Whats this white fungus stuff?

[rotarygeek]

Yesterday i started feeding frozen brine shrimp. I didn't know how much to add, so i put a whole cube in it. This is in a 30 gallon with just a yellow tail damsel and a small cuc for now. I guess i over fed cuz it was every where. Well now i have a nitrite and nitrate spike, guess i missed the ammonia spike. After i fed i was looking at my rock, and noticed that the rock is getting very white. Almost paper white. I had seen it before but i thought it was my cuc doing a good job, but now when i look at it it looks like fungus of some kind. If you know what it is and if its good or bad, please post up. Sorry about the crappy pic, but thats the best i could get. Its on the top of the top rock.
http://img225.imageshack.us/img225/4...tank003pf5.jpg

 

[scotty37]

Yea I wont even put a full cube in my 120... I have a cup that I put some saltwater in from the tank, then drop the cube in there, let it melt and pour in some of it, never all of it... thats a load for a 30 gallon.

 

[chuckcac]

tell us more about the rock.
Live Rock?
Cured or UnCured?
did you cycle?

 

[rotarygeek]

ok its live rock i bought cured from my lfs and took immediately in my tank. i guess a little bit of background would help. i started this tank mid december and started with untreated tap water, i bought 15 pounds of live rock, a mix of tonga and premium fiji. afterwards i realized that tap was bad, i have been replacing water with distilled till i get an ro/di unit. all top offs and water changes are distilled. i have one yellow tail damsel in it after it was midway cycled but he looks like he is doing great. he eats a ton. the tank has been cycled over a month now. i have a penguin biowheel 350 and 2 powerheads in it for a total of 640 gph slow in a 30 gallon tank. all my levels have been pretty great except fo nitrate (need to do more frequent water changes, once a week doesnt seem to be enough) and sg becuase im using a floating hydrometer thats not too accurate. i know i need more rock but money is limited so i cant get it yet. ill slowly add more rock till i have about 35 pounds and then ill start with fish after its cycled and cured. i havent added any kind of chemicals besides a ph buffer in my first water change. i dont have my book with me as im posting through my phone, but if you need exact #s in my levels i can give you every day for the last month when i get home tonight.

 

[rotarygeek]

oh i forgot to add that im using a api saltwater test kit testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, temp, and salt. and i do weekly water changes of 4 gallons. i work six days on and three days off so it might not be exactly once a week but its definetly once every nine days. my cuc is a peppermint shrimp and 5 hermit crabs. i think they are blue clawed or legged hermit crabs, i cant remember. thanks for any input.

 

[rotarygeek]

bump for an answer please.

 

[chuckcac]

the rock is new to the tank, it may be experiencing die off...
watch your water parameters carefully.
i see you are adding a pH buffer,.... when adding buffers you dont actually bufer pH - you are buffering Alkalinity.
if you are concerned about your coraline algae you should be testing Calcium & Alkalinity (KH Carbonate hardness) too.
purple coraline algae uses Calcium and Carbon ions to build itself up... you should maintain a delicate balance of both.
good working parameters are
Calcium 400-500
KH 7-12
pH 8.0 - 8.4....
thats one idea..... post pics if you can

 

[rotarygeek]

well i only buffered the ph once when i first started. no other chemicals besides that. the white stuff almost looks like calcium deposits. its strange. it grows every day also, i woke up this morning and it looked bigger than last night.

 

[sk8shorty01]

Could it be Q-tip sponge maybe? Can you take another pic and post it when you get a chance? Try zooming in on the spot in question so that we can give you a better idea of what it is. Good luck and welcome to the obsession!

 

[rotarygeek]

yeah ill try to get a better pic today. my camera doesnt do so good on close up but ill try and get a couple different shots. i really want to know what this is cuz its seems likr its taking over my tank.