ocean and dried so it is full of dead organic matter so it should provide an ample ammonia source. I like to soak it for at least a week in water before I add it to a tank then rinse really well. That is for an existing tank. The water after that week smells worse than anything I've ever smelled because of all the decaying organic matter. The stuff flaking off is probably just the dead stuff coming off. It Is normal.
