live rock turning white

[mm16]

Parts of my live rock is turning a white, I dont know what I should do, or is this ok. I just tested the water and the nitrate level is a little higher than it has been.
Thanks

 

[jcegt87]

whote coralline algae(not bad) is possible, do u have any pics?

 

[Salty B]

Have you checked Ca levels? I've had the same thing happen when calcium was low for an extended period. Also I had an infestation of asterina stars and they would sit on the coraline on the glass for a couple days and when they moved there would be a white circle where they were.

 

[NanoReefer]

when corraline dies it turns white also. it could be calcium depletion

 

[little_fish]

Has it been exposed to air recently?

 

[NanoReefer]

it has to be exposed for a while, i took mine out of my 10 gallon ran it under some non salty tap water and put it into the 37 with very little corraline dieing

 

[little_fish]

Not really, my coralline get exposed when I do a water change only for about 10 minutes and it still dies off

 

[NanoReefer]

i dont know if its my tank or yours, but i get no dieoff when i do a waterchange haha

 

[mm16]

no it hasn't

 

[mm16]

here is my white live rock, any ideas

 

[justanotherfishhead]

I had some of my coraline turning white, and the coralline growing on my glass was also a very light color. I found out I had low calcium, so I think this may be the reason. You should test for calcium and see if yours is low too. I'm switching to Reef Crystals (was using Instant Ocean) and I'm adding a little supplemental calcium every day to raise it slowly.

 

[NanoReefer]

+1 fish head.

 

[Salty B]

I too would suspect calcium is the problem. But this got me thinking. Bear with me here for a minute. If he had a hair algae problem and had low readings on a nitrate test....everyone would say "the HA is consuming the nitrates fast enough to cause a false reading on the test". Now if coraline was growing like crazy and cal tests were low, couldn't the coraline be consuming cal at a rate to cause a false reading. And then, if the coraline started dying and not using the cal as fast as it did...wouldn't the cal test read higher because there is less coraline to absorb it....hmmmm. Trying to find the answer to 1 question makes 10 more questions....thats what makes this hobby fun.

 

[little_fish]

that depends on if you are doing water changes to replenish the calcium levels. If you are, yes you would see your calcium levels go back up. If you arent, then the levels would remain constant.

 

[mm16]

I do water changes every other week of 10%

 

[quality_reefer]

Hey mm16, it's been a couple weeks since you last updated your thread. How are your rocks doing? Mine have been going through the same exact thing at the moment. Was it the calcium causing the issue? Also, have your rocks started to replenish their color?

Thanks

 

[mm16]

I tested the calcium level and it was fine. The rocks have very slowly started getting back its color. I did add a new light (6 bulb) and a power head, I don't know if that has anything to do with it.

 

[waitasecun]

Yes, it would appear the coraline algae has died off....I had that happen with low and high calcium levels actually....