BRS fiji dry rock problem

[Toolmandan]

So i am curing 100lbs of fiji dry rock. its been in salt water since last saturday. when i put it in the water it was right out of the box and all white. I just looked in there tonight (6 days later) and it is nasty and all discolored. all of the rocks are grey and black/brown. and it does not seem to be algae. any one have any idea or is this a problem?

 

[Pfisherman]

The black and gray is questionable, is this rock in an aquarium that you can post pics of? Browning of the rocks is usually just diatoms and is a quite normal stage of cycling/curing.

 

[saltyphish]

Is there any flow in the tank? Or is the water just sitting there stagnant. Might be a bacteria or some type of algae. Sometimes If I leave a piece of live rock in a bucket of saltwater no water movement they get a slimy black and grey coating that brushes right off. Sound like what you have?

 

[Toolmandan]

i have a mag 18 in a 32g brute thats circulating the water. this stuff does not rub off of the rock and the smell is awful I wqill try and post a pic.

 

[adritank]

Rocks should definitely not be black or grey. How are you curing the rock exactly? In what kind of container? in a tank? water movement? heater?

 

[adritank]

Ahh Just saw your other reply. Did you use new saltwater?

 

[Toolmandan]

no i took water out of my 220 when i did a wc.

 

[Toolmandan]

there in the garage in fla........ no heater needed

 

[Toolmandan]

 

[Toolmandan]

 

[jcdeng]

call brs and see what that might be. You might need to request for replacements.

 

[Toolmandan]

 

[Toolmandan]

yea thats what im thinking. I have never had it happen to me before.. all of the other times the rock just looks normal. I am kinda nervous to use it.

 

[adritank]

Yeah dude that's not right. I've done the exact same. Used water from my display to cure rock.. Definitely didn't look like that..

I'd call brs as well. Good luck. Keep us updated

 

[jcdeng]

in the mean time, check the water in brute for po4 lvls

 

[Hawain_Rob]

That looks like it smells nasty nasty!

 

[Toolmandan]

it does. wifes been complaining all week.

 

[hawkinsrgk]

That really looks bad. Following to see how it turns out

 

[Hawain_Rob]

Did you get the rock @Bulk Reef Supply? cause I'm about to put my order in for 60 lbs.

 

[PatW]

Since it smells awful, I bet that it has some organic material on it that was dried. Now that it is in water, it is being decomposed and is releasing its wonderful bouquet. You could take the Rock and scrub it off to try to remove some of the gunk. Some people throw dry rock into a bleach solution to remove the residue. Then they rinse and cycle it. I would think that if you just let the decomposition run its course, it will be fine. However, you might not like the olfactory assault.