Live Rock Question

[marcwake]

I had a tank up a year and a half ago then I had to move. I put my live rock and sand in a 55 gallon barrel with salt water and some power heads to move the water. I ran a heater in it for the first while but it broke at some point and was colder water after that(not too cold but ~50s). So now I am starting to set my tank back up and so far I put the rock and sand in a tank with a sump and filters in my garage temporarily. I transferred it all to fresh salt water and brought it up to temp slowly. It sat in the barrel with no food or light for a long time is there any bacteria left in it? Will it develop new bacteria if I don't have any good rock or sand to seed it with?

Thanks

[sporto0]

The only way to know for sure is to introduce ammonia into the water & see if it starts to cycle again or if you don't get any readings then there is still bacteria left. An educated guess would be no, there is no beneficial bacteria left since there was no ammonia producing livestock in there for a long time.

[marcwake]

Thanks, I kinda figured it was mostly dead as I get no smell from it anymore. Do I need to seed it with something to get it going again?

[MaxxedMan]

You can seed it with a shrimp or a damsel to get the bacteria going, but if you want the diversity of life back, you'll need to seed with rock or sand that has that life. (or hope it comes in on a coral plug)

[sporto0]

You don't need to seed it just for it to become filter media again, in other words just surface area for beneficial bacteria, all you need for that is an ammonia source. Now, if you want it to become real "live" rock again, you will need to put in a few pieces of new live rock, the more you put in, the faster all rock becomes inhabitied by critters again.

[marcwake]

Ok Thanks again, I don't have an LFS in town to get any live rock so I may have to find one and make a drive then. I would like it all to be live again but I'm in no hurry so if I can get a piece of good rock and let it run for a while the rest will be good eventually. There is about 150 lbs of rock so it may take it a while to get going. Should I add a starter fish with the rock or just some food to decompose and get some ammonia going?

[reeferstace]

You can seed it with a shrimp or a damsel to get the bacteria going, but if you want the diversity of life back, you'll need to seed with rock or sand that has that life. (or hope it comes in on a coral plug)

There is absolutely no need to sacrafice a live fish to start a nitrogen cycle. This is a cruel and antiquated method. Simply ghost feed your tank. The bacteria will start to populate as the food is broken down.

[marcwake]

Perfect, So I will just continue dropping in a little food and try to find a place to get a seed rock to help things along. Other than that just sit back and watch the tests to see how the cycle is coming along?

[anbosu]

Ok Thanks again, I don't have an LFS in town to get any live rock so I may have to find one and make a drive then. I would like it all to be live again but I'm in no hurry so if I can get a piece of good rock and let it run for a while the rest will be good eventually. There is about 150 lbs of rock so it may take it a while to get going. Should I add a starter fish with the rock or just some food to decompose and get some ammonia going?

You can always order live rock online. A small quantity from LA or TBS would get you going.