Live Rock Question

[boges_au2006]

I have Rock in my tank. however most of it is dried out and put pack in rock. I bought a couple of pieces of live rock which are in there now. I just got my new lights and installed them. How long will it take for the dried out rock in there to become live now with the lights on there??

also another question.
is a clean up crew necessary or is it just recommended to have one?
thanks in advance

 

[JM]

The time rock takes to become live depnds on a bunch of factors. Could be months could be never. It depends on the type of rock you are using. How porous and its composition. And about the cleanup crew. I consider a clean up crew necessary. Some may not, but i cant see my tank running without them.

 

[boges_au2006]

Ok well basically the rock that i have was live. however when moved it was left out too long and dried up. so it has been completely dried out. and is now put back in. our LFS told us it would come back to life with the light on and bacteria will move from the current live rock to the other rock as well and so forth. i have also added a bacteria starter to to get it going.

about the cleanup crew then. any recommendations on what to get. i have a 5 ft standard tank
cheers

 

[JM]

If thats the case then the basteria should repopulate it fairly quickly. I would say within a couple months it will be pretty much what it was.

As far as a cleanup crew i would look into some Nassarius snails (sand sifter, detritus eater), Trochus/Astrea Snails (algea eater), emerald crabs, scarlett hermits. If you want to get creative you can also look into an irchin and small conch. I'm not quite sure how many gallons a 5ft tank is so i can't really recommend how many of each, but if you can post how many gallons i could help with that too.

 

[boges_au2006]

hey it would be about 250 litres which i think it about 65 or a bit more gallons.

 

[melosu58]

The light will not make it go any faster on the cycle and curing.Alot of people never use any lighting on their cycle.

 

[JM]

Melosu, i think he already has it cycled he just wanted to know how long it would take the live rock to seed the dead rock. Thats my understanding. But i agree with you that the light really won't make a difference either way.

 

[melosu58]

Ok Thanks JM

 

[boges_au2006]

yes JM you are right. tank is already been cycled and has been for a while now. just wondering what JM said. i figured the light will help the bacteria grow but i wasn't sure.
perhaps it would be worth me getting aqnother couple of pieces of live rock in there then to get the process going?

 

[JM]

The more live rock the better because that just means the more bacteria you have. The lights don't really have impact on the bacteria. The bacteria will grow without the lights. The lights are more for anything else that needs light that might be on the live rock. You'd be surprised at all the little things that grow on the rock after you put some good lights on the tank. Those types of things are just extras though the bacteria will always be there.

 

[boges_au2006]

just wondering i have some dark colouring coming over my rock. what could this be?? would it be good or bad. its like a dark orangy browny colour.

 

[Ziggy953]

That could be an algae bloom or cyano. A pic will help to identify.

 

[JM]

I'm guessing diatoms, but without a pic its hard to tell.

 

[boges_au2006]

Here is some pics i took. they aint very good but they may help. think its the diatoms or watever u said maybe?? the first one is a pic of the rock that is turning colour the others i just wanted to show u to see what u thought of them and if they would come back to live??
there is a couple of live ones there too.

What is this white thing???

thanks again. also there is some little white like feather dusters on one rock. dunno if u can see em in the pics. but not sure what they are. only very small.

 

[boges_au2006]

anyone?

 

[JM]

Looks like diatoms. It should run its course and go away on its own with PWC and time. The white thing looks like it might be a spnge of some sort, but its hard to tell cause the pic is blurry. Those look like feather dusters. A lot of my LR came with small dusters on them. They are filter feeders so they will be fine without any special care, but they probably wont get much bigger.

 

[boges_au2006]

Looks like diatoms. It should run its course and go away on its own with PWC and time. The white thing looks like it might be a spnge of some sort, but its hard to tell cause the pic is blurry. Those look like feather dusters. A lot of my LR came with small dusters on them. They are filter feeders so they will be fine without any special care, but they probably wont get much bigger.

Thanks JM
Yeah my local LFS said the same thing. They rekon one day it will be there and the next it will just be gone. They said to get some snails and crabs to perhaps assist with getting rid of it quicker. is this right??
im worried my lightning wrasse may eat the crabs though??

Yeha i thought it might have been something like that. sorry about the pic i have to learn to take better ones. will it get much bigger? it has only really come out since the lights have been on.
Aww i was hoping they would get bigger the feathers but doesn matter at least its life. i thought all that rock was dead.

So do u think most of the rock will become live over time?

 

[JM]

Snails might help a little, but when they say there one day gone the next they, its true. After i cycled my 120g i got a huge diatom bloom and then one day i noticed it dicipated and by the next day it was gone just like that.

If the white stuff came after you put the lights on it might not be sponge, because sponge likes shade so it might be something else. And the feather dusters stay small just because thats the kind they are. The big one you can buy are a different type. I have tons on my rocks and there is more all the time so they seem to multiply also.

I think if there is feather dusters on the rock that some of the life that was on it might not have died to begin with so it should be fine. I had a few pieces of rock that i left in a 10g tank with no filtration and no water changes for about a month. After evaperation the salitnity of the water was through the roof, but within a week of putting it in my new tank there were featherdusters coming out of existing tubes on the rock so nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to life on lr.

 

[boges_au2006]

OK then thanks heaps JM.

i am pretty sure the sponge thing u speak of came out with light but then again it might not have. im not entriely sure. as when i put lights on i was able to see a lot more and i have been studying the rock more closely. i did touch it on the weekend and it was soft like a sponge? and it is in a spot where it would not get direct light.

thats cool then. im getting most feather dusters from one rock i will see how the others go over time. however they are starting to get a bit of colour on them purplely pink stuff and white stuff. so we will se ehow it goes. im hoping it comes back. will save a bit of moeny. otherwise i will keep adding more live rock.

thanks agin.

 

[Ziggy953]

A diatom bloom is normal in a new tank. It will go away as your tank settles in and matures a bit. Your rock will become live over time yes!