Live rock with algae in new tank

[Lgara1303]

Hello everyone, I am just looking for some recommendations. I am currently building a 75 gallon tank and over the course of the last 2 to 3 weeks have been buying live rock for it. I started off with around 10 pounds in a tote with a powerhead and heater The next week I got another 15 pounds from my fish shop I should add. Just last weekend I found some live rock that had been broken down from someone’s tank on Facebook. When I went over to look at it, it seemed to like decent rock. The only bad thing is it had quite a bit of algae growing on it, and some of the pieces even had some GSP growing on it, he only wanted $85 for around 30 to 40 pounds of live rock so I figured it would be OK. I put all of it in the Tote together, thinking it wouldn’t really matter or that the algae would just die off. However, I’ve been checking on it every day and it really hasn’t changed any and today. A lot of the pieces with the algae had a saltwater tank smell to them and did not smell the best. I pulled some pieces out that were from the fish shop where they had no algae on them and they smelled fine but I’m just worried, if this will affect anything or if this is even OK to add into a brand new tank with my other live rock if anyone could put any input in on this, that would be great and I’m also looking for ways to scrub the algae off and get rid of the GSP if it is OK to add this to a new tank hopefully I did not kill all the rock that I know was good. And obviously now I know and realized if the LR I got off the person on Facebook had any hitchhikers or anything on it it would more than likely transfer to my live rock from the fish shop so I’m just looking to see what everyone thinks.

 

[Stevorino]

This is a tough one.

I think if it were me, I would go buy some peppermint shrimp (2-3) and stick them in there and let them do what they can to any potential baddies.

If the algae and other crap on the most recent batch is excessive, I probably would put it in a separate container and see what happens to it. If it's just spots here and there I would just keep it together at this point.

 

[Lgara1303]

This is a tough one.

I think if it were me, I would go buy some peppermint shrimp (2-3) and stick them in there and let them do what they can to any potential baddies.

If the algae and other crap on the most recent batch is excessive, I probably would put it in a separate container and see what happens to it. If it's just spots here and there I would just keep it together at this point.

If you went the peppermint, shrimp route, you would just add them into the tote?

The algae is pretty excessive. It’s on basically all of the tops or all of the bottoms of those rocks. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow.

 

[Dom]

If you went the peppermint, shrimp route, you would just add them into the tote?

The algae is pretty excessive. It’s on basically all of the tops or all of the bottoms of those rocks. I will try to get some pictures tomorrow.

Why do you have algae on rocks in the tote?

Are you lighting the tote? If so, I would turn off the light and keep the tote covered.

 

[Lgara1303]

Why do you have algae on rocks in the tote?

Are you lighting the tote? If so, I would turn off the light and keep the tote covered.

No, it has algae on it because I bought it from someone off Facebook and they broke down their tank so the algae must have been on the rock when it was in the tank and then still living when he had it in a bucket the tote I have the lid on

 

[Dom]

No, it has algae on it because I bought it from someone off Facebook and they broke down their tank so the algae must have been on the rock when it was in the tank and then still living when he had it in a bucket the tote I have the lid on

If you keep the tote dark (covered) the algae will eventually die off.

 

[Reefering1]

Was all the rock acquired wet from other systems? This is what curing rock is all about. Manually remove everything you don't want. keep it in dark, circulating water. Photosynthetic life(algea/corals) die back and you keep changing the water until there is no smell. During this time observe and remove any unwanted hitchhikers. Once the smell is gone and it is clean of excessive build up its ready. Longer is better. Probably wouldn't hurt to test phosphates day after a complete water change(of rock tub). Bacteria will be fine. No chemicals, lots of water changes, observe carefully, enjoy your rock.

 

[Lgara1303]

If you keep the tote dark (covered) the algae will eventually die off.

How long do you think it will take? It has been a week and doesn’t look like it’s dying at all. Also, the guy had it in the bucket for a while in the GSP honestly seems to be on there pretty good.

 

[Lgara1303]

Was all the rock acquired wet from other systems? This is what curing rock is all about. Manually remove everything you don't want. keep it in dark, circulating water. Photosynthetic life(algea/corals) die back and you keep changing the water until there is no smell. During this time observe and remove any unwanted hitchhikers. Once the smell is gone and it is clean of excessive build up its ready. Longer is better. Probably wouldn't hurt to test phosphates day after a complete water change(of rock tub). Bacteria will be fine. No chemicals, lots of water changes, observe carefully, enjoy your rock.

Yes, all of the rock was acquired wet I purchased around 15 pounds from one Fish store and then around 15 pounds from another fish store and then got the 30 to 40 pounds that has the algae on it from someone on Facebook are you saying that I should be changing the water in the tote

 

[Reefering1]

Yes, all of the rock was acquired wet I purchased around 15 pounds from one Fish store and then around 15 pounds from another fish store and then got the 30 to 40 pounds that has the algae on it from someone on Facebook are you saying that I should be changing the water in the tote

Yes

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

No, it has algae on it because I bought it from someone off Facebook and they broke down their tank so the algae must have been on the rock when it was in the tank and then still living when he had it in a bucket the tote I have the lid on

I'm sorry , but thats bad news. Putting rocks from peoples tanks into my tank has introduced wicked pests, and I've had to do rip cleans to get rid of it, I will never do that again.

You get what you pay for, if you want wet live rock, better to get it from the LFS.

Personally I would bleach those rocks and take this as a learning curve.

 

[Dom]

How long do you think it will take? It has been a week and doesn’t look like it’s dying at all. Also, the guy had it in the bucket for a while in the GSP honestly seems to be on there pretty good.

I'd give it a week or two, then I would pull all the rock and scrub it clean with a scrub brush. Then empty the tote and fill it with fresh RODI. Store it there until you're ready to use the rock.