Real Reef Rock turning into Live

VetReefer · Dec 17, 2021

Good evening everyone. I'm stuck right now. I chose Real Reef Rock for my tank, but for someone reason after almost 6 months seems like it's still getting diatoms among other things. I love at other people tanks that started with dry Rock and now the Rock is absolutely clean and beautiful. I've used Mactrobater Clean. And currently trying Live Rock Enhance. I used Dr. TIMS to cycle the tank. Any suggestions or anything I can do? Also added a huge clean up crew. Anyone else have this issues with Real Reef Rock.

Tank: 8ft 240 96x25x24

Parameters

Nitrates: 20.1
Phosphates: 0.07
Salinity: 1.025
Calcium: 394
Alk: 9
Ph: 8.5

Thank you in advance.

MinnieMouse2 · Dec 17, 2021

Well, diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. ... Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.Jul 17, 2021

MinnieMouse2 · Dec 17, 2021

My suggestion is dose with good bacteria like Fritz turbo start. Also add live phytoplankton. I learned to grow my own. Clams are amazing at keeping tank water clean. Yes, you can like the clean rock, etc, but real life you get algae here and there and cyano. I have a tank now going on six years and it gets a little cyano every once in a while. Seek balance. I say do not sweat the small stuff. The ocean is not perfect rocks looking all sparkling.

Chrisv. · Dec 17, 2021

It seems that the vast majority of people who use fake live rock or dry rock have an "ugly phase" that seems to last a year or more! We never used the phrase ugly phase back when everyone used live rock. Bottles of bacteria can help, but honestly I think you would get more bang for your buck by buying some cycled live rock from a source you trust and even just adding it to the sump.

From the pics I will also say that is a LOT of big fish. Inevitably they must eat a ton and produce a lot of waste. It's great that your numbers look in check, but remember that they are only as low as they are with a full on algae plague going in your tank. It's consuming a ton of no3 and po4.

MinnieMouse2 · Dec 17, 2021

You could also add a UV to the system. Read up on that. I think those who want a perfect looking tank use UV. I do not use one. Your tank looks amazing. Very natural and real. Keep clean up crew. Urchins can be a pain by carrying things around, so make sure you have everything glued down. Urchins love diatoms and make rocks look clean.

Chrisv. · Dec 17, 2021

MinnieMouse2 said:
You could also add a UV to the system. Read up on that. I think those who want a perfect looking tank use UV. I do not use one. Your tank looks amazing. Very natural and real. Keep clean up crew. Urchins can be a pain by carrying things around, so make sure you have everything glued down. Urchins love diatoms and make rocks look clean.

I have to disagree. I feel the op is correct to be concerned. A natural and real reef should not be over run by an algae monoculture.

HB AL · Dec 17, 2021

That tank looks great, you want some color etc.. on your rocks, if they were still white I would be concerned. Maybe those people take the rocks out and clean them all the time but I've never seen a healthy longterm reef tank where the rocks were all white with no growth of any kind.

VetReefer · Dec 17, 2021

MinnieMouse2 said:
You could also add a UV to the system. Read up on that. I think those who want a perfect looking tank use UV. I do not use one. Your tank looks amazing. Very natural and real. Keep clean up crew. Urchins can be a pain by carrying things around, so make sure you have everything glued down. Urchins love diatoms and make rocks look clean.

I have 2 40 watts uv sterilizer that run inside the display

VetReefer · Dec 17, 2021

MinnieMouse2 said:
Well, diatoms are a brown algae that typically appear in a reef tank that has just completed its cycle but they can also appear in an established reef tank. ... Diatoms look ugly but in most cases they are harmless so the key is to not panic when they appear.Jul 17, 2021

It's just super frustrating

VetReefer · Dec 17, 2021

HB AL said:
That tank looks great, you want some color etc.. on your rocks, if they were still white I would be concerned. Maybe those people take the rocks out and clean them all the time but I've never seen a healthy longterm reef tank where the rocks were all white with no growth of any kind.

I don't want them white I just want them clean lol. It becomes clean them go back to being dirty

VetReefer · Dec 17, 2021

MinnieMouse2 said:
You could also add a UV to the system. Read up on that. I think those who want a perfect looking tank use UV. I do not use one. Your tank looks amazing. Very natural and real. Keep clean up crew. Urchins can be a pain by carrying things around, so make sure you have everything glued down. Urchins love diatoms and make rocks look clean.

Thank you for the compliments also.

VetReefer · Dec 17, 2021

Chrisv. said:
It seems that the vast majority of people who use fake live rock or dry rock have an "ugly phase" that seems to last a year or more! We never used the phrase ugly phase back when everyone used live rock. Bottles of bacteria can help, but honestly I think you would get more bang for your buck by buying some cycled live rock from a source you trust and even just adding it to the sump.

From the pics I will also say that is a LOT of big fish. Inevitably they must eat a ton and produce a lot of waste. It's great that your numbers look in check, but remember that they are only as low as they are with a full on algae plague going in your tank. It's consuming a ton of no3 and po4.

I run Rowaphos, Bio Pellets, and a Turf scrubber lol. Along with having a custom sump from GEO. That has filter socks and fleece roller. I was trying to be ready for the high numbers.

Lbrdsoxfan · Dec 17, 2021

It's part of the process. Seed some Coralline and call us in 9 months to a year. Take a aspirin

VetReefer · Dec 17, 2021

Lbrdsoxfan said:
It's part of the process. Seed some Coralline and call us in 9 months to a year. Take a aspirin

it's just ticking me off that's all. Seeing if there's anything I can do

Lbrdsoxfan · Dec 17, 2021

Time. It takes time, regardless of what we do!

HB AL · Dec 17, 2021

Get one of those thingys, I'm not sure but maybe it was a large slug of some kind just cleaning the rocks in one of there tanks. They wanted 25$ but I figured it would get eaten in my tank.