Puffs of sand coming out of LR?

[infanterene]

I recently added some LR. I am very happy with it except puffs of sand keep coming out of it and making a mess. What causes this and is it good or bad?
Also I have this stuff growing on the rocks(see pic). The LFS told me to peel it of before adding the live rock but I didnt. I thought maybe it would survive and it has. If its good what can I do to make it grow faster, Insidentally my tank is still cycling.

 

[slothy]

anything crawling around in it that you can see ? and those look like some type of star polyps

 

[infanterene]

well I see worms and star fish. All my LR is covered in sand. They just keep puffing sand on top of it and i am worried that coralin wont grow if the rocks are covered in sand.
If they are star polips are they good. How can I make them grow?

 

[surfnturf]

Wow, wish I could get some live rock like that. Sounds like you might have boring worms in the rock, they make holes and expell the sand, direct a powerhead at the LR and that will help keep it clean. You can try using a phytoplankton substitute like marine snow or something like that to help the polyps grow, stronger lights probably won't hurt, but that depends on what you are using now.