Stuff growing out of long dead dry liverock??

fishhawk123

New member
Hello, my name is Walt and I have a problem. Wait..this isn't reefers anonymous? Well ty for letting me share anyway.. Ok , I am setting up another system after a long hiatus.
I bought 58 lbs of pukani dry live rock from aquacave. Rock is gorgeous. I asked for 2 to 3 rocks and they sent me 4. Thank God because they are huge.The other 30 or so pounds were true Fiji live rock that I had in my first reef tank over 15 years ago. It was stored dry in a tote for over 13 yes when we had to move. That rock was recently pressure washed, and added to the main DT with the new. After two weeks or so sitting in the DT I noticed something flower shaped growing out of the 13 yo dead Fiji rock. Even tho I only had my first tank up for a year, I don't think I ever had aptaisiamand I don't think that is what it is. What organism can stay dormant that long and come back in only about 3 or 4 weeks of being in a cycling tank.
Current setup and parameters are: 125g 6' DT. 55g sump with old euroreef 6-2 skimmer. Heater- temp 78.5f 60 gallon dedicated refugium plumbed in but has not been online with other system ever. DC return pump w/ 1200gph ghost overflow (bean animal). Salinity at 1.025 (if my old refractomete can b relied upon)
Any Ideas on what is growing on these rocks? I have not yet tested for ammonia or nitrates but that is beside the question here. There is more that one of these things growing and I will look but there might be some on the new pukani as well. I know this will be an old joke, but I have been trying to do this on a budget...yeah right. Oh and lighting has been very me minimal to none. I bought a cheap t5 quad setup on eBay. Finding a Is six foot fixture on a budget is not easy.with a built in timer as well for both set of t5s and x8 blue moonlites in LEDs on timer as well. It will work until I upgrade to all LEDs.
Thanks in advance
Waqlt
 
Here are some pics of one

Here are some pics of one

Here are some pics of one I prayed off.
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20160810_114000.jpg
    IMG_20160810_114000.jpg
    27.4 KB · Views: 2
  • IMG_20160810_114026.jpg
    IMG_20160810_114026.jpg
    22.4 KB · Views: 3
  • IMG_20160810_114159.jpg
    IMG_20160810_114159.jpg
    37.7 KB · Views: 5
Is there anyway this had just been on rock the whole time? even when the rock was dry and possibly just went unnoticed??
From the pics it looks like calcareous tubes.

Just a guess but, maybe a cluster of old vermetid snails?
 
Maybe but not likely

Maybe but not likely

So Far as I can tell, it is only appearing on the old Fiji and none of the new pukani dryrock. They have all shown up facing up and towards the top of the rocks. These were full of life 13 years ago...maybe they still are... lmao. Here are some shots of the tank, the rocks, and my attempt at aquascaping... The rocks with the growths are in the center cluster. Please feel free to lie to me and tell me my aquascaping is great lol
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20160810_134851.jpg
    IMG_20160810_134851.jpg
    30.5 KB · Views: 2
  • IMG_20160810_134826.jpg
    IMG_20160810_134826.jpg
    31.7 KB · Views: 2
  • IMG_20160810_135111.jpg
    IMG_20160810_135111.jpg
    25.9 KB · Views: 3
  • IMG_20160810_134615.jpg
    IMG_20160810_134615.jpg
    55.9 KB · Views: 2
  • IMG_20160810_134603.jpg
    IMG_20160810_134603.jpg
    41.2 KB · Views: 5
Pretty sure it wasn't there when I put them in

Pretty sure it wasn't there when I put them in

Don't think it was like that on the rocks when introduced. If so what are the chances of them all only on top of multiple rocks and all only on the top of the rocks facing towards the lights. We shall name thy tiny subjects... Never- gonna- die-akis!
 
Your aquascaping is just as amazing as your photography skills.. :p
(you seem to have a good sense of humor.. well and you asked for it)
 
Thanx mcgyvr

Thanx mcgyvr

Right now its aquascaped with reef-safe prayers and a few hail Mary's. You must be my patron saint. Any suggestions, besides photographing on a scratched up 4yr old rca tablet. I was going to get a new tablet or phone but..hey wait...I can buy some reef lighting instead got in the way...
 
Right now its aquascaped with reef-safe prayers and a few hail Mary's. You must be my patron saint. Any suggestions, besides photographing on a scratched up 4yr old rca tablet. I was going to get a new tablet or phone but..hey wait...I can buy some reef lighting instead got in the way...



Do you realize you are asking this of a guy named mcgyver? Get ready:


2e0a484f35d567a499de90454ddc95f2.jpg
 
Swiss Army knives and chewing gum

Swiss Army knives and chewing gum

Yes NS Mike D I did. I am hoping he will appear in my mancave and use his swiss army knife and chewing gum to make it all better. One can only hope"¦...Right?
Seriously though, I would accept any constructive pointers on that subject. I actually tried drilling and fiberglass rods but I abandoned that because: A) Those 3 huge boulders on the left were to precarious to get in at one time and B) I recall I couldn't fit them as one piece through the top of the tank. C) It was impossible to see to mate the rods as individual pieces one in the tank. D) I can still rearrange them, and D) I actually like the left side of the tank, the middle and right side...I dunno..
 
Your aquascaping options are really fairly limited there..
Just a few "larger" boulders so there isn't much you can do..

But I'd never tell a man how to aquascape.. Or is that manscape.. IDK.. Just had myself a fish bowl margarita.. mmmm so muy bueno..
 
Seriously though, I would accept any constructive pointers on that subject. I actually tried drilling and fiberglass rods but I abandoned that because: A) Those 3 huge boulders on the left were to precarious to get in at one time and B) I recall I couldn't fit them as one piece through the top of the tank. C) It was impossible to see to mate the rods as individual pieces one in the tank. D) I can still rearrange them, and D) I actually like the left side of the tank, the middle and right side...I dunno..

I don't like drilling in rods, or using rods themselves... Drilling is more likely to go where it wants to instead of where you do, and lining them up a good mating spot is almost just guesswork once you take it apart again.

But superglue is great. At least on dry base rock with some powdered base rock in a tub nearby (the fines you can prod out of some of the base rock holes is great). I built my 4 rocks in my tank from smaller rocks with only superglue. Two years on they are still holding together enough to pick them up from any of the pieces. All of them are freestanding on a tripod like footprint.

Assembly is simple, mate two pieces as desired. Find a few spots where contact is made or at least close. Add a little superglue, coat glue in fine rock dust. Repeat a bunch of layers to build up the joint.

Here is one out of the tank after assembly. This is made up of at least 5 smaller bits and maybe a few tiny ones (like the right front leg).
IMG_1088.jpg~original

IMG_1091.jpg~original

Same rock in tank.
IMG_1118_1.jpg~original


Here is the least stable one. The overhang is butted against another rock to remove the slight chance it could top over with some poking on the lever... That overhang is only held to the base with 3 or 4 glue bonds though... As are the rest of the pieces that make up that bigun. I forget how many rocks made that one up, but its a few... I can see at least 5 bigger pieces and 2 small ones, and i know there is a plate on the back you can't see and a few tiny ones were used to reinforce some of the joints (gussets).
IMG_1082.jpg~original


Totally unrelated to the thread i know...
 
Great info and aquascaping

Great info and aquascaping

Thanks for sharing that with me. When I buy my next order of dryrock I will try that. And no worries as I was the one who hijacked my own thread to begin with.
I'm just glad that the best guesses as to what that tiny lifeforms was, was benign. After all, the biggest reasons for using drydock is eliminating potential harmful hitchhikers.
 
Back
Top