White dusty powder on LR?

[phoenix20]

Hey ARC

I noticed some white dusty powder on some of my live rock. I'm sure this is probably a common thing -- I was just curious about what it is.

Is this calcium build-up? I guess its a good thing?

I've been dosing my tank with a product called "purple up" about twice a week. Its supposed to encourage purple / pink coralline algae.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12799&cmpid=03csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=0033889000000">http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12799&cmpid=03csegb&ref=3312&subref=AA&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=0033889000000</a>

Any ideas?

 

[skriz]

any pics?

 

[phoenix20]

Sure don't =/ I'll take some pics when I go home for lunch and will post this afternoon.

 

[purplegorilla]

Could be detritus? Pictures would help.

 

[FutureInterest]

Probably precipitate due to dosing the purple up... which isn't worth doing imo.

 

[phoenix20]

Just took some pics of the powder.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesvoboda/2888097432/sizes/o/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesvoboda/2888097432/sizes/o/</a>
[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesvoboda/2888097430/sizes/o/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesvoboda/2888097430/sizes/o/</a>
[IMG]http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesvoboda/2888097414/sizes/o/">http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikesvoboda/2888097414/sizes/o/</a>

Let me know what you guys think it might be, or if you've ever seen it before.

Unrelated, Jin, where did you find that black sand you have in your tank? I think it looks really cool.

 

[skriz]

pics are too blurry to tell. It could be almost anything, even sand.

Sorry I'm not much help

 

[FutureInterest]

My black sand is a mix of the stuff you find at petsmart... I think its called tahitian moon sand, and the grey/brown aragonite sand you find at petco. Only one petco in the area seems to carry the aragonite stuff. It's not nearly as dark as the tahitian moon but has less silicates.

 

[FutureInterest]

As for what you're seeing... that's how sand is made. It's small particles of the rock that is being ejected. There's some sort of worm or some other interesting creature that's burrowing in the rock and throwing the resultant particulate matter out. It's all good .