live rock question..

[slvlurph]

i purchased online some cured live rock(fiji) last week.. the pieces were nice shapes and had some red coraline on it but other then that i didn't see much life on there. this was my first experience with live rock, so i am not sure if i should be dissapointed with what i got or if that is expected. alot of the rock is starting to turn white now, should i be concerned? is there anything i should add to the water to promote growth on the rocks? here are some pics of what i got. any insight would be greatly appreaciated!

 

[aquarius77]

It looks decent to me. As for life on it, maybe give it some time and some stuff will show up. I seen some new thing yesterday crawling around on my rock. I have a star fish thing (half dollar sized)i have only seen once and some little hard looking stars, and a bristleworm as well, i brought the rock home in a bag with no water its hard to belive these things lived, so who knows what else might come crawling out .
As for it turning white... im a newbie but it sounds like its not getting enough light, mine was more white when i bought it and turned purple?
Someone with more experience should be able to tell you more shortly.

 

[waymack97]

you will have some die off of coraline alge but it should rebound fast. once you get going you could try some purple up.
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[paneubert]

The white stuff is dead sponge/other once living items. When the rock was shipped, that stuff started to die. Scrub them off with a brush and rinse the rock in salt water seperate from your tank if you want to speed up the cycling process. Leave them on if you dont care about how long your amonia spikes high. After your rock is done dying, it will start to regrow new algae and stuff that was hidden in the cracks.

 

[paneubert]

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[slvlurph]

thanks guys.. anyone else got any input?

 

[aquarius77]

I say it looks good and after a few weeks you will see life. It has coraline on it, wich is better than some rock i see being sold around here.

Mine was white too, at first looked as if nothing was alive to me, I thought i got ganked on some dead rock lol
There were a few purple patches but i am pretty new and thought for sure after my purchase that i got treated to some dead rock.
Turns out like not even a month into the tank being setup, my rock is very much alive and turning many shades of purple, i have worms, stars, snails and slugs that tell me my rock was not dead

I dont know about scrubing you LR with a brush as ive never heard of it or seen anything on it.

I think if you just wait it out and keep your water good you will be pleased with your rock. HTH

 

[Anonymous]

Siphon off any white material that can be siphoned off. Give it a sniff if you doubt it is decay products.

 

[paneubert]

I dont know about scrubing you LR with a brush as ive never heard of it or seen anything on it.
HTH

I have seen "Scrubbing the white spots" mentioned on a few websites that sell live rock. If they talk about it then it is usually in their instructions on how to cure your rock.

For example...
http://www.livestockusa.org/CURING.html

I know personally that when I placed my rock where I liked it, I wouldn't think about taking it out for a scrubbing unless all hell broke loose. So I just mentioned it as an FYI. Yours does look pretty good and I am sure it will only get better.

 

[slvlurph]

what about water additives to promote growth on the rock.. i read stuff about adding purple up and calcium?

 

[bleedingthought]

Just give it time. It'll do the trick!

 

[Len]

My Fiji rock looked far worse when it first arrived. Yours looks okay. It takes some time, but life will start springing to life in a few months. I have extremely biodiversity now from rocks that initially looked greyish brown and barren. Continue your regular additives like bionic or cbalance and the coralline will pick up too.