Live Rock 'shelf life'?

[FroggyFox]

Hey guys...question for you. I have a 20G with like 20+ lbs of live rock in it...same stuff I got originally like a year ago or so. Well since I think January of this year when I somehow managed to kill my firefish and two clownfish Its pretty much been sitting there. It has a hermit crab in it...had a snail but I think it didn't make it cuz I can't find it...no real water changes, algae started taking over...I did top off from time to time, it was still heated, still water circulating, still fed the hermit crab every few days.

Just to give you the full picture...I just completely emptied the tank today, moved the hermit to a little 2g with a snail I've had set up and he seems to be doin fine in there for now. I had to move the tank upstairs and didn't have time to age any water. I bought sand awhile back and have added that to the tank after rinsing it. Now the tank is SO cloudy, presumably from the salt still mixing in and the sand still not settled...but the live rock is still in there.

So question #1, after months of just chillin, then getting moved and poured into new water/sg tonight suddenly, do you think the live rock is (or will be) OK? Alive, adequete to support some life besides a hermit crab? Or should I invest in some more (additional rock).

question #2, suggestions for what to do now...just let it 'cycle' again, test it over the next week or two and see if any ammonia or nitrite spikes come up?

Let me know if you need more info from me....

 

[KahluaZzZ]

may have a couple of live rock freebies dead by now, but it'll be ok i think.

may have to let it cycle again

 

[1979camaro]

agree, it should be fine over all...just watch your parameters for a few weeks and make sure things seem okay

 

[wayne]

It was likely fine till it got pitched in the mixing water. Now I do not know.....it's the kind of thing it's impossible to say withoput seeing.

You'll have to suck it and see

 

[Milo]

I am new to the whole SW scene, but from what i have read I think it should be okay. Aslong as you had it in saltwater with circulation going on it should be fine.

 

[Milo]

wayne

You'll have to suck it and see

What does that mean? Does she have to Suck the Rock???? If not please pretend you didn't even read this post.

**Think's that if someone just came in and read this post it would look pretty stupid **

 

[FroggyFox]

Milo he means suck it up, wait it out...it maybe ok maybe not and I just have to be ok with whatever the outcome. Well since its my fault yeah

well...what I'll do is just let it keep going and hope its ok. If I 'killed' it by shocking it with the new water, the ammonia would go up and not really go away right? or turn to nitrite VERrrry slowly.

Edit: Maybe I'll wait for the water to settle and when I get a chance this weekend perhaps, I'll go get a new chunk of LR anyway. Its not a huge tank so if the rock I have is still 'a little alive' then a piece thats really alive should help it out right?

 

[Milo]

*ehh..... *shaking head*

one of those things where you feel really stupid after!!!

Froggyfox, I to had "almost dead" live rock and I went to the LFS and purchsed some new/more alive Live Rock and my system seems to be doing pretty good!

 

[FroggyFox]

alrighty...this tank has been re-setup for over a month now, it appears that the only "alive" thing in there is some nasty reddish algae I see no pods or anything.

Question: If it were you would you just ditch all the rock in there and get new rock, or would you try to pile some more in there on top of what I have? Its a 20G tank and I think it was about 22 lbs of live rock that I appear to have killed. I have a bunch of little pieces that I got when I was first learning that were a really good price...and then one piece that is big. I'm thinking I should just take it all out and start over. Pods woulda showed up by now wouldn't they have?

I have my hermit and a snail in a little 2g tank sitting on a shelf with a piece of LR. They seem to be doin good so I'm ok with holding them in there while this tank starts over.

 

[KahluaZzZ]

mhhh...your live rock ( + substrate if you have some ) has crap in it.
Don't turn on the lights so you can avoid the nasty red algae ( assuming it's cyanobacteria )...aim your powerheads directly at the rock, change the water with ro/di not tap ( may be one cause of your red algae ) and you may have a chance to slightly clean them. The last option is to boil 'em...it's still better than ditch 'em. You'll end up with base rock, but eventually it'll be seeded with the new live rock ( take a while tho' ).
It took me like 2 months to see pods in my tank. Now they come and go..somtimes i got zillions, sometimes i see just a couple. Don't worry, you'll see some.

 

[FroggyFox]

I dont have lights on the tank...can't turn them on.

There used to be pods in the tank...but the thing is I think I KILLED IT ALL. Do you really think it'd take more than a month to get them to come out?

Reason I would ditch the existing rock is because there's not room in the tank to put much more, and def no more big pieces. I'd be ditching to make room for actual live rock, not worried about them being "clean" or "dirty"??

Will try to remember to get my test kits out and see how things are in there ammonia/nitrite/nitrate wise and see if even though there aren't pods maybe the bacteria is still ok...which is what makes live rock live...right?

 

[wayne]

I have a tank in my basement that I haven't done much with in 6 or 7 months and that's just a mass of pods, bristles and aiptasia. It used to be my qt for delicate fish, but as I haven't actually bought anything for eons it's jsut sitting.

I think your bath in unmixed water killed it. FWIW I'd throw it and get just get 10 pounds of decent rock as one or two pieces that were really well shaped. If you need some filler, well you've got some base ....