[cfoster3]

I recently moved and live in a cold climate. For a substantial amount of time, I had live rock sitting in storage, so it was just there not in water. It still loks exactly as it did when I had it in my aquarium, have been curing it, and after a few weeks, ammonia has disappeared, been curing it with a large powerhead & a SeaClone 100 skimmer in a 10 gallon tub. Seemed to work great. My main question is, will the rock be any good to regrow corralline algae & such on it?
Any help or comments would be greatly appreciated!!

[kosys]

Hi cfoster: I don't think it works like that your rock is considered dead rock, if the rock was put aside and just left to dry out then it would die. I'm not sure you can bring it back like that, the rock would have to be recultured. they usally do that buy taking a small piece of ocean and placing the rock on the sand bed and leaving it for a year or so. then the rock is harvested and sent to your LFS, where you then buy it and then cure it in your tank if not already cured.

I don't think your rock is live rock anymore.

Ken

[kosys]

P.S : I could be wrong, it's known to happen LOL

Ken

[cfoster3]

Thats kinda what I figuredm, but I wonderd if I transplanted corralline algae onto it, if it would be fertile enough to support such life forms.

[kosys]

If you are planning on make a reef tank I would advise you invest in some new live rock and sand. Live rock helps keep system stable. you rock will have no bio capacity. thats just my opinion though maybe someonelse knows more on subject. I don't know If you can do a reef without live rock or should, maybe with proper filtration i'm not sure.

Ken

[Ninong]

It's already live rock as far as containing beneficial bacteria is concerned. The bacteria returned as soon as you put it back in saltwater. All you really need to do now is add a little good live rock to it to help it along. It will be covered with coralline algae within a matter of months.

You could call it "dead rock" if you like but even dead rock will become alive after you put it in your tank. What you're missing right now are all the polychaete worms and microcrustaceans that usually inhabit live rock. Adding several pounds of nice, high quality live rock to what you have now will work wonders.

[cfoster3]

Ninong Thank you, I hope that would be the case, just take extra regrowth period? I have it with new fresh ured live rock & a fresh substrate of live sand. Working on keeping parameters all perfect so hopefully it speeds up the process. Any ideas on how to expedite the process?

[CSeaSee]

If you know someone who has a lot of coralline algae, you could ask for some scrapings from their tank (be sure to transport in saltwater) to seed your own. This can speed up the growth of coralline algae in your tank.

BTW, cfoster 3, WELCOME TO REEFLAND!!!

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by cfoster3

Ninong Thank you, I hope that would be the case, just take extra regrowth period? I have it with new fresh ured live rock & a fresh substrate of live sand. Working on keeping parameters all perfect so hopefully it speeds up the process. Any ideas on how to expedite the process?

Yes, even "dead" rock will become live rock after it has been placed in an aquarium with other quality live rock. In another nine or ten months it will be hard to tell the difference.

As far as coralline algae is concerned, if there is any at all (and there almost always is) on any of the live rock you added to the tank, it will spread like wildfire within a few months. Before long you will be wishing you never wished for more coralline algae. Just kidding. If you maintain your calcium and alkalinity at appropriate levels, coralline algae will spread all over your tank whether you like it or not. This could take three months to become noticeable or it could take six months. Just keep your calcium around 425 ppm and your alkalinity near 10 dKH and you will have more coralline algae than you can handle.

[cfoster3]

Excellent, I just want some good color in there again