live rock is turning white

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foma2000

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Nov 13, 2004
Messages
325
Location
santa cruz california
hey everyone. this is my first time posting and i could really use some help. i have a 9 gallon tank and a while ago my tank bit the dust so i took everything out, put new sand in, cleaned the filter with freash water, and started all over again. the other day i went and got 8 lbs of LR and a clown fish and added it to my tank along with the 1lb of dead LR that was already in there. i woke up today to find that some of my LR had gotten a little whiter and there were some small white patches where there used to be alge. is this natural die off from the long trip from where every it came from, or am i doing something wrong? please help.
 
No I was just curious because some crabs strip the corraline off the rocks and leave them white in places, others just keep it clean. Are you talking about the corraline or nuissance algae?
 
im pritty shure thats its the nuissance algae. its the green algae thats covering most of the rocks. i went to the LFS and got some iodine and iron supplenments. was that a good idea?
 
Did the LR dry out at all? If so, that could cause it. Another thing that can cause it is the difference in the lighting. What does the algae look like? Is is fuzzy/wavy? There is a variety of coraline that is green. I would be VERY careful about adding iodine to the tank. It's very easy to OD with it. The best way to control the algae is by controlling the nutrient levels in the tank.
 
the algea that im talking about is just the green pigment on the live rock. at first i thought it was just die off but it keeps getting worse. i havn't added any iodine. just iron which is what the lfs sugjested. i could very well be the lighting. i only have 2 normal output floresent tubs. i was planing on upgrading the lights to a 12 atinic blue power compact and a wide spectrum power compact but i still need to get a spark light to get them to work.
im still lost as to why only the green pigment is going from the live rock. everything else is thriving and im even starting to see some zoanthids comming out.
 
Mine did that when I upgraded my lighting, it turned a lighter color. The iron supplements aren't really going to help with the algea (am I right?). Have you checked your nitrates and phosphates? Since you took everything out it is probabally going threw a cycleing process again, unless it already has. Even still, a new tank usually gets some algae blooms, it's normal. Just try to siphon it out and do water changes. It should subside soon as long as your nitrates and phosphates are good. Put a small cleaning crew in to help ya out :wink:
 
thanks everyone. its already starting to get better. im pritty shure that it just went through some die off because its already comming back.
 
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