Help! White Mould On Live Rock!!

[Sharbuckle]

im not sure if its bad or good, or if its nothing, but i want to make sure, its my first SW setup, rock has been in the tank for about 3 days, it was fully cured to begin with, and i noticed that it had this stuff on a peice of it when i first got it, but now its on another peice. please tell me what it is

Thanks
Shawn

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[sniggir]

looks like a sponge if some type to me nothing to worry about

[Sharbuckle]

hey thanks pat, but its all over the rock, even on a different one, on the bottom of the rock? sponge?

[Cheebs]

It looks like it might be coralline algae, I used to have a piece covered in it before the purple started.  It can be all sorts of colors - white, gree, purple, etc..  It's definitely good stuff if that's what it is..  is it thin and hard or spongy?

[Sharbuckle]

thin and hard

[Cheebs]

It's the good stuff then, nothing to worry about. Check out this link:  http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/aboutcorallinealgae/ss/coralline.htm

White coralline can grow, but if you had the cured rock outside the water for a decent period of time before sticking it in the tank, the white stuff may just be dead coralline algae, which won't do any harm either.  It'll eventually be coated in live stuff.

[Sharbuckle]

i dont think it was out of water too long, will have to ask pat about that one?

[beertech]

Yep, nothing to worry about.  It could also be the skeleton of a dead encrusting type of coral.  (Montipora, etc)

[redbelly]

If it is white and hard (aka part of the rock) then it is nothing to worry about as previously pointed out there.
If it is white but soft and fluffy and blows off with a power head then it would be a decaying matter and would require further curring.