What would it take to make this a SW tank? Am I ready to go down this road?

I took a lighter to the end of the rock. Blackened the dang thing. I had hoped it would fall off, but it didn't so I scraped the remains as best as I could w/a fork, then rinsed it in FW, then blackened it again. Hopefully I didn't kill the entire rock in the process. It got pretty hot in my hand. If the dang thing survived, it has earned it's right to live IMO.

Also, am I right in identifying that snail as a Nerite snail?
 
Looks like one but that was hard to see! :).

Did you rinse the entire rock in FW or just the spot(s) with the nem?
 
greech said:
Looks like one but that was hard to see! :).

Did you rinse the entire rock in FW or just the spot(s) with the nem?
Click to expand...

The just spots w/the aipstasia on them. The rest of the rock seems to be doing fine today and I'd swear the blue flowery things (some sort of polyp you said) have already spread. There also seems to be green algae growing on one of the rocks which has sent me madly googling saltwater algae. The rock has been in the tank for two days now. I can't see how it's growing algae so quickly.

I ran water tests today. Ammonia has gone from .5 ppm to 1.0 ppm. Nitrite and nitrate remain unchanged though.
 
Believe it. You should consider running some GFO (grannular ferric oxide) or some other PO4 media to zero out the phosphates. Rowaphos, phosban, purigen, brightwells are what you will typically find in the store but GFO can be bought cheaper online (bulk reef supply, etc). Very common to have algae at this point. Its going to get worse before it gets better but the algae is a good sign of progress. Those look like clove polyps which do grow quick.
 
I will look into that. I was shocked that it appeared so quickly. I've never seen FW algae show up so fast and I've grown a lot of it.

I'm also trying to find out what good LR is supposed to look like. The LFS says it should be covered with purple algae and actually sells rocks that are so covered though they cost more. Everything I'm finding so far just says what LR is and what benefits it has. I know that already.
 
Like this but purple :)

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-reef-saver-dry-aquarium-live-rock.html

Decent pic...
http://www.marcorocks.com/liverock.aspx

Coraline (purple) algae is a good sign but it does not tell you if the rock is cured/cycled. The rock would have to be lit for coraline to grow but fresh LR that is still covered in coraline will also have some recent die off from storage/transport.

You will get coraline on your own. A few flecks on a snail shell will get things started.

When looking for "good" LR, dont worry so much about coraline. Instead, look for porosity (rock is lighter than it looks), the absence of nuissance macro alage, absence of aiptasia & mojano nems, and absence of hair algae (indicator that the rock could be saturated with nitrates and phosphate). Although I have seen it done, I would not advise using lava rock or texas holy rock.
 
I think I bought a combination of both rocks to be honest.
 
So, the tank continues to churn along. The mushroom thing that was blue before has turned brown for some reason, but has also opened up way more than it ever has since I've had it. Not sure what it means. It was blue before, but now is brown.
 
Brown typically means not enough light or nutrients too high (which we already know is the case from it being a new tank and algae growth).
 
So I'm now 9 days into the tank and have two questions.

1. I saw a teeny tiny starfish on my LR today. It was white and not much bigger than a pencil eraser. Any idea what this starfish might be? Tried to get pictures, but my camera wouldn't cooperate. Do they get bigger than this? A quick google search found some places that said these things are huge gigantic pests that spawn out of control, eat corals and coraline and you can't get rid of them. Others claimed they were harmless.

2. Measured the water today and I have somewhere between 1.0 and .5 ppm ammonia so that appears to have spiked and is slowly falling. I have 2.0 ppm nitrites so that is under way and I actually have what is close to 5.0 ppm nitrate. Yay!! With nitrite being where it is should I do a water change? Or just let it ride? I don't want to end up killing all my live rock. I'm also wondering if the water quality is part of what made my mushroom coral turn brown. Research on that issue is sketchy. Some say it's because of too much light. Others say it's because of too little light. Still others claim it's just the coral adjusting to the tank.
 
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