Dead Rock....alive?

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Makaiveli

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Feb 6, 2004
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I bought a dried rock at a Pet Store...I rinsed & soaked it in freshwater. I put it in the salt water, and intense green/yellowish algae showed up immediately.

What's the sense in that? How could that happen? Anyone know what kind of algae it might be?
 
Can't identify the algae, but many marine algaes are hardy enough to withstand extreme conditions--those that inhabit coastal areas are able to tolerate drenching rains, drying out, and high temps. I've seen several people pick up rock that was in a tank months ago, and had it be covered with life within a few weeks. Heck--I picked up some base rock from a flea market, and it turned purple with coralline in a few days, it seemed.
 
Hey OG

IYO, should I consider keeping the rock with dead and live algae in a seperate tank for awhile for any reason, like allowing the dead stuff to finish decaying before I put it in the inhabited tank?
 
If you can remove most of the dead stuff, I'd think your cleanup crew should be able to deal with it pretty easily. Monitor the tank, and if ammonia shows up, pull it out. Otherwise, curing rocks requires lots of water changes to prevent more die off from occurring. If your tank has good rock in it, between the existing bacteria and the cleaners, there shouldn't be a big problem.
 
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