What causes new liverock to bleach out??

[CeeTee]

I just started a new system the other day. I bought about 20lbs of live rock for my 20 long tank. By day 2 about 2/3 of my rock turned white. What caused this? Is it normal? I'm using R/O water, SG 1.024 which was mixed before the rock was added. Lights are on 12 hours per day. There are all kinds of life forms in the rock including polyps, starfish, worms and little shrimp like things that come out at night. Why did the rock turn white?

 

thanks

[c_k_kuehne]

There are many factors that can cause coraline algae to die off and turn white. Here are some of the reasons:

 

1) time out of water in transit

2) temp changes in transit

3) shock when going from one set of tank parameters to another.

4) condition of LR to begin with (could have allready been dying)

5) sustained lack of calcium (none in holding tank and now maybe low level in your tank)

6) Type of LR and location (in the world) where it was collected. This also has to do w/ the overall transit time.

 

These are just some of the factors and most likely more than one was at play to turn the coraline algae white.

 

When getting LR I allways recommend bringing a container of Saltwater w/ you and make the transit submerged. Also make sure the calcium level in your tank is at 400 or more before adding the LR. These are just a few suggestions.

 

Don't worry over time the color will come back w/ proper calcium levels. You might try and get a nice colored piece of LR from a friends tank to try and re-seed your LR w/ coraline algae.

[caja]

If it was kept in a low light tank or no light tank, and put into your tank with higher lighting, it would bleach.

[supernip]

coralline die-off

[Pikelet]

The orientation of the rock in your tank is not necessarily the same as it was on the lease. Some species of low-light corallines growing on the underside on the lease will die under more intense PC or MH lighting whether there is adequate calcium carbonate or not.

 

Generally speaking, Walt Smith and others work very hard to preserve the coralline on the rock as much as possible as it increases the saleability of the rock once it gets to the USA. Coralline is only one part of the story, of course, but it is a very high priority for the importers.

 

In my view, the dominant light-loving species do not fade at all on properly cured rock. Indeed they are enhanced.