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

[Phoerut]

 

[olonmv]

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.

Shady business is still shady business in my book. We should do our research, agreed but, asking questions at an LFS should come with honest answers. I’m sure OP mentioned it was a new tank. LFS in turn should have at least told them the run down on the rock sold and let OP know that it lacked biodiversity and would take time in getting it. It’s just my opinion though.

 

[A Young reefer]

Shady business is still shady business in my book. We should do our research, agreed but, asking questions at an LFS should come with honest answers. I’m sure OP mentioned it was a new tank. LFS in turn should have at least told them the run down on the rock sold and let OP know that it lacked biodiversity and would take time in getting it. It’s just my opinion though.

Agreed.

 

[SlugSnorter]

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

life or live?

life rock is NOT live rock

"dry liverock" is also NOT liverock

 

[IslandLifeReef]

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?

That looks like CaribSea Life Rock. It is painted purple and is suppose to have bacteria on/in it. When it is placed in a wet tank, the bacteria start to emerge and do their thing. Not as good as "live" rock, but also shouldn't have any bad hitchhikers either.

 

[TnFishwater98]

This is real LR…

 

[SlugSnorter]

View attachment 2570837
This is real LR…

good "wild" live rock, you can get aqua-cultured stuff too.

 

[frankny]

either this was manmade rock with spray purple pain then peel off, or its live rock with corraline algae but it died and turned white.

 

[SlugSnorter]

either this was manmade rock with spray purple pain then peel off, or its live rock with corraline algae but it died and turned white.

coraline doesn't just flake off like that

 

[MaxTremors]

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 won’t have biodiversity unless you add some real live rock, corals that have bits of rock on them, etc. It will nitrify and maybe even denitrify, but it will never be as biodiverse and ‘alive’ as real live rock without seeding it with those bacteria, microfauna, and encrusting organisms.

 

[TnFishwater98]

either this was manmade rock with spray purple pain then peel off, or its live rock with corraline algae but it died and turned white.

Yeah, if it’s not getting enough light you will have die-off

 

[frankny]

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.

if you see the purple algae looking thing was in a hole or cave of the rock, then you know it't manmade rock, cuz algae won't grow in dark!

 

[frankny]

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.

you're right, we all made mistake when we start this hobby.

 

[A Young reefer]

either this was manmade rock with spray purple pain then peel off, or its live rock with corraline algae but it died and turned white.

Coralline won’t survive being shelved and sold dried. it’s painted

 

[olonmv]

It won’t have biodiversity unless you add some real live rock, corals that have bits of rock on them, etc. It will nitrify and maybe even denitrify, but it will never be as biodiverse and ‘alive’ as real live rock without seeding it with those bacteria, microfauna, and encrusting organisms.

After over a year. What was once dry rock is now biodiverse and ‘alive’ as any rock that was freshly pulled from the ocean.
Microfauna-check
Bacteria-check
Encrusting organisms-check.
Just because it wasn’t pulled directly from the ocean does not mean it can’t become a piece of live rock in an aquarium. OP’s rock has every bit a chance at becoming live. But you’re correct. It needs to be seeded.

 

[TnFishwater98]

After over a year. What was once dry rock is now biodiverse and ‘alive’ as any rock that was freshly pulled from the ocean.
Microfauna-check
Bacteria-check
Encrusting organisms-check.
Just because it wasn’t pulled directly from the ocean does not mean it can’t become a piece of live rock in an aquarium. OP’s rock has every bit a chance at becoming live. But you’re correct. It needs to be seeded.

Seeded heavily. The issue is it’s not helping the tank today or anytime soon.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Seeded heavily. The issue is it’s not helping the tank today or anytime soon.

Much*

 

[Tamberav]

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?

Dry rock can't be live... since it is... dry

Unfortunately many places call everything "live rock" and the painted rock some places sell they call "liFe rock" - very confusing.

Over time it will become live. Bacteria will colonize in a few weeks and higher organisms over years.

 

[olonmv]

Seeded heavily. The issue is it’s not helping the tank today or anytime soon.

Fair enough but, OP originally asked what was on the rock, not for a fix. I was just pointing out that dry rock can, with time, eventually become live. And it doesn’t have to be seeded heavily either. My tank was started with a dead shrimp. Biodiversity started and matured from that over time.

 

[TnFishwater98]

After over a year. What was once dry rock is now biodiverse and ‘alive’ as any rock that was freshly pulled from the ocean.
Microfauna-check
Bacteria-check
Encrusting organisms-check.
Just because it wasn’t pulled directly from the ocean does not mean it can’t become a piece of live rock in an aquarium. OP’s rock has every bit a chance at becoming live. But you’re correct. It needs to be seeded.

It might be “Alive” after a certain amount of time but still nowhere near the same as real LR that has sat in the ocean for a decade. They say they paint bacteria on the dry rock to help it get a jump start but everything has bacteria on it. Bacteria doesn’t make it LR.

 

[SlugSnorter]

It might be “Alive” after a certain amount of time but still nowhere near the same as real LR that has sat in the ocean for a decade. They say they paint bacteria on the dry rock to help it get a jump start but everything has bacteria on it. Bacteria doesn’t make it LR.

isn't the stuff on liferock just plaster?