Live rock from local beaches

Gaines69 · Mar 25, 2017

I went rock hunting today and found some really cool rock with green algae growing on it. I put it in a 5 gal bucket with water and brought it home. ( I live less than 20 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico) . I rinsed them well with water from my tank and added them to my tank. They look really good and I read online that it was ok to put rock from beaches in your tank. The water is still crystal clear. I also purchased 2 pounds of small pieces of live rock from my LFS to make a rock pile in the back corner of my tank so I can hopefully cultivate copepod's so that my fish have a natural source of food to go along with the frozen. I think my tank is starting to look great and I have not lost one member of my cleaning crew. Does this look ok to y'all?

TRAPO · Mar 25, 2017

Nice!!! Not sure if it's ok to add rocks from the beach but I would presume it's ok since I mean the live rocks gotta come from some where. What size tank is it?

Gaines69 · Mar 26, 2017

TRAPO said:
Nice!!! Not sure if it's ok to add rocks from the beach but I would presume it's ok since I mean the live rocks gotta come from some where. What size tank is it?

It's a 30 gal cube. I know I need more live rock and I am adding more every time I get a chance. I just want to be able to cultivate copepods and make my aquarium as natural as possible.

prsnlty · Mar 26, 2017

Rock from beaches can be good or bad. Remember the waves crashing into the beach is nature's protein skimmer. It is throwing sunscreen, tanning oil and other unnatural things out of the ocean. Rock from underwater away from the beaches would be safer.

Nice cube! I do have a word of caution however. You need to get rid of that green algae before it spreads like wildfire. Do you have a cleanup crew that you actually see eating it?

Gaines69 · Mar 26, 2017

prsnlty said:
Rock from beaches can be good or bad. Remember the waves crashing into the beach is nature's protein skimmer. It is throwing sunscreen, tanning oil and other unnatural things out of the ocean. Rock from underwater away from the beaches would be safer.

Nice cube! I do have a word of caution however. You need to get rid of that green algae before it spreads like wildfire. Do you have a cleanup crew that you actually see eating it?

I have hermit crabs, a turbo snails. bumble bee snails, a short spine urchin, a couple of peppermint shrimp. and I will be adding live copepods and I read that they like the green algae. I am only keeping one of the rocks with algae the other one is going in a tank at the school I work at.

prsnlty · Mar 26, 2017

Gaines69 said:
I have hermit crabs, a turbo snails. bumble bee snails, a short spine urchin, a couple of peppermint shrimp. and I will be adding live copepods and I read that they like the green algae. I am only keeping one of the rocks with algae the other one is going in a tank at the school I work at.

Chances are that algae is bryopsis. It doesn't look like anything has been eating it. It is bad news and I definitely wouldn't put it in another tank as it will (for lack of a better word) infect it. And until just recently bryopsis is unkillable. It takes over in a bad way as does green hair algae

pull a piece of it, put it in something white, add a small amount of water just enough for it to fluff out and take as close a picture of it as you can. Then add a capful of hydrogen peroxide on it. If it turns white by morning it is most likely green hair algae. If it has feathers and not single bladed and doesn't turn white it's bryopsis.

Rick.45cal · Mar 26, 2017

Before you put that rock into another tank, that algae looks suspiciously like bryopsis in the early stages, a VERY invasive algae! It would be a VERY BAD idea to spread that to another system!

Gaines69 · Mar 26, 2017

prsnlty said:
Chances are that algae is bryopsis. It doesn't look like anything has been eating it. It is bad news and I definitely wouldn't put it in another tank as it will (for lack of a better word) infect it. And until just recently bryopsis is unkillable. It takes over in a bad way as does green hair algae pull a piece of it, put it in something white, add a small amount of water just enough for it to fluff out and take as close a picture of it as you can. Then add a capful of hydrogen peroxide on it. If it turns white by morning it is most likely green hair algae. If it has feathers and not single bladed and doesn't turn white it's bryopsis.

I'll take the rock out right now. Its only been in the tank for a few hours.

prsnlty · Mar 26, 2017

Gaines69 said:
I'll take the rock out right now. Its only been in the tank for a few hours.

It may already be too late due to spores. However, these is a way to kill it now and is completely harmless to livestock and corals. Should you see any growing pm Rick^ or myself and we can show you how to kill it.

Gaines69 · Mar 26, 2017

My coral banded shrimp, hermits, and snails are all over the rock. Guess I'll chase them off and take it out of the tank..

prsnlty · Mar 26, 2017

Gaines69 said:
My coral banded shrimp, hermits, and snails are all over the rock. Guess I'll chase them off and take it out of the tank..

They're probably picking it all the little bugs and stuff. It's a shame they are nice looking rocks. If you really wanted to keep them you could treat them with a medication called fluconazole which could be purchased from pet medication websites because it is otherwise prescription only. However there are rules to it's use.

Flippers4pups · Mar 26, 2017

To bad its covered with that algae. I feel the same as the others about anything taken close to the shoreline/beach. It's possiblly contaminated with god knows what.

Most live rock that I'm aware of is harvested some miles of the coasts for this reason.

Gaines69 · Mar 26, 2017

prsnlty said:
They're probably picking it all the little bugs and stuff. It's a shame they are nice looking rocks. If you really wanted to keep them you could treat them with a medication called fluconazole which could be purchased from pet medication websites because it is otherwise prescription only. However there are rules to it's use.

Thanks... I'll remove the rock. I have a few more of the same rocks that have no algae on them is it ok to keep them in the tank?

Flippers4pups · Mar 26, 2017

Gaines69 said:
Thanks... I'll remove the rock. I have a few more of the same rocks that have no algae on them is it ok to keep them in the tank?

If they were taken in the same area as these, I wouldn't use them. Just too many what if's.

Rick.45cal · Mar 26, 2017

Yeah, you REALLY DON'T want that algae!!! Like even if they were the nicest rocks in the world you still don't want that algae

.

prsnlty · Mar 26, 2017

Gaines69 said:
Thanks... I'll remove the rock. I have a few more of the same rocks that have no algae on them is it ok to keep them in the tank?

I wouldn't trust it. If you really like the rocks you could save them and give them a good acid wash and set them outside in the sun and weather for a couple of months. Then you can cure them and make them live again.

Gaines69 · Mar 26, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
If they were taken in the same area as these, I wouldn't use them. Just too many what if's.

Is there a way to make these rock safe to use in the tank?

Gaines69 · Mar 26, 2017

prsnlty said:
I wouldn't trust it. If you really like the rocks you could save them and give them a good acid wash and set them outside in the sun and weather for a couple of months. Then you can cure them and make them live again.

What kind of acid?

Flippers4pups · Mar 26, 2017

Gaines69 said:
What kind of acid?

Muriatic acid

prsnlty · Mar 26, 2017

Gaines69 said:
What kind of acid?

Muriatic acid there's a thread somewhere on the Forum for acid washing rocks. Use the search tool you should be able to find it. And I would also treat those rocks for bryopsis because that way you're sure that it will not grow back.