Bad Day at Black Rock

Bad Day at Black Rock-----

great movie,

probably bad aquarium situation. Even with the Bio-Spira, my ammonia level
spiked up, so I did the ol` water change.
While siphoning I knocked into a rock, and it crumbled revealing
black-as-tar innards. This stuff looks real bad. It reminds me of the black
ash remnants left after a camp-fire.

Is this a normal thing? Any special actions to take?

thanks

It's probably dead sponge. Just take out whatever is
rotten, out of the rock. Carbon is taken out of the water,
in low oxygen environments, and that is what you are
seeing, black carbon.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



StringerBell wrote on 9/19/2006 8:05 PM:
Bad Day at Black Rock-----

great movie,

probably bad aquarium situation. Even with the Bio-Spira, my ammonia level
spiked up, so I did the ol` water change.
While siphoning I knocked into a rock, and it crumbled revealing
black-as-tar innards. This stuff looks real bad. It reminds me of the black
ash remnants left after a camp-fire.

Is this a normal thing? Any special actions to take?

thanks

"StringerBell" wrote in message ...
probably bad aquarium situation. Even with the Bio-Spira, my
ammonia level spiked up, so I did the ol` water change.
While siphoning I knocked into a rock, and it crumbled revealing
black-as-tar innards. This stuff looks real bad. It reminds me
of the black ash remnants left after a camp-fire.

Is this a normal thing? Any special actions to take?

If it only looks bad I would not worry too much...
Not everything good on this Planet is "pretty"
I would check if it has rotten smell. If it smells
REALLY bad than it is dead, decomposing matter...

If it is only black, it could be sponge and still alive.
I have a lot of black and dark gray sponge encrusting
my live rock on the shade side... in a healthy tank.
It is not as competitive as the colorfull sponges
growing standalone and actually can benefit the
tank filtering the water actively from organic matter.

To sum up - realy roten, bad smell trumps bad look! :-)

Yep, I'm always telling my customers, "if it doesn't
stink, don't through it out". People through so many
things out thinking it's dead. People get surprised looks
on their faces when I ask them if they smelled it before
they through it out :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Pszemol wrote on 9/19/2006 9:41 PM:
"StringerBell" wrote in message
...
probably bad aquarium situation. Even with the Bio-Spira, my
ammonia level spiked up, so I did the ol` water change.
While siphoning I knocked into a rock, and it crumbled revealing
black-as-tar innards. This stuff looks real bad. It reminds me
of the black ash remnants left after a camp-fire.

Is this a normal thing? Any special actions to take?

If it only looks bad I would not worry too much...
Not everything good on this Planet is "pretty"
I would check if it has rotten smell. If it smells
REALLY bad than it is dead, decomposing matter...

If it is only black, it could be sponge and still alive.
I have a lot of black and dark gray sponge encrusting
my live rock on the shade side... in a healthy tank.
It is not as competitive as the colorfull sponges
growing standalone and actually can benefit the
tank filtering the water actively from organic matter.

To sum up - realy roten, bad smell trumps bad look! :-)

I didnt smell the stuff---it was down deep in the tank and most chunks were
too big for the siphon tube. Its in a spot where I cant really reach down
without disturbing the rock
But it crumbled so easily I just assumed it was dead.


"Wayne Sallee" wrote in message
ink.net...
Yep, I'm always telling my customers, "if it doesn't stink, don't through
it out". People through so many things out thinking it's dead. People get
surprised looks on their faces when I ask them if they smelled it before
they through it out :-)

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets



Pszemol wrote on 9/19/2006 9:41 PM:
"StringerBell" wrote in message
...
probably bad aquarium situation. Even with the Bio-Spira, my
ammonia level spiked up, so I did the ol` water change.
While siphoning I knocked into a rock, and it crumbled revealing
black-as-tar innards. This stuff looks real bad. It reminds me
of the black ash remnants left after a camp-fire.

Is this a normal thing? Any special actions to take?

If it only looks bad I would not worry too much...
Not everything good on this Planet is "pretty"
I would check if it has rotten smell. If it smells
REALLY bad than it is dead, decomposing matter...

If it is only black, it could be sponge and still alive.
I have a lot of black and dark gray sponge encrusting
my live rock on the shade side... in a healthy tank.
It is not as competitive as the colorfull sponges
growing standalone and actually can benefit the
tank filtering the water actively from organic matter.

To sum up - realy roten, bad smell trumps bad look! :-)