Live rock problem?

[Ruger Girl]

hi there everyone!

We just set up a new 55 gal salt water tank. We went to the store and they sold us "live" sand (60 lbs), live rock (30 lbs - we need more), and several of those vats of "real life ocean water!". Set it up. Waited for the terrible plume of cloudiness to settle. Fired up the canister filter (rated at 200gph) and two 850 powerheads and again waited for the sand storm to settle.

Fast forward a week later and one live rock has this dull white furry stuff (I will attempt to attach pictures). At first thought it was silt that had settled but it won't budge with a turkey baster squeezed at it. The tank offers no apparent odor - and we have tested the water daily using API master test kit and our levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate remain consistently at zero. pH is consistent at 8.4. Temp is 78. SG 1.024.

They did tell us we should put a fish and some snails and crabs in - followed their advice and they sold us 5 nissarous crabs and 5 very small hermit crabs along with a small captive bred clownfish. Clownfish is eating eagerly every other day - we break a small sliver off of a frozen cube they sold us and the snails appear to forage for the left overs.

I really hope we are doing everything right. I've been reading and trying to educate myself the best I can but I really don't want to screw anything up and kill anyone in this tank. It is only just the one piece of rock that has this film on it but if it's something bad and detrimental to the tank I want to fix it.

Any help and advice would be appreciated! Thank you!

 

[DaveK]

What you are seeing is typical for new live rock. It's either die off from things like sponges not surviving the trip home or from a bloom of bacteria covering the rock. It's usually harmless.

However, you have other problems that need to be addressed.

You don't have nearly enough live rock. 30 lbs is only about half of what you need. Live rock goes far beyond decoration and is the primary source of biological filtration on a SW reef system.

You failed to cycle the tank before you added livestock. It is obvious the tank isn't cycles because you didn't see a spike in ammonia and then nitrite before they dropped to zero.

Your LFS never should have sold you livestock until you have cycled the tank.

As I see it you have two possible courses of action.

You can return the livestock to your LFS, get about 25 more pounds or rock, which could be live rock or dry reef rock, and cycle the tank normally. To cycle a tank, you typically add 1 raw uncooked shrimp that you get from the seafood section of your grocery store, and let it rot in the tank.

--or--

Stick it out with what you have. This has somewhat more risk. Add 25 lbs of dry reef rock. Do not add additional live rock. Feed the tank very carefully and monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels. Run the system this way for about 8 weeks. You'll need this time for the bacteria levels to ramp up. If the ammonia or nitrite levels get extreme, you will need to make major partial water changes to bring them down.

While your waiting, get yourself a couple of good books on the subject. Here are two to start with -

The Conscientious Marine Aquarist by Robert Fenner
The New Marine Aquarium by Michael Paleta <---This book has an especially good section on fish suited to someone starting off in the hobby.

You can sometimes find used copies on Amazon at bargain prices, and they will just fine here.

Avoid trying to read up on this on the net. While information is out there, it is simply overwhelming for someone new to this, and there is also a lot of incorrect and obsolete information out there.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

+1 on Dave's new tank lecture.
You should also read up on canister filters. Most of the time they cause more problems than they solve. They trap the detritus which is their job but then it stays in there to rot which is just as bad as it staying in the tank biologically speaking. If you are going to keep it, you will need to devote yourself to cleaning it often.