Pew!

[Tito]

I recently aquired some rock for free from a hobbyist who broke his reef down. The rock was dry for a while. I put the rocks in a bucket of fresh water and rinsed them but now they have an odor to them. It's hard to describe the odor - it is not an odor of rot or anything foul - it's more like a masonry odor of some sort. Is this normal? Is this what live rock smells like. I've also noticed that a chalk substance rubs off on my hand everytime I handle the rock. Is this normal as well? The rock does look like Fiji rock with some minimal corraline algea on it so it is coral rock and it does have shells in it - so it's not DIY rock plus the guy told me he bought it from the LFS - the rock is about eight years in his tank. Please help as I am leary about putting the rock in my tank. THe rock has a lot of white susbtance - it this the accumalation of Kalkwasser and calcium over the years?

 

[sporty]

Yeah thats normal.

 

[bad coffee]

it's cycling.

 

[Awibrandy]

I don't know about anyone else, but I have never had anything rub off of lr. I see you have answers that say it is normal, but I wonder if they are only talking about the smell which is normal. I'd ask again about the chalk substance that is rubbing off on your hands.

 

[Tito]

Based on some reading I've done - I understand that Coralline Algea turns white when it dies. Perhaps that is the chalky white susbtance on the rock.

 

[Tito]

Yep! I think I know what I'm smelling. It's the scent of dead coralline algae. There must have been a whole bunch on these rocks because the soft white stuff is everywhere. I understand that coralline algae turns white when dead. So now that I know what it is - do I have to scrub this off before putting it in my uncycled and unestablished tank?