Curing dead live rock

[atlantis9]

I am re-curing a box of old live rock. It has been scrubbed and is pretty clean on the outside. I started the rock 1 1/2 months ago and have seen little change in water quality. The ammonia level has never spiked but has stayed a little high. My question is, how can I jump start the nitrigen cycle?

[ichthyogeek]

Add some sort of bacteria filter. A piece of dead coral, or some reef rubble from somebody else's reef tank. Basically, try to inoculate some bacteria into the curing vat/tank/whatever.

[atlantis9]

Will a bag of live sand work?

[jrr98002]

If the rock is clean and you've never seen an appreciable ammonia spike, you need to add an ammonia source (like a shrimp or fish food), not just bacteria. The bacteria will speed the cycle though.

[atlantis9]

This rock was full of worms at one time. They have to be dried up in there somewhere. I guess this is not enouph to spike the ammonia. I assumed viable bacteria had remained. Thanks for your help