live rock got white stuff growing

[shoelevy]

hi guys

my tank 2 mths old now got sth white growing on the life rocks

from far it looks like sand particles if they r small and looks as if rocks turning white if big patches but upon closer inspection i saw that its actually sth growing

anyone has any ideas what they are or what its caused by?

[ah_d3x]

a picture speaks a thousand words..

[shoelevy]

seriously, no pt taking a piture...it jus looks like teh rocks haf turned white

seriously...u wun be able to tell anything from a photo unless i take a super close up shot but my digi cam is not capable of that

[35Cents]

Precipitation perhaps??? Can describe more on the white stuffs like texture, etc?

[shoelevy]

texture very similar to coralline algae except that its white

that's y i and my friend initially mistook it as coralline turning white

[35Cents]

Coralline can indeed turn white...due to reasons I don't know (low calcium?), happens to my former tank for a while but turn out ok. Is all your major water parameters ok?

[shoelevy]

hm

i'll gif the values that i can test cos some i dun haf test kits

i'll skip nh3 and no2 since my lifestocks and corals r well so they're fine

Ca 400ppm

no3 20ppm

kh 10

ph at a steady 8.2

Mg i got no test kit

I2 also no test kit

anything i amiss or anything i missed out?

[35Cents]

Hmmm...all your given parameters ok leh... cept N03 of course...but at this level still ok...the rest ungiven ones dunno relevant to your case or not. But you should get mag test.

Perhaps observe for a few days to see if its really coraline bleaching or some sort of fungus attack...try scaping it off to see if it break into pieces like the coating of M&Ms...if its tat its coraline bleaching. Best of luck dude.

[shoelevy]

ok

will get Mg test kit tomorrow

jus to find out wat's the acceptable value for Mg?

what causes Mg level to drop

and if low how can i boost it besides changing water?

[35Cents]

Acceptable Mg is 1300 - 1500ppm. Mg helps in growth of coraline algae and photosynthesis of it. Many reefsters here increase Mg by using additives from typical products....cheapest way is to dose epsom salt, but hard to get in pharmacy. How much to dose? Check out the below link:

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/index.htm?ht...o.uk/cacalc.htm

[shoelevy]

any particular brands of Mg additives u could recommend?

TM?

[mUAr_cHEe]

bro.... safe lah.... its ok....

rocks turn white normal..... maybe yr fish got wet dreams... than stain the rocks... kakakkaa...

corny!!! *crow flys over head*

[shoelevy]

....dots....

[kareen]

can it be some sort of white sponge? I had that growing on some spot of liverocks and pretty harmless.....

[shoelevy]

i dun think its sponge cos the phenomena is on all the rocks

can't be sponge everywhere rite?

[kareen]

oh well....maybe a picture speaks a thousand word then.... Before this current tank, my previous 3' tank has quite a bit of white colour sponge-like thing growing on liverocks. I also wonder why and where they come from.....

[shoelevy]

oh dear

i jus tested my Mg level (salifert)

its only 760ppm

i do believe the white things is precipitation?

[35Cents]

Well...actually precipitation is high amount of calcium/buffer/additives...dont think a low amount makes it occur.

[shoelevy]

ah

35cents...theres a thread somewhere here

there's a website

basically it saes Ca and CO3 in sea water is actually so high it'll precipitate but wat stops it from happening is the presense of the more reactive ion Mg2+ so yeah...if too low it'll precipitate

the only thing i'm pondering is how the precipitation looks like if it occurs

would it look the same like what's going on in my tank

aniwae...muar chee and borinz came over todae...tehy said what's going on happened in their tanks and it should be nothing to be worried bout

while he was here toking...muar chee said he uses a hns and he not changed water for like 9mths????

melvyn also mentioned once that he and another hns user never changed water for like 6mths...!!