Just added live rock to new setup (i have a few questions for the experts out there)

[FishyFrick31]

Hey everyone.

To all the experts of saltwater aquariums (more specifically reef aquariums)

I have a few questions....

Just added new live rock to my tank along with some regular rock.

I have also gotten some live rock from a friend who is getting rid of his aquarium....
The rocks he gave me have small calcium tunnels with red, coral looking hairs pertruding from their calcium like veins that cover the liverock.. I was wondering a few things about this.

1.) What are these living organisms called?
2.) What is the white calcium like veins that's are covering the rock called?
3.) What is the living red hairs that pertrude from these calcium veins called?
4.) some of the live rock is turning white... Is this natural or is it because of water temperature/insufficient light/etc.?

If you could answer these few questions I have and number them from 1-4 that would be great.

Also, any other advice to get these rocks as healthy as possible, please let me know.

Out ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels were all at 0 before we out the live rock in. And the ph was at 8.2. The water temperature is at 76-78. Our salinity is at 1.024-1.025.

With the above information, I'm hoping you can more easily give me a specific answer and help me get healthy liverock before I add corals.

AND PLEASE!!! ONLY EXPERTS OR PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY KNOW THESE ANSWERS REPLY!

Thanks you all

 

[Mebbid]

AND PLEASE!!! ONLY EXPERTS OR PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY KNOW THESE ANSWERS REPLY!

Thanks you all

Wow.. really???

 

[FishyFrick31]

Wow.. really???

Well I know on pretty much all forums random people answer and some of them are great at what they do and then there another portion of people who just like to reply with answers for the sake of foruming that really don't know what they are talking about. And all the forums I've been a part of there are always those people that you know by their answers you know they don't know what they are talking about. I'm not trying to be rude or ungrateful, I'm just trying to get real help from people who know for a fact that what they are talking about is the truth. So to answer your question... Yes, really. Lol

 

[MarinaClown]

This is a great forum. You will get some really good answers. For a starter try googling coralline algae.

 

[FishyFrick31]

This is a great forum. You will get some really good answers. For a starter try googling coralline algae.

Thank you!

 

[Mebbid]

Well I know on pretty much all forums random people answer and some of them are great at what they do and then there another portion of people who just like to reply with answers for the sake of foruming that really don't know what they are talking about. And all the forums I've been a part of there are always those people that you know by their answers you know they don't know what they are talking about. I'm not trying to be rude or ungrateful, I'm just trying to get real help from people who know for a fact that what they are talking about is the truth. So to answer your question... Yes, really. Lol

Whether you are trying to be rude or not; for future reference I would highly suggest asking questions in a less rude manner, especially for your very first post on a forum. You will catch far more flies with honey than you will with vinegar which your post is full of.

If you specifically want an answer from an "expert" then I would try a pm

 

[Fishdreamz]

I would guess feather dusters of some type. Very common on live rock and calcified old feather duster casings. As far as live rock turning white could be water parameters or lighting. If u know u have top notch lighting test water and wait it out.

 

[FishyFrick31]

I would guess feather dusters of some type. Very common on live rock and calcified old feather duster casings. As far as live rock turning white could be water parameters or lighting. If u know u have top notch lighting test water and wait it out.

Well the light we got is, in my opinion, a little dimmer that what it was out of the box. As it is a used light that a friend of mine had on his tank for who knows how long. But it has white led lights, blue led lights and 2 big white lights we turn on during the day. I am his "fish guy" as I have worked at a per store for 2 and a half years as their "fish guy" and surprised the owner with my knowledge so dramatically that he contracted me out to customers and friends of his houses to do maintenance on their fresh and saltwater aquariums. I haven't been back to his house in 2 days but since then he said he noticed the rock is getting a little white. And I know it it natural for new live rock, when adding it to an aquarium and getting adjusted, that some of it may die off in the cycling process. I'm just looking for further insight or advice because I know he should have bought a brand new light system from the start but it was only 100 bucks for the light and some live rock.

I don't know how old the live rock he gave us is but I feel like it could have played a roll in hurting the tank as well as how old the light is. But you can look at my pictures and see the little tunnels of white organism on the one live rock he gave us and the night we added it to the tank we noticed a red coral-esc type or red hairs emerging from the small white tunnel systems.

I haven't had a chance to get back to his house to do a water test in the past 2 days. But the amount of living organisms on the old rock that his friend gave us could have made a negative effect on the tank and since it is still going through its first water cycle that could also add to the negative effect he is speaking of.

I am strictly trying to, at this time, discover the name of the miniature white tunnel system type of organism living on the rock he gave us.

 

[Mebbid]

Are the big white lights halides or fluorescents?

The rock turning white is just a die off of coralline algae. It's normal and will tend to die at the drop of a hat.

I'm not really understanding but how was the tank hurt and what negative effect is the tank suffering from?

I looked for pictures of what you're talking about but never saw anything in your album. Look up Spionid worms and vermetid snails to see if they match.

 

[FishyFrick31]

Are the big white lights halides or fluorescents?

The rock turning white is just a die off of coralline algae. It's normal and will tend to die at the drop of a hat.

I'm not really understanding but how was the tank hurt and what negative effect is the tank suffering from?

I looked for pictures of what you're talking about but never saw anything in your album. Look up Spionid worms and vermetid snails to see if they match.

I'm pretty sure the big white lights are halides... And as for the negative effect the tank is suffering from I was saying the live rock that we bought was high quality healthy rock at $15 a pound and the negative effect I was talking about is that some of the life on the rock is disappearing and the rock is turning white... I looked up the the worms and snails and they are both not what I am talking about.. What I am trying to figure out is a series of white "coral-like" veins on the rock his friend gave to us with the purchase of the light. And these white veins are connected to the rock and they do not move around, they have a red life form that lives inside of them, kind of like a coral of red hairs that pertrude from them to collect food. I am trying to figure out the name of this organism and if it is okay for the tank or if they should be removed from the live rock... But if you look at the pictures in my profile of the tank so far, you may be able to see the coral-like veins that I am speaking about. I haven't had a chance to do a water test since we added the live rock but as I said before, I know when you add live rock to a new tank, it is natural for some of it to die off. What I'm also wondering though is that since he doesn't know anything about aquariums, I am his "fish guy" as I have years of experience. And I am wondering if the die-off is because of 1.) the tank still being in the first water cycle. 2.) the light possibly being to dim for the tank. 3.) the live rock his friend gave us is from his old tank, that from the white organism living on the rock being so grown around the rock leads me to believe his tank must have been at least a year or two old and the actual rock could be making a negative effect on his water and killing off the other live rocks we bought from the store. Or 4.) since it is natural for new rock to have a little bit of it dieing when being added to a new environment, (especially a tank that is still in its first water cycle) that maybe we have nothing to worry about and this is all just natural...

I could better diagnose this problem myself if I was in front of the tank and took a look at it and test the water myself, but I haven't had a chance to get over there in the last two days, so it is a possibility that the live rock his friend gave us could be hurting the live rock we bought from the store, or, it could very well have carried with it a sickness from neglect of his tank, but we don't know this for a fact, as I never got a chance to take a look at his tank and I also know for a fact that this white calcium life form that has attached to the liverock his friend gave us is not a negative effect but I was just curious of the name of this organism.

 

[Ricksreef]

The coral-like veins with little red feather like things in them are red feather dusters.You mainly see them on the underside and sides of the rock.When the rock was placed in the aquarium it was apparently placed upside down.
I don't claim to be an expert by any means but I am sure on this.

 

[FishyFrick31]

The coral-like veins with little red feather like things in them are red feather dusters.You mainly see them on the underside and sides of the rock.When the rock was placed in the aquarium it was apparently placed upside down.
I don't claim to be an expert by any means but I am sure on this.

Thank you ricksreef.. After some research I finally found out that they are in fact feather dusters... If you could give me the following answers to these questions that would be helpful too.

1.) will these feather dusters die if there is light on them?
2.) I like the fact that you can see them so is it ok to keep it turned up like it is or if that will kill them then should I turn it back over?
3.) if I have to turn it back over so that they are covered, then I would like to just completely remove them... Do you have any knowledge of how to get the hard body detached from the rock without having to slowly pick it away or hurt any other organisms the rock might have in it?

 

[Ricksreef]

Thank you ricksreef.. After some research I finally found out that they are in fact feather dusters... If you could give me the following answers to these questions that would be helpful too.

1.) will these feather dusters die if there is light on them?
2.) I like the fact that you can see them so is it ok to keep it turned up like it is or if that will kill them then should I turn it back over?
3.) if I have to turn it back over so that they are covered, then I would like to just completely remove them... Do you have any knowledge of how to get the hard body detached from the rock without having to slowly pick it away or hurt any other organisms the rock might have in it?

1.Some will die off.
2.I would turn it back over,but your preference.
3.Why remove them,they are good filter feeders,and every extra filtering helps your tank.