Rock turning white

[snelly50]

I just set up a Red Sea Max 34 gal tank on July 6th. I added about 40lbs of Fuji Live Rock on 2 weeks ago. Everything was looking good but tonight I noticed it is turning white. My lights are on about 6-7 hr a day only. I'm wondering if something wasn't wrong with the rock when I bought it. I had just been delivered to my LFS and was wet and covered with we paper when I opened it. Any ideas.....???

[zeus_roush]

if iam not mistaken coraline algae turns white when it dies

[ab420]

Originally Posted by zeus_roush

if iam not mistaken coraline algae turns white when it dies

yea it does

[Jeremy0322]

That is what all mine did, it will all come back though, no worries

[surplusrifleguy]

I have the red sea max and I've found that I need to run my lights about 10 and half hours a day. Thats not why your coraline is turning white though. It could be many different reasons, however, the two most common are either your rock was out of the water to long, or your water parameters (calcium -alk-phosphates) are not quite right due to your tank cycling. It will come back though as others have said, mine sure is. It just takes time.

[cbrownfish]

Originally Posted by surplusrifleguy

It could be many different reasons, however, the two most common are either your rock was out of the water to long, or your water parameters (calcium -alk-phosphates) are not quite right due to your tank cycling. It will come back though as others have said, mine sure is. It just takes time.

^ Agreed. It is not uncommon to see coralline algae die off in a new tank or set up. With time and stable params, you will have plenty of coralline. The good news, is the tank is well "seeded" for future coralline growth.

[CATALYST]

Keep your water levels right. I have coralline growing in ambient light. Most of my rock was white when I put it in the tank.

[snelly50]

Thanks guys...let me add that I took half of my water from my son's tank so it didn't have to cycle. Also, this is new rock 2 only 2 weeks old and didn't have much coralline on it. Still think it's the lack of light ??

[Kirblit]

Also if you see a lot of it turn white after it gets established check your magnesium levels. This is one of the single most common reasons for coralline algae to turn white when everything else is stable.

[Snelly40]

ahh, magnesium is always key, i'll bring my test over and we can check it out!!!

[goldenmean]

Originally Posted by snelly50

Thanks guys...let me add that I took half of my water from my son's tank so it didn't have to cycle. Also, this is new rock 2 only 2 weeks old and didn't have much coralline on it. Still think it's the lack of light ??

Your tank will still have to cycle even though you used water from an established tank. The vast majority of dentrifing (beneficial) bacteria is not found in the water. It is in the LR and on surfaces within your tank. Cycling is the time it takes to build up these bacteria.

Here is some helpful reading on the cycle:

-little-something-cycling-breaking-new-reef-tank.html

just-exactly-what-cycled-tank.html

[jkburton1s]

i too have wonderd why my rock turns white and then gets purple. i have never checked my mag leves. just done frequent water changes . great info