Kingdom of Tonga LIVE ROCK

[cornetet]

So I bought this $50 live rock from a LFS. The rock is from the Kingdom of Tonga (islands off of Australia). I bought a single piece that had a bunch of all different colors of coraline on it......beautiful.

Strange thing is at the LFS they DID NOT have these rocks submerged but had SW squirting/spraying on them as they sat on a white-plastic shelf inside a big tub.

I took it home, submerged it.... and in 2 days the whole live rock turned chalky-white except for the bottom of the rock.

My 96w 50/50 lights are timed to be "ON" 8 hours a day....

Water quality:
specific-gravity = 1.021
ammonia 0
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
calcium 450ppm
pH 8.3

Questions:
> Did my 50/50 light kill off most of coraline? Too much light?
> Can I get this coraline back?!?! How????

[Petunia]

I always thought that tonga was white to begin with. Isn't it?

[tims]

the LFS was just keeping it wet.the Coralline was already "dying" off before you even thought about getting it..keep a close on your levels incase they start to rise, and some lower.in time it will recover, but you will not see all of the same colors to it.

[motorslave]

Yeah, Tims right. It will have to finish curing and then the coraline will come back in time..Is there critters in the tank?

R

[motorslave]

The drastic changes the rock has gone through from ocean to shipping to salt water misting to your tank causes alot of die off. Give it some time and it will start to come back. Watch your water parametes, set your light cycle and be very patient! It will return and you will have pinks, purples and greens in time! It could happen in a relatively short time or it could take quite a few months. Every tank is different. Once it finds its sweet spot you will be asking how to slow it down cause youre tired of scraping it off of the glass!

R