White film on Live Rock

[DH_Freak]

Hey guys,

Another question. I have noticed alot of white build up on my live rock thats over 2years old. I can not blow it off and I use a turkey baster twice a week to blow off the rocks. Is this something I should be concerned with?

Thanks in advance

Scott G :playboy:

[Diesel3443]

Is it kind of slimy looking? And kind of stringy?

[DH_Freak]

No its just white..... sorta like some sorta calcium buildup?

[mesocosm]

Greetings All !

I have noticed alot of white build up on my live rock thats over 2years old. I can not blow it off and I use a turkey baster twice a week to blow off the rocks. Is this something I should be concerned with? ... No its just white..... sorta like some sorta calcium buildup?

Blowing off your LR 2X per week is awesome ... I'd bet your coral polyps extend happily and hungrily for you while screaming, "Thank you Daddy!" ...

... ...

... or, "FEED me Seymour!"

Can't blow it off and some resemblance to some sort of mineral deposit ... you're probably looking at some sort of carbonate deposition going on. Changed salt mix and/or buffer brands lately? RODI unit functioning properly? Any recent rapid shift in either pH or alkalinity? These are possible sources for the problem ... JMO.

How is the coralline algae doing? Any recent die-off or rapid recession? Any new competition from strains introduced from recently added "new" LR? Sometimes I experience patches of coralline die-off with a resulting "skeletal" structure that is sometimes hard to initially distinguish from carbonate deposition.

Any hitch-hikers that have finally grown up enough to become problematic? My current angst in my 84G reef display is a hitch-hiker crab who laughs at me while me peels of bits of coralline and munches them down happily ... the resulting bare patches look like mineralization zones. Little does he realize how close he is to being hunted down and fed to the triggers ... if I didn't have to rip apart the LR structure with almost 2 years of polyp growth to get at him ...

... he'd be dead already ...

I wouldn't think that it would be anything bacterial. A bacterial outbreak on LR could resemble this ...



Sometimes transshipments have problems ...

JMO ... HTH

[Aged Salt]

Hi Scott, Gary's photo is a good example of dieing sponge. With LR 2 yrs. old, this is probably not what you're seeing. I've seen this deposit after hours of LR operating under a cracked MH bulb, being nuked. Although, I've experienced precipitation in the past, this is easily blown off by your baster. Sorry, I can't be of more helpBob