View Full Version : Bacteria surviving in stagnant water?
tank41
07/07/2010, 01:41 PM
Hello guys. Me and a buddy just got a heck of a deal on some live rock. We bought close to 300 pounds but all the rock had been sitting in rubbermade trash cans without any moving water. There was not much on the rocks as far as life except for a few polyps here and there. Still a good growth of coraline however. Would beneficial bacteria survive under these conditions. The rock had been stored before we picked it up for approximately 12 days. Just curious what everyones thoughts would be. We will be isolating this rock for several weeks for cycling purposes.
Thanks
jefathome
07/07/2010, 01:53 PM
12 days? Most likely. The only thing is that there might be some more "anerobic" action going on in there than originally.
blasterman789
07/07/2010, 02:41 PM
Would beneficial bacteria survive under these conditions.
The bacteria will go dormant. This is close to the same thing as buying LR at the fish store from a tank with no fish in it. While the rock does have some biological capacity, it's reduced and will need to be re-started.
Best thing to do is get the rock in a tank with circulation, and let the presence of O2 rot off the rest of what's going to die. Water change if you pick up any residual ammonia from the rot-off. After a week or two it's safe to start adding a small bio-load and get some natural ammonia from fish or inverts going in the tank.
You may/may not see ammonia rise a bit at this point. It really depends on where the rock came from. The fact there's coraline on it does tend to confirm it's rather healthy and came from a source with a bio-load.
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