Live Rock

[joemaz71]

A few years ago I had a total system loss. I never emptied my tank so my live rock was just sitting there. 99.5% of the coralline algae has died as well as everything else. There are a few spots where there is some purple, mostly where the sunlight hit the tank through the window. This weekend I purchased a new lighting system and did a water change. Got the pumps running again. Any chance anything survived? Should I get a new piece of live rock to kick start the tank again? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

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[joemaz71]

Here is a shot of my tank.

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[hackteck]

Here is a shot of my tank.

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its all dry rock now it looks like what you can do is get a few lbs of live rock to seed the dry rock it will become live again over a few months

 

[Macscale]

If the rock was never exposed to air, technically it should still have BB on it. How long ago was the crash?

Just because the rock doesn't have Coraline doesn't mean it isn't live.

 

[joemaz71]

Had to be about two years ago. Rock was never dried. There some glimpses of purple. I'm hoping that the light and water flow will get something going. Still may get a piece of rock to help.

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[hackteck]

I would still get a few pieces of live rock to kick start it

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[Macscale]

Well, the rock is technically still live. To seed Coraline however, get a piece of live rock. Either way.

 

[hackteck]

you dont know if its still live time will tell just keep us updated

 

[dragonfisher33]

do a water test and see what the parameters are. if the parameters aren't off the chart, i would say it's semi-live

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

If there was nothing to feed the bb population it most likely died off, I would just recycle the tank.

 

[Macscale]

If there was nothing to feed the bb population it most likely died off, I would just recycle the tank.

Either way, he should re-cycle his tank. Some of the bacteria die off, could have fed the BB for a couple of months.

 

[joemaz71]

Update, I purchased a piece of live rock yesterday and added it to my existing rock that has been sitting for years. I was hoping that the new piece of live rock would help cycle the tank. I test my water this mornig and this is what I have: NH3 0.50, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10, PH 8.2. Where am I in the cycle process? When I first decided to the tank going again I changed the water but still left about 8-10 gallons of the orginal water.

 

[joemaz71]

Updated pic

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[nelix10]

Looks pretty good after sitting for years! Cycle is just starting you can help it out by adding an ammonia source