Live rock turning white

[quality_reefer]

I've been noticing my LR turning white recently on the top where the light hits it the most. Picture included. I looked it up and it seems like there is a list of things that could be wrong...or nothing is wrong and it's just new LR.

Possibilities:
Lack of calcium or phosphates?
Too much light? (I only have the light on for about 5 hours a day
Not enough water changes? (Minerals aren't being renewed)

 

[chuysvt]

I would have to say needs more calcium. Check your levels. What lights do you have.

 

[quality_reefer]

8,000k, 120v T8. Cheap stock hood that came with the setup. I'm in the process of ordering a better T5 for corals later but this needs to be tackled first.

I'll also need to buy a calcium test kit to answer your second question. If the calcium is low, do you have any suggestions on supplements?

 

[Smitty]

Are the rocks being exposed out of the water during water changes...exposure to air can kill the coraline. Also, what type of lighting do you have over the tank, because coraline algae need good water parameters and good lighting to grow.

 

[quality_reefer]

8,000k, 120v T8 lighting at the moment. They were exposed when I was transporting them from the LFS to home. If that were the case, would those areas eventually just regrow over time given my parameters stay steady? I'll grab a calcium test kit in the mean time.

 

[chuysvt]

If it turns white its not ALWAYS lost it will come back if you Get better lights.and get some purple up. Your calcium should be at 400 to 500.

 

[chuysvt]

Per gallon do from 3 to 5 Watts. If your doing t5's.

 

[chuysvt]

And for water get some RO di water!!.. It will help .dont use tap water.

 

[quality_reefer]

Yea, I definitely can't avoid it any longer. I need to fill some spare buckets with the RO/DI water from the LFS. Another question, will my hermit crabs/snails eat coraline algae? Of course, I did google searching but I got very mixed answers.

 

[chuysvt]

About your hermit crabs and snails they eat algae but they prefer green algae, and seaweed. but on the other hand they will help spread Coraline,Coraline will start growing on their shells and start spreading it around the tank

 

[little_fish]

Also purple up is useless stuff, its not worth the money.

Just do water changes to get your levels up if they are low.

 

[quality_reefer]

Ahhh great. Glad I read this before heading out. I was a second away from buying that. Ill do a nice change today. It'll also be good to learn how to do the changes with all the rock in my tank. I'm a bit afraid of knocking it all over since I have the manual vaccuum that requires shaking.

Thanks! +1 for the help everyone.

 

[little_fish]

You really dont need to vacuum the sand bed in a reef tank, and IMO it will just cause more trouble than its worth. Just get a good CUC and they will maintain the sand bed for you (do not get a sand shifting star). Also if you are worried about the rocks falling over you need to secure them, with either zip ties or epoxy or rearrange the stack. Snails, crabs and fish will all work in and around your rocks and they can cause rockslides.