How do I figure out what these things are, and how do I keep them clean?

[robvia]

I got a bunch of rock from a friend that wanted to take his tank down. There are a bunch of things growing on the rocks, but I don’t know what they are or what is good for the tank and what is not.



This is my first tank so I don’t know what most of this stuff is. Is the best thing to do try and get a picture and post it here?



The rocks are mostly covered with a purple mushroom looking stuff. It looks OK but I don’t think I want the whole tank to look like that. I’m assuming that as I get other things in there it will be OK. What is the purple stuff though?



There is also some fussy stuff on the rock. Some is brown and looks like dirt buildup to me. Some is green. Could that be Algae of some sort? Should I try and get it out? When I get some shrimp and starfish in there, will they eat that?



How long should I wait to put the shrimp in the tank?



If the brown stuff is just dirt, what’s a good way to get it off? It seems like I will need to “brush” the rock some how. I have heard the term “vacuum” the rock used here also. A regular siphon will suck too much water out to quickly to get anything done. What is a good way to do this? Right now I don’t have a sump running, but I am planning to have that in shortly. Once that is running, I could vacuum or siphon into the sump and increase the flow back to the tank. Obviously filter before I pump it back. This would mean I would not be taking water out of the tank. Is that a good idea? Is there anything that could be used to “brush” the rock? Is this a common practice?



There are also some green bubble looking things. They look like a balloon that is attached to the rock. Any idea what they are?



Thanks,

Rob

[Poseidon]

..

[Ninong]

I got a bunch of rock from a friend that wanted to take his tank down. There are a bunch of things growing on the rocks, but I don’t know what they are or what is good for the tank and what is not.



This is my first tank so I don’t know what most of this stuff is. Is the best thing to do try and get a picture and post it here?

Yes, I think a picture would help; also, I am going to move this thread to the Reef Forum.

The rocks are mostly covered with a purple mushroom looking stuff. It looks OK but I don’t think I want the whole tank to look like that. I’m assuming that as I get other things in there it will be OK. What is the purple stuff though?

A picture would help but based on your description I would imagine we are talking about Corallimorphia (mushroom corals). Either that or purple coralline algae. A picture will make it obvious which one we are talking about.

There is also some fussy stuff on the rock. Some is brown and looks like dirt buildup to me. Some is green. Could that be Algae of some sort?

I'm not sure from your description. I think I'll wait for the picture.

Should I try and get it out? When I get some shrimp and starfish in there, will they eat that?

Let's wait to figure out what it is first.

How long should I wait to put the shrimp in the tank?

Don't add any livestock to the tank until your ammonia is undetectable and your nitrites are less than 0.25 ppm.

If the brown stuff is just dirt, what’s a good way to get it off?

It wouldn't be dirt but it could be diatoms. A picture would help.

It seems like I will need to “brush” the rock some how. I have heard the term “vacuum” the rock used here also. A regular siphon will suck too much water out to quickly to get anything done. What is a good way to do this?

I can tell you what I do. About once a week I use a turkey baster to blast the rock structure to loosen up any detritus and get it into the water column. And yes, I have a sump.

Is there anything that could be used to “brush” the rock? Is this a common practice?

It would not be considered a common practice but there are situations where it might be desirable You can't really do any major brushing in the tank though. Usually you would have to remove the piece of rock to a large Rubbermaid basin of tankwater and clean it up in there. I have tried using a toothbrush on some nuisance red algae in my tank with zero results.

There are also some green bubble looking things. They look like a balloon that is attached to the rock. Any idea what they are?

That sounds like Ventricaria (aka Valonia), a nuisance algae that is NOT a good thing. You would want to try to manually remove every single one of those from the live rock BEFORE you put it in your tank. When doing this in the tank the trick is to try to twist the bubble loose from the rock without having it burst on you. Once the bubble bursts it releases spores into the water column.

[robvia]

Here are some pictures. I'm trying to figure this out. I couldn't upload them to my gallery. I don't know why.

[robvia]

Here are some more.

[robvia]

Let's see if I can get the questions right. Since I do not know if the pictures will come up in the same order for everyone, I will refer to them by file name.

Picture 001 - The green bubble on the right. That is algae right? The white tube in the middle has a thing that comes in and out of it. What is that called? The rock has some green on it. Almost like grass. I guess this is a different kind of algae?

Picture 002 - same thing without flash.

Picture 003 - Anemone with pink center. Comes in and out, but I think it is healthy. It's about an inch across. The blob to the right. What is that? I have many of them. Looks like an anamone of some kind.

Picture 004 - The red mushrooms that are on the rocks. If you look at the coral, you can see the brown stuff I was talking about. That is just debris right? Try the turkey baister trick to remove it.

Picture 005 - same thing without flash.

Picture 006 - What's the white thing?

Picture 008 - This guy is pretty cool. Comes in the out with the light. About in inch tall.

Picture 009 - Another picture of the white ball, but didn't focus very well.

Picture 010 - Tried to show the green color of the rock. Is that just algae?

Picture 011 - My overall tank. Notice the stuff at the top of the sand filter. Should I try and clean that out?

Will the anemones grow if the tank is healthy?

I got some marine glow lights last night. Says they are good for fish, coral, and inverts. They are really blue. The pictures I see here, most tanks are brite white with a little blue color. Do most people have multiple lights of different color?

Please let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Rob

[Ninong]

The shiny green bubbles are definitely Ventricaria (aka Valonia), common name Bubble Algae. Bad news! You want to try to remove all of those things before you start adding stuff to your tank. Remove the live rock if necessary to do this.

The white tubes are some sort of polychaete worms that live in calcareous tubes of their own making. Harmless, just an ordinary marine life form that is not a problem.

Green stuff that is almost like grass is nuisance algae (turf algae, hair algae), usually either Bryopsis or Derbesia. Not a good thing. Try to remove as much as possible before getting started. Some tangs and rabbitfish may eat it. May. Some hermits and some snails may eat it but not always. The lettuce sea slug Elysia crispata is reputed to eat Bryopsis but this is not really a practical solution for lots of reasons.

It is not likely that you have any desirable hitchhiker anemones. The anemones that usually show up on live rock are either Aiptasia or Majano. You will want to get rid of every single one of these pests now before getting started with anything else. Remove the rock to a separate basin of saltwater if necessary. The problem here is that any tiny piece of anemone tissue that is left can regenerate a whole new anemone. There are various remedies for disposing of these pests, including injecting them with concentrated Kalkwasser paste or even dilute hydrochloric acid. Do a search under "Aiptasia" and see what you find.

The red plating stuff is some sort of algae. I'm not sure exactly what it is because I don't have any but it should be easy to identify by anyone who has seen it before.

I'm not sure about the white fuzzy stuff.