what is die off?

[fishieness]

ok, so the tittle may be misleading, i know what die off is, but how do you tell if it is on your live rock? I think i have heard somewhere that is is like black sections comming off of the rock, and that you should scrape it off, but i wasnt sure. Do you just brush it down with a tooth brush or something, run in under some water and thats it?
thanks

 

[monalisa]

 

[drew2005]

I used a 5 gallon bucket with some water from my tank and a small metal brush to scrap off as much of that black crap as i could. I had to empty some water to put the rock in anyway. Eventually it will die off but try and get off as much as possible.

 

[fishieness]

ok, i was pretty sure that was the way to go, but wanted to check and see how it worked for other people. Thanks!

 

[tizzo]

There is a lot of "die off" that you can't see or even reach.
You hafta know the history of the rock. If it's been in the mail, it has definately had die off but you won't smell it for a few days since it hasn't started to rot yet. If a LFS says their rock is cured and you drive it home, you should not have any die off.
Die off can be as small as the bacteria that covers the rock. It doesn't always hafta be animals you can see, so to speak.

 

[fishieness]

well i had brought 2 piece home from my local fish store a while ago with no black stuff on it at all, and within 3 days from the die off, my pH went down to 7-7.2 and my amonia was way up and it was a nightmare. My snowflake eel i didnt htink would make it, but other fish seemed to be doing okay actualy. But they are all great now. Needless to say i immideatly took the rock out and let it sit for a while. Right now it is in my cycling 40 breeder tank. But i was looking at some of the rock in there now and i seem to remember that the black stuff wasnt good, and i have some of that in there, so ill have to scrub it off. All my fish are doing fine though, so its not like i have a huge amonia spike.
thanks for the info though guys

 

[tizzo]

It wasn't just the black stuff. That rock was not cured!! You will hafta properly cure it before you can put it back into your display tank. You can leave the black stuff on or scrape it off, either way you still hafta cure that rock!!

 

[fishieness]

yeah, i figured that out. My LFS told me it was cured, but i guess no huh. This happened about a month and a half ago, or maybe just a month or so. But i imediatly took it out and into a little bucket of water until i set up my 40 breeder a few weeks later. Its in there now and the tank is cycling, so its fine at the moment. I was wondering about the black stuff because i do have some in my display tank, my amonia is at 0, so its nothing to be alarmed about at the moment, i was just wondering for future reference, because i would like to make the 40 breeder into a reef, so ill be having to buy a lot of live rock in the near future.
What if i order it online? How should i cure it? I have heard just leave it in fresh water until the pH and everything is normal. Do i need lights? a powerhead? or jsut the water and a container?

 

[malounsbury]

Take a big bucket or trash can, stick the rock in there with a heater and a powerhead and some premixed salt water and a light to help with the curing process. Let it go for a few days. You should take a toothbrush or a nylon bristle brush and brush it off every few days. Once the ammonia smell has left the rock and it smells like it just came out of the ocean, its cured. To be on the safe side though, I would still take a test kit and test the ammonia, nitrates and nitrite every other day because the water in the trash can will cycle just like your tank would. Once everything is at zero, you know its all cured and ready for a tank.

 

[fishieness]

thanks!
Is there any type of specific lighting i need? Like can i just have a normal NO light? Maybe an NO actinic?

 

[trainfever]

While holding the rock in the water, give it a good shake to work loose anything that is inside the holes. After I cured my rock, I couldn't believe how many holes were in it because they were filled with sediment. Shaking the rock under water will get all of that out. Don't be too aggressive with the nylon brush. You just want to remove the dead stuff. If you scrub too hard, you may end up removing live things also.

 

[malounsbury]

Nothing specific, just something to give it light like it was in your tank. Actinic would be good also, but its not needed. Just something to sort of simulate like it was in a tank or the ocean.