Help with live rock.

[jessluvsa78]

So we live in North Carolina on the ocean. I have been working on two salt water tanks. One I have had a good deal of sucess. The other im just starting out. Ive decided i want to do a reef tank. I have a friend who gave me what he called live rock. It was in a tank with alot of rock. Im thinking he took it right from the ocean. My reasons for thinking this is because there are live crabs and like claim shells on it. Ill attach pictures. I put it in the empty tank in salt water. And there is alot of life but it seems so dirty, compared to the rick I bought for my other tank. I want to make sure that this rock is what I need and it isnt going to ruin my good tank. Any advice on what Im dealing with or what the next step should be ia greatly appreciated!

 

[mcozad829]

Live rock can have any number of different things on it, could be from the ocean or from an established tank, it would be hard to know for sure without being the one who originally purchased it. The only thing that looks wrong with it is the green hair algae on it... By putting rock that already has GHA on it you are kind of starting on the back foot. You have a few options, 1. leave it in and deal with the algae via nutrient exportation, 2. remove it and give it back, 3. remove it dry it out and clean it off, cure it and start cycling again.

If you do decide to leave it in, leave the lights off while you are cycling, hopefully this will kill off some of the algae.

 

[jessluvsa78]

Live rock can have any number of different things on it, could be from the ocean or from an established tank, it would be hard to know for sure without being the one who originally purchased it. The only thing that looks wrong with it is the green hair algae on it... By putting rock that already has GHA on it you are kind of starting on the back foot. You have a few options, 1. leave it in and deal with the algae via nutrient exportation, 2. remove it and give it back, 3. remove it dry it out and clean it off, cure it and start cycling again.

If you do decide to leave it in, leave the lights off while you are cycling, hopefully this will kill off some of the algae.

Ok Thank you. I think ill try to fix it. Is there a ceryain lean up crew I should use or a supplement that will help. There are no fish in this tank at all. Just the rocks and what ever lives in them. I know I have seen crabs and maybe little shrimp. There also looks like little worm thing that come out of the rock them goes back in.

 

[danil]

The benefit of life rock is its porous structure. It became home for our beneficial microorganisms and works as primary filter. Usually rocks we use come from tropical reefs and it's basically dead corals. Your rocks looks a bit different so they might come from coast of North Carolina. For me they look more like coquina then real reef rocks.
And yes they are dirty. To clean you can scrub it with brush, power wash it or even bleach or acid them with muriatic acid.