16 replies to this topic

[condo308]

Help !! I had a topic on here a few weeks ago and have come to the conclusion that no blue has been added to my water,
1 large piece has a small blue dot on it, all four smaller pieces have been either covered in blue / green tinge , or the whole piece has gone purple (but not the shell fragments in the stone).

I spent $ 300 on these pieces and very disappointed in their condition.

I took the pieces back to the shop and was helped by an employee who suggested buying Purigen (another $48 and a bottle of Prime Seachem another $ 13 ) Sample of the water was not coloured , but they didnt test water for me. Said nothing wrong with it.

Purigen states 250 ml treats 1,000 L , I have a 250 litre tank.
I put in half of the container and within a week it has gone brown, apparently lasts up to six months ?

Has hardly made any improvement and wasted more money again !!

I was spoken to by another employee who was walking past who said " what have you come to sell us some of your dead rock ". I said no I actually purchased it from you .
I was quite unhappy with this comment after paying premium price per/kg and ending with this.

So I am hoping someone can actually help me out here , as these pieces are useless.
Anybody else had the same problem with the rock ??

I will try to put pics on here.

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[Tim73]

Condo

I could be completely wrong here but just trying to help. To me the colour that is coming out is a similar colour to the blue green from copper. I remember my grandparents old house always had a greeny blue tinge around the inside of the taps, I was lead to believe it was from the very old copper pipes. Do you live in an old house, where this may be the problem? It may be a copper content in the rock which is coming out since it is wet?? I may be very wrong, but is just a thought.


Cheers

Tim

[Sazabi]

Errm...

1) I do not work for the shop in question, I clearly stated that when you were there, you would have heard me saying "Geez I should here"

2) hmm for purigen to turn brown so quickly, would mean that your tank's got high levels of pollutants. If you recall what I said, I said purigen would absorb a lot of things such as tannins, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, even colourings from food and even perhaps even medication. Purigen is a good product, I stand by it. If you think it is money wasted then fine, but I dont think so, I have purigen in all my tanks, and they do turn brown within a week, but when I do a water change, I place the bag into the water and give it go shake so the purigen inside mixes up a bit

3) Purigen will not absorb the blue out of the rocks, and I didnt say it would, the guys there suggested you give the rocks a good scrub. As I recall, you mentioned your friend or was it a relative that dumped some fry along with the water into your tank and you suspected that might have been the cause of it.....

4) In answering your question as to whether my texas holeys have any problems, the answer is no. I have texas holeys bought from Exotic, Vebas and Seaview, none have turned blue. I bought the last 2 pieces from Seaview and they are in my most recent tropheus set up, and they have not turned blue. If you go into their shop and checked out one of their display tanks, it is filled with texas holey, and they have not turned blue.

5) I would not be happy if my rocks turned blue as well, I suggest you bring this issue up with owner/manager of the store and try to resolve it there, otherwise which ever course of action you take is up to you

Good luck mate

[condo308]

Actually you should work there you know what you are talking about but , did you notice in my photos especially the last one , that the biggest piece has not changed color , they were all put in at the same time and I guess I can scrub the blue off but cant get the purple out of the others.

I questioned my mate and he said he had no medications in his water when adding fry to my tank. All I have added is tap water.

I have replaced the used Purigen with a fresh batch so I will see what happens to it.

I will have to get the water tested to see what is going on I guess.

Thanks for being the main one helping out . What do you think about the copper suggestion ? My house is only 15 yrs old so shouldnt be a factor.

Cheers

[dazzabozza]

Hi Condo

Not sure if this was asked in the other post but do you use dechlorinator when doing water changes?

Have u tried scratching it to see how deep the discolouration it is?


Daz

[Ronny]

''I have replaced the used Purigen with a fresh batch so I will see what happens to it.''


Not sure if you replaced it as in, put brand new stuff in there.

Hopefully you didn't chuck the other stuff away cos Purigen can be recharged with bleach, it should say somewhere on the box or container it came in.

[Mr_docfish]

is the rock only going blue/green on the upper surfaces that are in contact with the light?

algae? (blue green type) perhaps... see if it rubs off.

[Sazabi]

The copper? I dont think there is enough copper there that would turn the rock blue, if it did, it would have killed your fish... I could be wrong though....

Hmm it is really weird though... this has got me stumped, I doubt it is the rock itself, honestly. Imagine of all the luck out of so many people you happened to picked the rocks that would turn blue once it hit the water....

[Cicolid]

I had the same with some of my limestone rocks after I used Methyl Blue.
Some of it turned blue, but some didn't. I can only think it has something to do with the porosity of each piece of rock.
I also noticed that the rocks with fossilised roots in them picked up the blue by differing degrees.
A piece of slate tile turned purple and I only removed it by soaking in bleach.
I will get some photos up soon. By the way I got my rocks from my block so they cost me nothing.

Col

[condo308]

is the rock only going blue/green on the upper surfaces that are in contact with the light?

algae? (blue green type) perhaps... see if it rubs off.

In a way , yes , but two pieces went completely purple , looks like ive got my own coral reef happening with these colours.

I had the same with some of my limestone rocks after I used Methyl Blue.
Some of it turned blue, but some didn't. I can only think it has something to do with the porosity of each piece of rock.
I also noticed that the rocks with fossilised roots in them picked up the blue by differing degrees.
A piece of slate tile turned purple and I only removed it by soaking in bleach.
I will get some photos up soon. By the way I got my rocks from my block so they cost me nothing.

Col

Thanks for comment , could be the porosity I guess , havent added any Methyl Blue , I will probably add some normal limestone soon maybe will see how that reacts ..

''I have replaced the used Purigen with a fresh batch so I will see what happens to it.''


Not sure if you replaced it as in, put brand new stuff in there.

Hopefully you didn't chuck the other stuff away cos Purigen can be recharged with bleach, it should say somewhere on the box or container it came in.

Yeah used the rest of the container , have the used lot bleach soaking , just need to rinse it now , my tank is crystal clear but 3 days later the rocks havent changed

[condo308]

Hi Condo

Not sure if this was asked in the other post but do you use dechlorinator when doing water changes?

Have u tried scratching it to see how deep the discolouration it is?


Daz

Thanks , will take the bluer piece out today and clean it off , currently using the Prime solution. Will post a pic once cleaned.

[Mr_docfish]

In a way , yes , but two pieces went completely purple , looks like ive got my own coral reef happening with these colours.

Sounds like cyanobacteria (sort of algae) growing on them.... do some water changes, increase your nitrates and decrease the phosphates and it will go away.

[condo308]

Sounds like cyanobacteria (sort of algae) growing on them.... do some water changes, increase your nitrates and decrease the phosphates and it will go away.

I dont have any chemicals ie nitrates etc , so I will have to get some , did you have a look at my pics , any suggestions on what I need to ask for ?
Thanks

[condo308]

I have done water test and readings are as follows

GH 180
KH 120
pH 7
NO2 0
NO3 20

Hope this may clarify for people , also rock has now started to get a goldy colour algae building up on it and on tank glass.

[Grumpysmurf]

Just FYI. I have about $600 of Texas Holey Rock which I bought from Aquarium Artist, Vebas and Seaview when they first arrived. None of them shows any of this blue colouring.

[Krystal]

I agree this is also just algae growth.....as it is only growing on the pieces which are facing up, they are getting direct contact with the light.

Take a piece out and scrub it under hot water......does the coating feel a little bit slimy?

Other than that it will go a way with time and as your tank matures. I do not believe it is a n issue with the rock at all.

[condo308]

I have had the water tested and is showing high phosphate levels , in the tank water , not in the original tap water. It has been noted on phosphate test kit that the introduction of objects with a salt content would also cause the level to rise. In saying this the worse piece of rock I have ( which has the worst purple discolouration , in pics near filter ) contains alot of shell fragments and is the only piece with these fragments in it. I will take a close up pic and and to this.
The other pieces are purple where sections have been broken off and are now more porous.
So , I am putting it down to thisone piece that is causing the problem , I am now trying to reduce the phosphorus level and will probably throw this piece out if it does get any better.