Live rock...

[Clint24]

I set my tank up in November 2013, I used my old live rock that was from my previous set up. The rock has been dried out & sitting in my garage for about 3 years. (Now dead/base rock). I cycled the rock in a separate container with a skimmer & pumps running for ammonia purposes before setting up my tank. When I set up my tank I also used a few good pieces of live rock from an existing tank that has coralline algae & a few soft corals on them. I also used new live sand bed when I set up my tank. How long will it be before that dead rock is seeded & starts to become live again with coralline algae & beneficial algae on it, if ever. Should I add anything to tank to help this process? Any advise would be helpful.


CD

 

[goma]

The rock will start becoming alive almost immediately once your cycle is complete. If it has been in your tank since November it should be well on its way and maturing as we speak. I am assuming you have fully cycled and have fish and corals in the tank so you would not need to add anything else.

 

[Steve L]

If the conditions are ideal you can start seeing coralline as quickly as 3-4 weeks after it cycles. It usually starts on something plastic like a power head or the walls of the tank. When it starts growing there you'll know it's growing everywhere else. If you want to speed things up scrape a little live coralline off of a rock and let it loose in the water column.