WOW LR is awsome !!

[Saltdog813]

I just purcahsed over 100 lbs from a well established tank last weekend. This morning I noticed some thing poking out of one of the rocks 3 lil feather dusters. I couldnt believe it so I took my lil flash light and shined it on them and woom back in to thier home and after a few min they came right back out. What is it with this stuff, do things start to come out when water conditions are well or just when the tank calms down from all the movement? The LR wast stored in 2 55 gal trash cans wth a power head for water circulation and when I picked the stuff up I put the LR in to trash bags LOTS of bags I got my lil 35 gal trash can out and added some IO and water. I wanted to rinse the rock before I put it in the DT. I have a picture album if you want to see. Im thinking about get some Purple up this weekend.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

After 17 years of reef keeping (yikes!) I can honestly say that the variety of interesting critters one can discover by patiently staring at live rock still amazes me.

[Gary Majchrzak]

IMO there's no substitute for good LR. It's likely that the newly mixed seawater initiated a response from the critters living inside the rock.
Do yourself and your reef aquarium a huge favor and save your money and time: purchase test kits for calcium, alkalinity and magnesium.
Understanding and maintaining proper levels of calcium, alkalinity and magnesium will allow you to grow things (coralline as well as corals) in your aquarium. You won't need 'Purple Up'.

[herozero]

oh this is so great, when i first got my rock i would stare at it forever. yes at ROCK. feathers dusters and worms and all kinds of stuff will live thru almost anything. keep watching, more and more will make their way out.

ditch the purple up, just keep parameters stable, you won't need any of that snake oil.

[der_wille_zur_macht]

PS - unless you like spending a lot of money for the sake of convenience, don't bother with purple up. Instead, monitor your calcium and alkalinity, and dose with any of the easy and cheap supplements (DIY two part, kalk, etc.) It's more or less adding the same benefit as purple up, at a fraction of the price. Plus, doing it yourself, you'll actually learn about the chemistry, instead of just trusting a bottle.

Edit - Gary, we were writing at the same time. Great minds think alike. :D

[seapug]

imo there's no substitute for good lr. It's likely that the newly mixed seawater initiated a response from the critters living inside the rock.
Do yourself and your reef aquarium a huge favor and save your money and time: Purchase test kits for calcium, alkalinity and magnesium.
Understanding and maintaining proper levels of calcium, alkalinity and magnesium will allow you to grow things (coralline as well as corals) in your aquarium. You won't need 'purple up'.

+1 on all points.

[Gary Majchrzak]

:D

I've been doing this a long time and I can remember the very first two pieces of LR I added to my (then) 75 gallon reef aquarium.
As far as thrills go... who'd have guesssed that some rock could be so exciting! I still have that rock today and it's covered with Acropora.

[Saltdog813]

Thanks for all the info.. Ya the LR is somthing else !! I found some Grumpy Zoa's the other day with their mouth's all open !!