# Is my 'live' rock now dead rock?



## ChronicReefer (Mar 27, 2011)

back in April last year, i moved house, at the time of moving my tank was in a bit of a state, lots of nuisance algae as well as a bad dose of the flatworm, so befrore moving i gav away as much of my livestock as possible and decided to 'cook' my rock.

it sat in a giant rubbermaid until now, heated, lots of flow,aeration water changed but absolutely no light in an effort to clean up the algae, what an amazing job it did, my rock looks fantastic, but.... in the last 5 months, i had a new child and totally neglected the rock, so finally when i set up my aquarium, i tested the salinity..........ooops, it ws off he chart :9 leading me to ask the question is my rock now D..E...A...D???


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

It doesn't need light, it needs an ammonia source, so it's dead now.


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

Perfect. Use it. Now you have clean rock. 

Personally, I let my rock go bone dry on the balcony when I'm changing my tanks up


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## blurry (May 10, 2010)

When it is dead how do you make it live again?


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## AdamsB (Oct 18, 2011)

blurry said:


> When it is dead how do you make it live again?


Time. You can add the dead rock to a tank that has live rock or sand and it will eventually become live too. As to how long I have no idea. Maybe someone else has experience with that?


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## ChronicReefer (Mar 27, 2011)

i feared that might be the case, i bought brand new 'live sand', the most expensive J&L had, didnt rinse it in a bid to preserve as much 'life' as possible, however, i am and always have been really sceptical about how 'live' it actually is, maybe i should buy a few pieces of live rock to help seed, as assuming I have no 'die off' from my rock, Im not going to get a cycle, which I'm guessing means I cant actually start stocking ????


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## effox (Apr 21, 2010)

Add cultured rock and try Cycle or Stability.


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## ChronicReefer (Mar 27, 2011)

effox said:


> Add cultured rock and try Cycle or Stability.


will try that, thanks


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

For what it's worth, Zeobak is a better product than either Cycle or Stability. Use cheap vodka (1 mL/10 gallons) to initiate a bacterial bloom (should cloud your water nearly opaque). Continue adding bacteria daily and dosing until the water clears. Do a 30% water change. Cycled tank from zero in under ten days


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## AdamsB (Oct 18, 2011)

One thing I don't understand about bottled bacteria though. If our pumps turn off and no water flow then starves the live rock of oxegen, the bacteria dies. How does it survive in an air tight bottle? Same for bags of live sand. Granted they have a "use by" date.


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

Bottled bacteria are dormant. Sorta like hibernation. But microscopic and slimy.


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## Fish rookie (May 21, 2012)

Yes, from how I understand it, Seachem Stability contains several bacterias. One being autotrophic nitrifying bacterias which are normally shut down and stay dormant until oxygen and ammonia/nitrite become available to revive them. Autotrophic bacterias are the main nitrifying bacterias. 
Stability also contains much faster acting faculative bacteria which can act as the agents of nitrification; however, facultative bacteria are not the primary bacteria of nitrification--they are mostly heterotrophs, which is pretty much what are found in sludge remover and products like that. 
Once you give the dormant autotrophic plenty of oxygen, ammonia/ammonium and a large surface area they will revive and re-produce but it takes time.


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## ChronicReefer (Mar 27, 2011)

albert_dao said:


> For what it's worth, Zeobak is a better product than either Cycle or Stability. Use cheap vodka (1 mL/10 gallons) to initiate a bacterial bloom (should cloud your water nearly opaque). Continue adding bacteria daily and dosing until the water clears. Do a 30% water change. Cycled tank from zero in under ten days


I like this idea, but when you say 'dosing' do you mean keep adding vodka?


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## albert_dao (May 28, 2012)

ChronicReefer said:


> I like this idea, but when you say 'dosing' do you mean keep adding vodka?


Both vodka + bacteria.


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