Adding live rock

[boreddome]

I'm getting live rock this weekend for my tank that has been going for a year now. I added live rock before but nothing seemed to happen to my base rock. I'm trying to figure out what to do when I add new live rock now. Tank is 90g and I have about 60 pounds of base rock and 20 pounds of live rock which I added about 11 months ago and it never spread. My base rock turned a nasty brownish color. And the 20 pound of live rock doesn't look much better.
What should I do to get the new live rock I'm buying this weekend to spread?

 

[Beengirl]

When you say nothin happened, I'm assuming you mean that no purple coraline algae grew. I'm sure that there is BB on what started as your base rock, which would make it live rock too. Not all coraline algae is purple, it comes in many different colors.

 

[boreddome]

Yeah none of the coraline algae spread. Is there something special I have to do to get it to spread?

 

[PurplePolyp]

Stable water parameters is the best way to get it to spread. And patience. You can try scraping the coralline with a rock and turning your filters off for a little while.

 

[bskerrichard27]

Did u introduce coraline to your system? It don't just grow you must introduce some to the system then patience and it will cover everything ....

 

[Schism]

Did u introduce coraline to your system? It don't just grow you must introduce some to the system then patience and it will cover everything ....

This^

Also Coraline will spread with proper parameters and sufficient lighting. If you dont have enough light its not gonna grow.

 

[PurplePolyp]

I never introduced coralline to my system but there was some either on my live rock or on a snail that I bought. Over the last week, my coralline algae has started booming. I fought cyano for 5-6 weeks. I finally got it under control and as soon as I did, the coralline took over.

 

[bskerrichard27]

Keeping good parms and having good lighting on the blue spectrum side is key imo also I have had good results with a product called purple up it does not contain coraline just helps it grow...more or less concentrated calcium and magnesium in a bottle but none the less helps ....