yucky rock

[leopard_babe]

This is a picture of my live rock. My tank has been cycling for a little more then a week. it has been set up for almost 3 weeks. My rock is not pretty, and purple like my new rock. it is faded and brown. My dry rock looks like it is burnt. Can anyone tell me if this is ok? Or if I can do anything to make the color come back? I am going to send a pix in a minute.

 

[leopard_babe]

This is just the live rock

 

[leopard_babe]

This is my two original peices of live rock, and my dry rock.

 

[leopard_babe]

oops. Here is the pix

 

[michaeltx]

looks like a buildup of diatoms skeletons on the rocks and maybe a bacteria build up.
what type of cleanup crew do you have.
as far the pinks and purples. it will tale some time before it will make a come back but all the water parameters need to be right before it will start to grow and spread.
what are you water parameters and lighting(I cant remember LOL)
Mike

 

[oregonbud]

I'm confused - did you add a piece of LR from a tank (it came right out of water, into a bucket of water, into your tank) or was it a piece of rock that used to be LR but was dried out and the life on it died? (FYI this would be called base rock)
Regardless, the reason your LR is colored is due to the coralline algea that grows on it when the conditions are right. So the simple answer to your question is yes, the rock that has no coloring will eventually have coralline algea on it which will color it various colors, if your tank conditions are right.

 

[leopard_babe]

I am new to the sw thing. My tank has been set up for like 3 weeks or something, and it is cycling.
Ph-8.2
Amm almost 0
nirtate .25
nitrite 0
temp-80
salt-1.023
i don't have a clean up crew yet. I didn't think that I should add anything until my water ws completely through its cycle.
The rock I just added today ws from the LFS. i cleaned it off and put it directly in the tank. It is purple, and has alot of holes. the rock that I have now came from a LFS. It was pretty and then it turned this brown. It was in a bucket for a day because I didn't have time to set my tank up. That was almost 3 weeks ago. can a chocolate chip starfish be considered par of a clean up crew? That is the first thing that I want to add to my tank. thanks all!!
Sarah

 

[stillfrodo]

Leopard it takes a while before the rock becomes encrusted with nice corraline algae. If the tank is only up and running a few weeks some die off on the rock is to be expected whether you bought cured or uncured. My tank is up and running close to 2 months now I am starting to get nice pink algae on the walls of my tank on the powerheads etc. All depends on your lighting and water parameters calcium mag stront etc. Patience my dear and you'll wake up one day find your rock covered in nice corraline algae. Also remember don't dose for anything that you can't test for calcium etc. Its also too early to be adding anything. I was told by the most experinced people on this board to worry about ammonia trites and trates and then when tank is cycled you have plenty of time to bring water conditions in line. Good luck. Trust me it does get better.

 

[michaeltx]

thats what I thought just couldnt remember LOL
all that stuff is normal in a tank that is establishing itself. it will take some time but as soon as you add your Clean up crew they should make quick work of it. but if its bothering you take a turkey baster bought just for the tank and blow it off the rocks and glass it will help the looks of it.
as far as the coraline it will take some time after the conditions are right for it and then it will start to take off..
Mike

 

[leopard_babe]

Thanks all, help much appreciated!!!!

 

[huckleberry]

from what i understand, a CC star would not be a good thing to put in there first... they like good water conditions and i have heard they can eat the corraline algae off the rocks... i would add crabs and snails as your first clean ups...

 

[leopard_babe]

you guys said that having good lighting is imortant. i just bought my tank and i didn't upgrade the lighting that it came with. I have only 1 flourecent light. I am going to buy a hood that I can add a blue light to. I was wondering can i put a stronger light in the fixture that I have??? What kind of lighting would you suggest???
Thanks all,
Sarah

 

[daniel411]

Most fixtures you can change out, however if you really upgrade to some vho, power compact, or metal halide you might want to just pick up a new fixture so you can have a reflector and more bulbs in it. As for which style/kind of lights, you probally have a good idea what you want to do with the tank by now, look around at some of the lighting threads and you can see what people use for a similar setup.

 

[tony detroit]

The nasty brown/red color should go away after your tank cycles. I wouldn't add anything except for crabs and snails for a good 2 months or more just to play it safe. A CC starfish is nice, but they will eat corals if you want to go with a reef tank.
Going to see the rents' this weekend on GI

 

[leopard_babe]

Hey you haven't been on it a while. I am going to go to the tropicorium on Friday or Saturday. Thanks for the light tips. I am asking for new lighting for my birthday. which isn't for another month, but at least i won't have to pay for it. Thanks guys.

 

[scotts]

LB,
Long story short, I added some rock to my tank that had been out of water for months. It was pure white then I added it. That was about a month and a half ago. Not it is covered in some color and I can see that the coralline is starting to grow on it. My case is a little different than yours, because my tank has been up for 1 1/2 years.
As all will tell you on this board, patience and give it time. If you already have coalline in your tank, and with the right conditions, it will spread to all of your rock.
Scott