Non cured pukani dead rock

phlibbyreefer · Oct 13, 2018

In my 125 gallon tank i used 40lbs of dead pukani from brs along with 20lbs of life rock and 50lbs of live rock from my lfs.

With the pukani and life rock i rinsed everyday for a week and soaked in ro/di changing water everyday. Then i just added to my tank and let cycle. I have well sized skimmer and fuge and using only ro/di.

My tank has now been up for 4 months. Well stocked with fish and frags and 2 small coral colonies. Everyone looks happy and healthy and some growth with corals.

My concern is a mix of cyano and redhair algae. I do monthly 25% water changes.

Is this due to my tank still being somewhat new? Or is it due to leaching phosphates from my pukani rock? If this is it, how long will this last for?

HawaiianReef · Oct 13, 2018

I would say it's a combination of both. Duration would vary on how much nutrients are leeching out. You lighting could also help tremendously on eradicating it quicker. But you will most likely see blooms from time to time, especially during the first 12 months, as your system matures.
I bought a lawnmower blenny to help out with the hair algae on my new tanks. I love that little guy!

David

KJAG · Oct 13, 2018

phlibbyreefer said:
In my 125 gallon tank i used 40lbs of dead pukani from brs along with 20lbs of life rock and 50lbs of live rock from my lfs.

With the pukani and life rock i rinsed everyday for a week and soaked in ro/di changing water everyday. Then i just added to my tank and let cycle. I have well sized skimmer and fuge and using only ro/di.

My tank has now been up for 4 months. Well stocked with fish and frags and 2 small coral colonies. Everyone looks happy and healthy and some growth with corals.

My concern is a mix of cyano and redhair algae. I do monthly 25% water changes.

Is this due to my tank still being somewhat new? Or is it due to leaching phosphates from my pukani rock? If this is it, how long will this last for?

Known issue with dry pukani. I acid dipped mine and dealt with an ugly phase lasting like 9 months. It’s now covered in coralline. You could be dealing with this for the long haul, especially if you didn’t treat your rock with MA. Id also double check your RO and DI if you haven’t already.

phlibbyreefer · Oct 13, 2018

Shores805 said:
Known issue with dry pukani. I acid dipped mine and dealt with an ugly phase lasting like 9 months. It’s now covered in coralline. You could be dealing with this for the long haul, especially if you didn’t treat your rock with MA. Id also double check your RO and DI if you haven’t already.

Do you think a bag of chemipure elite would help?

KJAG · Oct 13, 2018

Temporarily maybe. It would just be a band aid. I don’t think I’ve seen anyone just drop in dry rock/ pukani and not experience an extended ugly phase, unless they just added a piece to an existing mature system.

reeferfoxx · Oct 13, 2018

It's not uncommon for hair algae and cyano to pop up with dry rock setups like this. I would give it more time and avoid gfo like chemi pure.

HawaiianReef · Oct 13, 2018

Can you tell us your steps on curing using the muriatic acid. Do you soak in bleach after that to kill the bio??

Art2249 · Oct 13, 2018

I did MA for 15 minutes. Bleach for 2 weeks and freshwater cured for 4 months. Here are pics after running for 3 months

And here are pics from today but the light is different. You can see I was having the same problems with algae but I was struggling to keep nutrients off from zero. I started dosing more nitrate and phosphate to maintain 2 ppm and 25 ppb respectively and things are looking better.

Art2249 · Oct 13, 2018

Oh forgot to tell you, I also changed the light spectrum and shortened the duration.

HawaiianReef · Oct 13, 2018

Im planning on ma and bleach before I cure in fw as you did. But I dont understand the last fw part. Isnt everything removed and dead after the ma and bleach? Couldn't you just soak in prime for a few weeks and test for chloramines?

HawaiianReef · Oct 13, 2018

Im sorry, I just thought that Im hijacking and getting off topic of algae in your original post.
Please let me know if this isn't prudent and Im wasting your thread.
I'll start a new one.

phlibbyreefer said:
In my 125 gallon tank i used 40lbs of dead pukani from brs along with 20lbs of life rock and 50lbs of live rock from my lfs.

With the pukani and life rock i rinsed everyday for a week and soaked in ro/di changing water everyday. Then i just added to my tank and let cycle. I have well sized skimmer and fuge and using only ro/di.

My tank has now been up for 4 months. Well stocked with fish and frags and 2 small coral colonies. Everyone looks happy and healthy and some growth with corals.

My concern is a mix of cyano and redhair algae. I do monthly 25% water changes.

Is this due to my tank still being somewhat new? Or is it due to leaching phosphates from my pukani rock? If this is it, how long will this last for?

Art2249 · Oct 13, 2018

HawaiianReef said:
Im planning on ma and bleach before I cure in fw as you did. But I dont understand the last fw part. Isnt everything removed and dead after the ma and bleach? Couldn't you just soak in prime for a few weeks and test for chloramines?

I think you're supposed to give time for phosphates to leach out. i was still reading phosphates after 2-3 months, with changing to new FW.

Heavymman · Oct 13, 2018

8 weeks or more, dose with lanthanum to reduce phosphates, and frequent water changes. I wouldn’t start playing around with bleach and MA if you don’t have to could be pretty dangerous .