View Full Version : Eating My LR?
Ok so first off the tank is a 29 gal running for 5-6 months. Rest of tank info at signature. So all the LR i got was from the same store. Bought same time.
After about 2-3 weeks or getting the tank running I noticed to holes in the side of my biggest and nicest piece . The holes looked like some one took a drill and made two holes side by side about the size of a dime. Their is about 2 mm in between the two holes. So I put my hand in to investigate and right when I touched the part in between it fell to dust. The hole area around it just started to fall apart and go deeper into the rock. It went in farther then i wanted to stick my finger :cry:. So I left it and thought maybe it was the sand that did not settle when i switched from crushed coral to LS.
Fastforward to know. I have since noticed more holes in my rock and it appears that it is moving or their are more then one. 4 rocks over more holes the same size . Also during normal weekly water change and tank up keep I picked up the rock that originally had the problem and when I did sand just started to poor out of the rock from the bottom out of a hole. I know its not the sand from the bed as this sand is like dust and always has a much darker tinge.
First off I know its not a mantis as the tank has been up 5-6 months and never once have herd any clicking sound. Its not a rock urchin as I since have added one and he just skims the top of the rock. Plus the holes are way to deep and it was their before him. I am getting two the point were I am dosing and want to add my corals but I am scared as If this thing eats rock like that it will prob make short work of them.
I have no idea what it is but i know its not that big as I always look into the tank when lights are out and never see anything out of the normal.
I cant afford to go out and just buy 40 more lbs of LR. Plus I dont trust that place for good LR any more (BigAls Young&Steels) . Their is live stock know in the tank and I dont want to recycle with new LR as their is no were to get rock that is 100& cycled that I know of other then waiting on a used tank. Also My rock has alot of iso,cope,and amphipods . I kinda dont wanna get rid of them but what do I do? any ideas or help at what this could be or what to do would be a great great help.I would re cure the rock piece by piece but how do I know its just not moving from them when I do that.
Thanks again Everyone.
lastlight
08-31-2010, 09:46 PM
I always notice new pieces of rubble and rock bits on my sandbed. Sorta like the rock disintegrates on its own when brought to life again. Not sure about actually holes but I'm curious what others might say.
reeferious
08-31-2010, 10:14 PM
don't waste money buying more rocks. just go buy bunch of 2 liter club sodas fill bucket up and dump those rocks in. soak rocks for however long until those things abandon rocks. don't worry about killing much of anything inside rock cause you wont.
hillegom
08-31-2010, 10:15 PM
Tagging along to find the outcome
Is that going to kill everything in the rock ? What about some of the worms i want to keep ? After killing whats in it how do I get the pod population back up ? Will this really kill them ? What about the coraline on the rocks ?
How long do I put the rock in the soda for. ?
Killing the things in the rocks , wont this cause another cycle on them ? dead things bring ammonia and what not ? I have herd things will get out of the rock but what about stuff that might stay inside and die?
I dont want another cycle .
daniella3d
08-31-2010, 10:33 PM
I don't think anything is eating your rock. Probably a few spots on it or the whole rock is friable and just decompose naturaly. If you toutched it and it fell apart, it is probably that it was on it's way to dissolve.
Why is it dissolving? not sure. It could be too porous or maybe just calcium dissolving?
I never seen rock eaters, does that even exist? I think you just have bad rock that are dissolving.
If you dip your rocks it will kill the good live on it.
Here some possible explanation:
http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_2/cav2i3/Live_Rock/live_rock.htm
Ok so first off the tank is a 29 gal running for 5-6 months. Rest of tank info at signature. So all the LR i got was from the same store. Bought same time.
After about 2-3 weeks or getting the tank running I noticed to holes in the side of my biggest and nicest piece . The holes looked like some one took a drill and made two holes side by side about the size of a dime. Their is about 2 mm in between the two holes. So I put my hand in to investigate and right when I touched the part in between it fell to dust. The hole area around it just started to fall apart and go deeper into the rock. It went in farther then i wanted to stick my finger :cry:. So I left it and thought maybe it was the sand that did not settle when i switched from crushed coral to LS.
Fastforward to know. I have since noticed more holes in my rock and it appears that it is moving or their are more then one. 4 rocks over more holes the same size . Also during normal weekly water change and tank up keep I picked up the rock that originally had the problem and when I did sand just started to poor out of the rock from the bottom out of a hole. I know its not the sand from the bed as this sand is like dust and always has a much darker tinge.
First off I know its not a mantis as the tank has been up 5-6 months and never once have herd any clicking sound. Its not a rock urchin as I since have added one and he just skims the top of the rock. Plus the holes are way to deep and it was their before him. I am getting two the point were I am dosing and want to add my corals but I am scared as If this thing eats rock like that it will prob make short work of them.
I have no idea what it is but i know its not that big as I always look into the tank when lights are out and never see anything out of the normal.
I cant afford to go out and just buy 40 more lbs of LR. Plus I dont trust that place for good LR any more (BigAls Young&Steels) . Their is live stock know in the tank and I dont want to recycle with new LR as their is no were to get rock that is 100& cycled that I know of other then waiting on a used tank. Also My rock has alot of iso,cope,and amphipods . I kinda dont wanna get rid of them but what do I do? any ideas or help at what this could be or what to do would be a great great help.I would re cure the rock piece by piece but how do I know its just not moving from them when I do that.
Thanks again Everyone.
I understand what your saying but Like I said before and Ill say it again the holes are the same size. If the rock was falling apart it would not fall apart in dime size holes that are so perfect it looks like its drilled , come on now.
Im shure that their is something in it. 100%. Some of the holes are in spots were the rock was crusted hard as Sh-t .
lastlight
08-31-2010, 11:12 PM
Maybe this rock was drilled at one point. Sand filled those spots and became solid/fused. Now for whatever reason it's just falling out? Dunno.
reeferious
08-31-2010, 11:19 PM
to ease up your anxiety about soaking rocks in club soda just make sure soda is room temperature and that you're not soaking rocks overnite, 5 minute soaking at a time will cause most undesirables to crawl out of rocks with minimal harms to most creepy crawlies inside rocks. replace rocks into tank and repeat soaking process next day or two should enable you to find out what's drilling those holes in your rocks. i've done this procedure a few times to flush out a few mantis shrimps, some 12 to 18 inches long worms and even a few stubborn hairy crabs and yes these are still full of life living in my refugium.
Im Kinda worried about putting my LR in club soda. I think is going to make a cycle again. Im going to take out a one piece that i know one of those f-ers is in and soda that sun of a . Ill see what comes out and take it from their. Im going to the store on Tuesday. Im going to tell them whats going on. Ive spent alot of money at that store.
If I cant seem to get anywhere im going to buy new LR from some were else and cycle it in a tub, Take this stuff out, let it die and re cycle it too.
Thats all i can think of.
Well I would say Dont Buy LiveRock from bigAl's In Toronto. Badd badd .
lastlight
09-01-2010, 05:42 AM
I'll bet the live rock in town all comes from a handful of places...maybe even one. I've gotten nasty things inside rock from LFS I love. It's rock and it's a total crap shoot. That's sorta what's cool about spending so much on hunks of rock.
I was thinking the same thing. The rock sold in Toronto stores proubly does come from the same supplier. Yes its great to get all the different kinds of life on the rocks when you buy them. But when you spend 300 on rocks and find out that they are slowly turning to dust because of some kinda bug or some thing in them it sucks. I would rather of gotten dead rock and seeded it my self. I cant add corals because of these things. So Im gona get more rock and pitch this stuff in the sun to bake abit and die off then re cycle it in a rubbermaid , with power head and heater.
reefwars
09-01-2010, 01:57 PM
i still say mantis, if your rock is hard enough you may not hear the "clicking" i have a g.smithi hes in there pounding all the time and ive never heard him once a quick dip in fresh water or club soda would def bring him out:) lots of people have used club soda before with no ill effect:):)
you could lay a bait trap by the openings to see if anything comes out and id do it at night cause i dont think any day time critters are your problem:):) cheers
hillegom
09-01-2010, 11:19 PM
I was thinking the same thing. The rock sold in Toronto stores proubly does come from the same supplier. Yes its great to get all the different kinds of life on the rocks when you buy them. But when you spend 300 on rocks and find out that they are slowly turning to dust because of some kinda bug or some thing in them it sucks. I would rather of gotten dead rock and seeded it my self. I cant add corals because of these things. So Im gona get more rock and pitch this stuff in the sun to bake abit and die off then re cycle it in a rubbermaid , with power head and heater.
If you are going to bake these rocks in the sun to kill all life, why not try the soda trick, one rock at a time and see if the bugger will come out. You won't kill everything and in the long run it will be cheaper if the offending " bugger" comes out and you have undipped rocks left.
paddyob
09-02-2010, 12:20 AM
If you are going to bake these rocks in the sun to kill all life, why not try the soda trick, one rock at a time and see if the bugger will come out. You won't kill everything and in the long run it will be cheaper if the offending " bugger" comes out and you have undipped rocks left.
Agree. Seems like you are willing to take the extra step and possibly recycle your tank with new rocks anyhow.
Instead of chucking your rocks... try what has been suggested by the others.
That is why you asked for advice.... right?
daniella3d
09-02-2010, 02:20 AM
Then why did it dissolved in between the holes when you toutched it? If it was only a matter or the holes, only the holes would dissolve and the rest of the rock would be well...rock solid. The way I see it, if you toutch something and it fall apart, it is not solid to begin with.
It could be something inside the rock but not sure.
I understand what your saying but Like I said before and Ill say it again the holes are the same size. If the rock was falling apart it would not fall apart in dime size holes that are so perfect it looks like its drilled , come on now.
Im shure that their is something in it. 100%. Some of the holes are in spots were the rock was crusted hard as Sh-t .
Ok look. Your not understanding. The holes in the rock . They were not Their when rock was bought. It was the sand in between the rocks the was dust and dust fell apart. So the to holes fell apart in the middle to make one big hole. So I stuck my finger in the hole and it just went deeper into the rock , with more dust (rock) Also when i pick up this rock in question dust pours out from holes in the bottom. Its not sand the colour of the dust stuff is alot darker. I am seeing other holes now around the tank. I know this because they are the same size and they always have abit of that dust buildup around the hole or just inside of it. I am gona soak them in soda see what happens.
But i am still going to bake them as after i get new rock their is no way i am risking it with this thing in my tank. If i had a cam i would post pic.
Oh who ever said maybe the rock was not hard or something.
Some of the holes are in parts of the rock were it was crusted hard with calc and everything . I know im not crazy and their is something in the rock. Im shure that the amount of time everyone stares at their tank they would notice new holes the size of a dime in their rock. Well I do To.
Damn dude...weird stuff.
I sure as hell wouldn't be sticking my fingers into odd holes in my live rock. Last thing I would need would be a mantis smash or some other very unpleasant surprise. :surprise:
yea i gota scared too and stopped. Thought about what could happen after the fact.
Anyway im pritty shure i found the thing doing it. Its made a new hole sometime today and its head or some part of its just inside the hole.
It looks clear and has some kinda white horns and the body came out abit and looked like a white worm.
Getting the 4seps out after i post this. IF I can get him ill post a pic. Scary looken S.O.B
hillegom
09-02-2010, 10:41 PM
I can hardly wait to see this rock eating apparition. Well, it won't be if you catch it!
ScubaSteve
09-02-2010, 11:47 PM
Read up on something called a piddock (http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Piddock.htm). Do these holes look like what you have? (http://www.glaucus.org.uk/Piddock1.JPG)
I've never heard of a tropical piddock as I have only seen them in temperate areas, but hey, stranger things have happened. I think this is your culprit.
Depending where your rock if from I'm going to guess that it's a Pholas orientalis or Petricolaria pholadiformis, but then again it could be any bivalve with an "angel wing" shell
daniella3d
09-03-2010, 12:00 AM
Ok I got you. This is really wierd. What type of rock is it?
I suggest you go with totoka rock if you can. It's very porous and has a lot of surface for the bacterias to colonize so you need less of it for the same result.
There is no way something big could hide in the totoka liverock because there is usualy no room for it to hide, unlike a big dense rock.
Looking forward to the result of your diping. Really wierd story.
Ok look. Your not understanding. The holes in the rock . They were not Their when rock was bought. It was the sand in between the rocks the was dust and dust fell apart. So the to holes fell apart in the middle to make one big hole. So I stuck my finger in the hole and it just went deeper into the rock , with more dust (rock) Also when i pick up this rock in question dust pours out from holes in the bottom. Its not sand the colour of the dust stuff is alot darker. I am seeing other holes now around the tank. I know this because they are the same size and they always have abit of that dust buildup around the hole or just inside of it. I am gona soak them in soda see what happens.
But i am still going to bake them as after i get new rock their is no way i am risking it with this thing in my tank. If i had a cam i would post pic.
Oh who ever said maybe the rock was not hard or something.
Some of the holes are in parts of the rock were it was crusted hard with calc and everything . I know im not crazy and their is something in the rock. Im shure that the amount of time everyone stares at their tank they would notice new holes the size of a dime in their rock. Well I do To.
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