Live Rock Turning White

[mdh71]

On Thursday I added 100 pounds of Gulf of Mexico live rock to my reefer 425. This is the first thing I have added to the tank. I have a Simplicty DC240 skimmer and a Jebao OW-40 powerhead. The rock was shipped the night before. In the box I only noticed one bristle worm which I added to the tank.

Besides the initial bristle worm I have not seen any critters. Some of the growth on the live rock is turning white. I have tested the ammonia, it was 1 ppm on Friday, I did a 15 % water change. On Saturday the ammonia was also 1 ppm and I did at 35% water change. Today the ppm reads about 1 ppm maybe 1.25 ppm, it is hard to tell on the color chart. I am using the Red Sea test kit.

Being new to saltwater, is this normal or am I doing something wrong? Should I continue to do these water changes or something else.

 

[John3]

I started with live rock from Tampa Bay and it looked pretty similar. Unfortunately a lot of the colorful stuff you saw when unpackaging the rock is going to die back or completely die. Don’t worry once the rock cures (stops dying and cleaned off) you will get a lot of stuff to grow back.

I see you have some hitchhikers like star coral, cup corals, mussels, macro algae’s, sponges, etc. some will make it through the cycling. When I cycled my ammonia would get over 10 as I really had a lot of die off. I did a lot of water changes and get yourself a turkey baster to keep blowing the rocks off. You want the dead stuff to come off the rocks leaving behind living stuff.

Your going to find all kinds of hitchhikers for a long time. The on bad ones I had were some copepods and a mantis shrimp. I trapped the copepods and the mantis just vanished, not sure if he is alive or not.

A few pics of my rock when I first got it and now a year later.

 

[TreyC2010]

How long had the tank been set up? Did you cycle it?

 

[John3]

Best hitchhiker was this Caribbean Rose coral that just popped up out of nowhere a few months back. This is under heavy blue lighting.

 

[John3]

The tank was not cycled. Looking back that probably would have helped but I was told it wasn’t necessary. When the ammonia got really high and I couldn’t get it down with water changes I used some Prime in hopes of not having more die off from the ammonia. It took 4 weeks for the ammonia to start coming down. Once it did it started cycling pretty fast and water changes then had a bigger impact.

I was pretty shocked how much made it through the cycle alive. The smell was horrible the first week. The stuff that dies will turn white and some of the stuff will look like it’s covered in a snot ball which again is something that died.

 

[TreyC2010]

You really aren’t supposed to do water changes while you have ammonia. You should let the ammonia start the cycle and then nitrates will go up once that breaks down. Have you shown any nitrates?

 

[John3]

You really aren’t supposed to do water changes while you have ammonia. You should let the ammonia start the cycle and then nitrates will go up once that breaks down. Have you shown any nitrates?

The places that sell the live rock from the gulf all tell you to do a lot of water changes to keep ammonia under 1ppm. They say this is the best way to experience the least amount of die off on the rock. Plus there is so much crap that comes off the rocks and the water changes help get that dead stuff out. I can see the benefits though from doing changes and also from not doing changes.

 

[TreyC2010]

Sorry, I’ve never bought live rock from anywhere but my lfs. That’s interesting. I had live rock with lots of coral from someone’s tank and I used that to cycle mine. I don’t see how a nitrogen cycle can initiate if you interrupt it with water changes. Maybe someone more experienced than me with that subject will chime in.

 

[mdh71]

I did not do any other cycle, I did not know if was necessary since the live rock is suppose to be a main component of the filter.

It is good to see the John3 had the same experience initially, which recovered after an initial die off. I am following the advice many of the live rock sellers to keep the ammonia under 1 ppm, it would be interesting to hear if it is better to let the ammonia rise to get the cycle going.

 

[John3]

Btw, I cycled/cured my live rock using just blue light. I think the added benefit is that some of the coral hitchhikers will have a better chance surviving with some light. Some people say no light during cycling but corals need light. I ran my blue lights for like 8-10 hours a day during cycling.

I found that the star corals (you got at least 1) are nice to have. They are like the canary in the coal mine for my tank. If something isn’t right with my water it is the most sensitive and will retract it’s tissue first and then expel it’s zoox before any other corals show any bad signs. When I got my rock they were totally white and just skeleton but they came back. Actually I had them bleach on me a 3-4 times over the first 6 months til I got things figured out and they have always come back.

Also, your likely going to have a lot of bulb anemones. They will start to show up after cycling. They can get really big and are kinda cool looking. I have some that have a 3” spread. Some people think they are aiptasia but they aren’t. They don’t spread nearly as fast but they can spread. I have 3 very large ones that I am debating on keeping or not. If you don’t want these go about getting rid of them before rockscaping. These rocks have a lot of holes they will get their foot in which makes it tough to remove them. Aiptasia-x does not work on them either. I have been injecting mine with boiling water which normally makes them let go of the rock.

 

[Vahanyos]

How’s your tank doing now?

 

[Jesterrace]

The tank was not cycled. Looking back that probably would have helped but I was told it wasn’t necessary. When the ammonia got really high and I couldn’t get it down with water changes I used some Prime in hopes of not having more die off from the ammonia. It took 4 weeks for the ammonia to start coming down. Once it did it started cycling pretty fast and water changes then had a bigger impact.

I was pretty shocked how much made it through the cycle alive. The smell was horrible the first week. The stuff that dies will turn white and some of the stuff will look like it’s covered in a snot ball which again is something that died.

Whoever told you a saltwater tank didn't need to cycle was full of it (my guess is some shady LFS). As for the Ammonia, quit changing the water as you are disrupting the natural die off/cycling process and making it take longer. You don't need prime unless you already have fish, corals or inverts in there. The ammonia isn't going to hurt the rock or sand any and the organisms will grow back in time. This is a process that you should plan on taking 30-60 days. Leave it alone for a week and then start doing the Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate tests every few days to track the progress of the cycle. For the first couple of weeks don't run the lights as they aren't necessary. After things zero out and your brown algae (diatom bloom) comes in and goes then you should be good to go.

 

[eamike261]

Whoever told you a saltwater tank didn't need to cycle was full of it (my guess is some shady LFS). As for the Ammonia, quit changing the water as you are disrupting the natural die off/cycling process and making it take longer. You don't need prime unless you already have fish, corals or inverts in there. The ammonia isn't going to hurt the rock or sand any and the organisms will grow back in time. This is a process that you should plan on taking 30-60 days. Leave it alone for a week and then start doing the Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate tests every few days to track the progress of the cycle. For the first couple of weeks don't run the lights as they aren't necessary. After things zero out and your brown algae (diatom bloom) comes in and goes then you should be good to go.

Are you sure organisms can survive high ammonia? Like 5+ ppm? That would surely kill fish and coral I would think. CuC and sponges and all the other critters might be hardier but I can’t imagine they survive well in 5+ Ammonia.

No one arguing that all the water changes are good for the cycle process in general. The whole point is that hopefully some water changes can cut down the ammonia spike to less toxic levels so that more hitchhikers survive.

Remember not everyone wants to start with the sterile dry rock. Some of us love and embrace the diversity

In my case I wish I had seen this thread before. I made the mistake of putting my Florida cultured live rock into a fresh cycling tank and I’m seeing die off like the others with 8.0+ ammonia. If I had waited a month into the cycle I’m sure the bacteria could’ve handled the rock better lessons learned I suppose

 

[eamike261]

On Thursday I added 100 pounds of Gulf of Mexico live rock to my reefer 425. This is the first thing I have added to the tank. I have a Simplicty DC240 skimmer and a Jebao OW-40 powerhead. The rock was shipped the night before. In the box I only noticed one bristle worm which I added to the tank.

Besides the initial bristle worm I have not seen any critters. Some of the growth on the live rock is turning white. I have tested the ammonia, it was 1 ppm on Friday, I did a 15 % water change. On Saturday the ammonia was also 1 ppm and I did at 35% water change. Today the ppm reads about 1 ppm maybe 1.25 ppm, it is hard to tell on the color chart. I am using the Red Sea test kit.

Being new to saltwater, is this normal or am I doing something wrong? Should I continue to do these water changes or something else.

How’s your rock looking now? Did all the diversity come back or did you lose most of it?