Live Rock Q's

skibum1681 · 09/15/2008, 07:21 PM

Last winter i bought a 75g to upgrade to. I went pretty good till summer working at it slowly. Then summer. I got busy (lazy).

Anyway, i have had about 100# (50# live 50# dry) of rock in the 30g i was going to turn into a sump. I have a power head & a heater in it.

My question is, is the rock still live even though there has been no animals in there to complete the cycle? Would the life that came on the rock be enough to complete the nitrogen cycle?

I'm getting close to starting up on my 75 build again and if i need to do anything with the rock i want to start now.

jbc123 · 09/15/2008, 07:36 PM

As long as you have kept the water quality decent that rock is probably loaded with life.

skibum1681 · 09/15/2008, 07:47 PM

The rock i bought for my 40g that is running has life on it that you can see. I dont see anything other that rock in that tank. Maybe i'll throw my old sponge in with it & keep on top of the water. The water is & has always been crystal clear.

danielc316 · 09/16/2008, 07:06 AM

as long as you had good water in there you should be good.

SaltyDr · 09/16/2008, 08:12 PM

The "live" in live rock is bacteria and I am sure it has some. As far as hitchhikers, there may not be many, but you never know. You can always "seed" it with a piece of new premium live rock and in no time it will all like nice plus you'll have lots of visible "life".

returnofsid · 09/17/2008, 06:53 AM

As said above, as long as your water quality has been kept somewhat normal, you've kept circulation and proper temps, your rock should be in great shape!!

09/15/2008, 07:21 PM	#1
skibum1681 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Depew, NY Posts: 180	Live Rock Q's Last winter i bought a 75g to upgrade to. I went pretty good till summer working at it slowly. Then summer. I got busy (lazy). Anyway, i have had about 100# (50# live 50# dry) of rock in the 30g i was going to turn into a sump. I have a power head & a heater in it. My question is, is the rock still live even though there has been no animals in there to complete the cycle? Would the life that came on the rock be enough to complete the nitrogen cycle? I'm getting close to starting up on my 75 build again and if i need to do anything with the rock i want to start now.

09/15/2008, 07:36 PM	#2
jbc123 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 177	As long as you have kept the water quality decent that rock is probably loaded with life.

09/15/2008, 07:47 PM	#3
skibum1681 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Depew, NY Posts: 180	The rock i bought for my 40g that is running has life on it that you can see. I dont see anything other that rock in that tank. Maybe i'll throw my old sponge in with it & keep on top of the water. The water is & has always been crystal clear.

09/16/2008, 07:06 AM	#4
danielc316 Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: alsip, il Posts: 50	as long as you had good water in there you should be good.

09/16/2008, 08:12 PM	#5
SaltyDr Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Southwest Florida Posts: 1,191	The "live" in live rock is bacteria and I am sure it has some. As far as hitchhikers, there may not be many, but you never know. You can always "seed" it with a piece of new premium live rock and in no time it will all like nice plus you'll have lots of visible "life".

09/17/2008, 06:53 AM	#6
returnofsid Registered Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: Spokane, WA Posts: 3,852	As said above, as long as your water quality has been kept somewhat normal, you've kept circulation and proper temps, your rock should be in great shape!!