Live rock... how can i know

[Cmonty12]

ok so i have had my tank up for almost a month and i was curious on how to know my rock has live bacteria... can someone tell me a tip or how to know.. my tank has cycled and i have 6 fish in it and they are stable. just wanna know if my rock i alive

 

[Terrance]

Live means that you have microorganisms living on it. If you look closely, then you will see tiny critters moving on the rocks.

If your tank can sustain your livestock with no ammonia or nitrites, then you have adequate beneficial bacteria in your tank (lots of them on your rocks).

The above is 2 completely different things about your tank.

 

[CleverBs]

I am sorry but having critters on your rock does not make it live, All live rock is is rock with beneficial bacteria in it. If you want to make sure you rock is live take a raw shrimp and place it in the tank for a day, Test you ammonia and see how long it takes to come down. If your ammonia goes up to 4 and stays at 4 or maybe drops to 2 over the course of a day your tank isnt cycled yet. Onse you can convert ammonia within 24hrs you are good to go.

You arnt talking about different things at all you are correct in thinking that live rock means you have Beneficial bacteria in the rock. Beings Benficial bacteria is the only thing we care about in our rocks is the reason we call it live rock. Most live rock in the hobby is just dry rock that has been cultured in a huge tub and then sold as Live rock for a huge primium. They turn rock thats 2$ per/lb into 10$ per/lb

 

[Terrance]

Beneficial bacteria also exist in the freshwater world - it exist after cycling a canister or hob filter.

If they are the same, then a hob filter or canister is live in the freshwater world.

 

[CleverBs]

yes, because there is live bacteria on the rock. the name live rock is to just make it possible to discribe the difference between live and dry rock. making it Live and capable of processing ammonia.

 

[Rmckoy]

yes, because there is live bacteria on the rock. the name live rock is to just make it possible to discribe the difference between live and dry rock. making it Live and capable of processing ammonia.

Once live rock has been taken out of a tank a d has time to dry .
Can it be made live again ?
I recently purchased 100 lbs or rock ( dry out of a tank )
I haven't put it into my 70gal yet

 

[CleverBs]

Once live rock has been taken out of a tank a d has time to dry .
Can it be made live again ?
I recently purchased 100 lbs or rock ( dry out of a tank )
I haven't put it into my 70gal yet

Yes it can, All that needs to be done is have it placed in water again and taken through a cycle or added in with other live rock and bacteria will spread to the dry rock and return it to its usefull live state.

 

[Rmckoy]

Yes it can, All that needs to be done is have it placed in water again and taken through a cycle or added in with other live rock and bacteria will spread to the dry rock and return it to its usefull live state.

Thank you .
I was waiting to cycle this tank .
Instead of dipping them I have them soaking in sea water .

I have another question
I am running this tank hopefully on live rock and a skimmer .
But I do have a canister ( emeim 2217)
Should I leave the ceramic octagonal pieces , little brown dog food looking pieces , and filter floss in there or should I take some of it out and run it empty with only filter floss?

 

[Terrance]

yes, because there is live bacteria on the rock. the name live rock is to just make it possible to discribe the difference between live and dry rock. making it Live and capable of processing ammonia.

I cycled my dry rocks and its sitting in my coral only tank. There is no outside life from the ocean in it, just beneficial bacteria and corals. Its easy to get confused using your terminology. "live" means life from the ocean, which is why live rocks at LFS are always more expensive then regular base rocks. If they could cycle all their base rocks, theb would anyone pay the same price for these kinds of rocks as the real live rocks from the ocean?

Just my opinion for easy understanding.

 

[Rmckoy]

I cycled my dry rocks and its sitting in my coral only tank. There is no outside life from the ocean in it, just beneficial bacteria and corals. Its easy to get confused using your terminology. "live" means life from the ocean, which is why live rocks at LFS are always more expensive then regular base rocks. If they could cycle all their base rocks, theb would anyone pay the same price for these kinds of rocks as the real live rocks from the ocean?

Just my opinion for easy understanding.

So what is the difference between live and base ?

 

[Terrance]

To me, live rocks contain microorganisms like pods and worms from the ocean.

Base rocks have no outside life on them, which is why they are dry and not regularly stored in water. Live rocks are kept wet to keep the living organisms alive.

 

[Sniperhank]

A slightly loaded question in reality. Live really speaks to the bacteria that is established during a cycle and the nitrafication cycle.

Stores will call almost anything live, depending on the store. Petco as an example sells live rock which was man made and simply cycled.

I ordered all of my "live" rock online. By the time it arrives, there is basically nothing left alive even if it was alive in the ocean. This being said, a year after the cycle things have come out of the rock that came in on it, a chiton as an example.

Generally, you should always be wary of things called live rock when placing into an established tank. Always cycle new rock even if it is live to prevent deadly, and costly, mini cycles. Calling it live gives people the safe feeling that they can just throw it into the established tank and things be just fine, which is why live refers to the bacteria rather than the creatures that could live within.

 

[Rmckoy]

A slightly loaded question in reality. Live really speaks to the bacteria that is established during a cycle and the nitrafication cycle.

Stores will call almost anything live, depending on the store. Petco as an example sells live rock which was man made and simply cycled.

I ordered all of my "live" rock online. By the time it arrives, there is basically nothing left alive even if it was alive in the ocean. This being said, a year after the cycle things have come out of the rock that came in on it, a chiton as an example.

Generally, you should always be wary of things called live rock when placing into an established tank. Always cycle new rock even if it is live to prevent deadly, and costly, mini cycles. Calling it live gives people the safe feeling that they can just throw it into the established tank and things be just fine, which is why live refers to the bacteria rather than the creatures that could live within.

Thank you .
This info helped allot

 

[Sniperhank]

No problem. It was confusing for me when I started up as well. If you end up using rock out of someone's tank or the ocean, even a year down the line things you never saw before can pop up if they are burried deep enough in the rock.