What’s the white patches on the live rock? I’ve had the tank 2 weeks

[Phoerut]

 

[muzikalmatt]

If you are talking about the small circular white coils, those are spirorbid worms. They are harmless.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Nice rock , just looks like part of the rock , possibly corraline algae died and turned white, only other thing I see is harmless worms

 

[moz71]

Is that the dry painted rock? If so, just looks like the painted parts coming off. My urchin eats right though it leaving clean white rock

 

[afrokobe]

Is that the dry painted rock? If so, just looks like the painted parts coming off. My urchin eats right though it leaving clean white rock

I think this is it, you can see the flecks of paint on the sand

 

[Phoerut]

Is that the dry painted rock? If so, just looks like the painted parts coming off. My urchin eats right though it leaving clean white rock

I don’t think it’s painted? It’s supposed to be live rock, do they paint that?

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Ya that's just the cuc scraping all the fake purple off ur rock. Lol
D

 

[Phoerut]

Ya that's just the cuc scraping all the fake purple off ur rock. Lol
D

Does that mean I’ve been sold a fake live rock? Does live rock have to be kept wet? Because it wasn’t in a tank when I bought it.. but all the shops round here sell ‘live rock’ dry?

 

[A Young Reefer]

Does that mean I’ve been sold a fake live rock? Does live rock have to be kept wet? Because it wasn’t in a tank when I bought it.. but all the shops round here sell ‘live rock’ dry?

stores buy man made rock put it in holding tanks with water and let the rocks cycle and mature, letting bacteria culture and grow in them. if it wasn't wet I don't think its called live anymore.

 

[Phoerut]

stores buy man made rock put it in holding tanks with water and let the rocks cycle and mature, letting bacteria culture and grow in them. if it wasn't wet I don't think its called live anymore.

You know I did think that! How can it be live when it’s dry? but it’s all I can get hold of. Will it still be as effective?

 

[A Young Reefer]

You know I did think that! How can it be live when it’s dry? but it’s all I can get hold of. Will it still be as effective?

It wont have all the good little microorganisms from the very start. however it will turn "live" after some time once bacteria cultures and all the different types of organisms grow in the rocks.
I started with white dry rock and in as little as 8 months you can no longer tell that it once was white!
Before

After:

 

[A Young Reefer]

by mistake double posts

 

[moz71]

I think you bought caribsea Liferock. (The product name,) which confuses people! Yes not live but will be, as mentioned above.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Man made rock is ok... bacteria will grow on the surface. The more porous the better. This has been lost...
D

 

[DE FISH]

Does that mean I’ve been sold a fake live rock? Does live rock have to be kept wet? Because it wasn’t in a tank when I bought it.. but all the shops round here sell ‘live rock’ dry?

I think it’s called real reef rock kinda misleading to a new reefer however it’s dry rock and will need cycling wether that be via bottled bacteria and ammonium or ghost feeding till you get an ammonia reading then you just gotta test till you have zero ammonia and nitrite. Unless you already got fish in there ? That would also start the cycle although I would not suggest this people back in the day used damsels to cycle their tank and then return to the store afterwards cruel really.

 

[jiggysmb]

I have had a few shops try to sell me dry rock that has been painted as "live rock". I always ask them a few questions to get their level of understanding and most think the purple is coraline and that makes it "live". At least 2 shop did not seem to understand the live referred to the bacteria and a few shop told me no one paints rocks. I have even watched a shop dip a dry rock into their filter pond and say now its live. I think the way we used to get live rock in the 90s is way gone and now the norm is simply not live rock.

 

[olonmv]

It’s really crappy as an LFS to misdirect new hobbyists with misinformation. They sold you liferock and advertised it as live rock. Pretty shady and wrong. That liferock will eventually inhabit the biodiversity you need but it will take a while. I started my tank completely dry and is now considered mature but it took several months. I get advise from my LFS and they’re usually pointing me in the right direction but I also come here to read other opinions and form my own conclusions after getting several opinions. Like, my LFS said that replacing a cup a day of water was gonna be a bad idea because it wouldn’t bring nutrient levels down and it would adversely affect my tank. After some reading I decided to do a cup a day (I have a 13.5 nano) and by week 3 nutrients were significantly lower. I personally Don’t always hinge on LFS advise.

 

[DE FISH]

I have had a few shops try to sell me dry rock that has been painted as "live rock". I always ask them a few questions to get their level of understanding and most think the purple is coraline and that makes it "live". At least 2 shop did not seem to understand the live referred to the bacteria and a few shop told me no one paints rocks. I have even watched a shop dip a dry rock into their filter pond and say now its live. I think the way we used to get live rock in the 90s is way gone and now the norm is simply not live rock.

It’s really crappy as an LFS to misdirect new hobbyists with misinformation. They sold you liferock and advertised it as live rock. Pretty shady and wrong. That liferock will eventually inhabit the biodiversity you need but it will take a while. I started my tank completely dry and is now considered mature but it took several months. I get advise from my LFS and they’re usually pointing me in the right direction but I also come here to read other opinions and form my own conclusions after getting several opinions. Like, my LFS said that replacing a cup a day of water was gonna be a bad idea because it wouldn’t bring nutrient levels down and it would adversely affect my tank. After some reading I decided to do a cup a day (I have a 13.5 nano) and by week 3 nutrients were significantly lower. I personally Don’t always hinge on LFS advise.

It’s literally called real reef rock lol it comes in a box dry you pay a bit extra than standard dry rock as it’s purple

It holds no bacteria till it cycles like any other dry rock

 

[A Young Reefer]

It’s really crappy as an LFS to misdirect new hobbyists with misinformation. They sold you liferock and advertised it as live rock. Pretty shady and wrong. That liferock will eventually inhabit the biodiversity you need but it will take a while. I started my tank completely dry and is now considered mature but it took several months. I get advise from my LFS and they’re usually pointing me in the right direction but I also come here to read other opinions and form my own conclusions after getting several opinions. Like, my LFS said that replacing a cup a day of water was gonna be a bad idea because it wouldn’t bring nutrient levels down and it would adversely affect my tank. After some reading I decided to do a cup a day (I have a 13.5 nano) and by week 3 nutrients were significantly lower. I personally Don’t always hinge on LFS advise.

I understand what you are saying and I was in the same boat as the op when I started, however I cant blame my lfs even though its crappy thing to do. its the equivalent of someone selling you fake corals telling you its real. I can only blame myself for not doing enough research on what live rock really is.

 

[JumboShrimp]

“Life” rock vs. “Live” rock. (Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.) Lol!