Rocks turning yellow?

[as1720]

Why are my rocks turning yellow? Also on the flower shaped rock there is white foam like stuff growing on it, its spreading to the other rock what in the world is that? I just noticed it when i pulled the tank out to fix an outlet behind the set up. All the white stuff is on the back of the rock.

2 clowns
2 peppermint shrimp
2 nass snails
2 blue leg hermit shrimp

29 gal tank
7 weeks old
bak Pak 2 Bio filter/pretien skimmer
2 korlia #2's
30 lbs live rock
30 lbs live sand

 

[Scooterman]

7 weeks old your tank may still be cycling, first & foremost.
What is your water ammonia, nitrates & nitrites?
What lighting do you have & how long are you leaving it on?
What is your salinity?

May be your lighting.

The white foam stuff I'm not sure, may need a clear picture. It could be sponge of some sort.

 

[as1720]

7 weeks old your tank may still be cycling, first & foremost.
What is your water ammonia, nitrates & nitrites?
What lighting do you have & how long are you leaving it on?
What is your salinity?

May be your lighting.

The white foam stuff I'm not sure, may need a clear picture. It could be sponge of some sort.

I had standard lights that were on 8 hours a day.

nitrate 15ish
nitrite 0
amona 20ish
PH 8.0 a little low i know im working on it.
saltinty is at 25
temp 84

The rock i used went from one tank to another in like 10 min and soaking wet towls. I never had a spike. Its always just kinda been a little lower then it is now i need to do a water change so its a little high right now.

The white stuff reminds me of a cob webs

 

[Scooterman]

Just because you got rocks from another tank doesn't necessary mean your not going to have or cause cycles, was this an established tank? Your tank, did you add LS to it or did you use dry sand or other maybe? Your nitrates & ammonia aren't that great, they should be 0, doing a wc the test the next day & again daily will tel you more, if it goes up within a few days then you need to do more. Overfeeding is one thing most people do, or feeding improperly. Another is your husbandry, whatever you put in the tank you must remove as in detritus. Fish eat, poop & some food doesn't get eaten, that all must be removed constantly. Having a good skimmer & know what good skimming is like is also very helpful.
Salinity average of seawater is 35ppt, slowly adjust that over weeks & try to get your tank temperature stable & lower than 84. YOU need stability in this tank so take your time & don't add anything as in fish, coral inverts etc. until you can get it under control.
Are you using RO/DI water? What salt brand are you using? What name brand test kits are you using & what are you using to adjust your salinity?
Standard light will probably not support the coralline on your rocks or they will turn off colors like that. I would consider some upgrades. What are you using for FLow inside the tank?

Edit, see you just put a new light on this tank right? That will make a big difference. but make sure to keep your temp. stable & cooler.

 

[as1720]

Just because you got rocks from another tank doesn't necessary mean your not going to have or cause cycles, was this an established tank? Your tank, did you add LS to it or did you use dry sand or other maybe? Your nitrates & ammonia aren't that great, they should be 0, doing a wc the test the next day & again daily will tel you more, if it goes up within a few days then you need to do more. Overfeeding is one thing most people do, or feeding improperly. Another is your husbandry, whatever you put in the tank you must remove as in detritus. Fish eat, poop & some food doesn't get eaten, that all must be removed constantly. Having a good skimmer & know what good skimming is like is also very helpful.
Salinity average of seawater is 35ppt, slowly adjust that over weeks & try to get your tank temperature stable & lower than 84. YOU need stability in this tank so take your time & don't add anything as in fish, coral inverts etc. until you can get it under control.
Are you using RO/DI water? What salt brand are you using? What name brand test kits are you using & what are you using to adjust your salinity?
Standard light will probably not support the coralline on your rocks or they will turn off colors like that. I would consider some upgrades. What are you using for FLow inside the tank?

Edit, see you just put a new light on this tank right? That will make a big difference. but make sure to keep your temp. stable & cooler.

The rock was taken from an astablished tank.

I used live sand.

Sorry that was a typo my saltinty is at 35 maybe a tiny bit above actualy.

I am feeding my fish too much. But they like to eat! I will chill on the food as of today and i knew had been needing to do that i just feel bad only feeding them once a day. But i dont think it is the cause of the rocks turning yellow.

The temp was lower then 84 then igot these new lights and they went up to 84 i have slowly getting it to go back down. Im hoping to keep it at 80 tops. Any recomendation for a good thermomater? What would be a good temp? I am hoping to ad some coral someday.......

I have been using distailled water, and i am buying a RO/DI unit this week.

I have been using instant ocean, but will be using reef crystals soon.

I have updated my light to
1 x 250W 15000K HQI
2 x 65W Actinic Blue Compact Fluorescent Lamps
4 x Dual Bluemoon LED

FLow wise i am using two Korilia #2's with out the front things on them i cant for the life of me think of what they are called. But taking them off made the flow stronger.

So im working on getting my temp down, i have better lighting up hence the temp being up. I plan on buying a little fan to hook up under the light to keep it cooler. Them light does come with a fan though and i do keep it on when the light are on.

Im thinkning it was the crappy light becuase now that i think about it, the color started to change when i changed they really crappy buld to a slighty less crappy bulb.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Instant ocean is fine for this tank, save your money.
The yellow is the beginning of algae. Not sure, but the cobwebs could be from a sessile snail living in your rock casting out mucus webs.
All new tanks cycle, even with transfered rock and live sand.
A fan or two blowing across the water when the lights are on will cool the tank

You have a skimmer going?

Give it time, in a couple months it will be stable.

 

[as1720]

Instant ocean is fine for this tank, save your money.
The cobwebs could be from a sessile snail living in your rock casting out mucus webs.
All new tanks cycle, even with transfered rock and live sand.
A fan or two blowing across the water when the lights are on will cool the tank

You have a skimmer going?

Give it time, in a couple months it will be stable.

Well the cobb web stuff was there befor the snails and its pretty thick. Im going to take a picturre of it in a min and post it. But if you look at the flower like rock you can see it on the right side of the rock.

I do have a skimmer running. Its a bak pak 2 bio filter and skimmer.

Im going to try and get a fan today.

 

[Reeferdude]

Looks like algae and sponge.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

Oh, the white stuff coating one head to the right on the lobo skeleton rock near the center of the tank shot?
That could be fungus or bacteria growth feeding on what had died off on that spot. It's part of the cycle process and nothing to sweat as it too will pass.

Is your skimmer pulling out any crud from the water?

 

[DonW]

In your picture the rock appears to be pretty white and bleached. If this is accurate its going to go through alot of color changes before it establishes coraline.

Don

 

[as1720]

In your picture the rock appears to be pretty white and bleached. If this is accurate its going to go through alot of color changes before it establishes coraline.

Don

My camera washes the color out. There were only one or two rocks that didnt have any algea on them. The flower looking rock has a ton of algea on the other side of it also has a feather duster on the other side i just turned it the other way because it looks better on this side, so the side you are looking at did not have as much algea on it but it was not white. the rock next to it on the top right is kinda white and turning yellow.

Maybe after 7 weeks the tank is just now cycling? Is that possible?

 

[as1720]

My camera washes the color out. There were only one or two rocks that didnt have any algea on them. The flower looking rock has a ton of algea on the other side of it also has a feather duster on the other side i just turned it the other way because it looks better on this side, so the side you are looking at did not have as much algea on it but it was not white. the rock next to it on the top right is kinda white and turning yellow.

Maybe after 7 weeks the tank is just now cycling? Is that possible?

Here is a kinda sorta better picture of the white stuff.

 

[DonW]

If that color is close to true color your rock is pretty bleached and will grow whatever is dominant in your tank, really has nothing to do with cycling. With the rock being that color I'd question just how established it really is.

Don

 

[as1720]

If that color is close to true color your rock is pretty bleached and will grow whatever is dominant in your tank, really has nothing to do with cycling. With the rock being that color I'd question just how established it really is.

Don

There are only three pieces of rock that are that white and they are small. The rest of the rock is dark/redish purple.

so anything that is white is going to turn yellow and stay yellow?

 

[Herefishyfishy]

There are only three pieces of rock that are that white and they are small. The rest of the rock is dark/redish purple.

so anything that is white is going to turn yellow and stay yellow?

Nope. The white will turn yellow or tan. The yellow/tan will turn green. Some will get covered in red/brown for awhile, then back to green and that will gradually turn pink/purple.

This all assumes good skimming and frequent water changes without over-feeding.

 

[as1720]

Nope. The white will turn yellow or tan. The yellow/tan will turn green. Some will get covered in red/brown for awhile, then back to green and that will gradually turn pink/purple.

This all assumes good skimming and frequent water changes without over-feeding.

I see so in other words its going to really ugly for a while. lol

Any one figure out what the white stuff is?

 

[Scooterman]

Deep Dark purples & greens usually come from low light, the pink common occurs in time with higher lighting.

Take a pick of the white stuff, It will help lots.

 

[Reeferdude]

The white stuff..

Here is a kinda sorta better picture of the white stuff.

 

[rjarnold]

I had that stuff on the rock I got from Tampa Bay Florida. I don't know *what* it is exactly, but it was there during the cycling and gradually went away.

 

[as1720]

The white rock was on the bottm of there tank or not exposed to the light, that would be my guess as to why it doesnt have any algea on it. Right?

It all came from the same tanks, they looked like pretty old tanks.

My skimmer does not pull much out any more, i would say it fills the cup every two weeks. I empty every couple days though. When i first put the tank together it would filled once a week, now it fills every other week.

Its only a 29 gal tank with two fish and two shrimp, i know im over feeding but not by much i feed the fish three times a day, i do flakes, pellets, and frozen brime shrimp. I going to cut the shrimp out i know its doesnt have any nutritional value.

I'll give it some time and post updates.