Regenerating dead live rock

Jholden · 06/12/2018, 11:27 AM

I’ve had a 13 gallon nano tank up and running for about two years. Well of course, I decided to get a bigger tank. I’m buying a tank secondhand from a lady that had it set up for about three years. She broke it down about three months ago and is selling me everything as far as equipment and rock. The rock she has is now dead. She said that when she broke the reef down she let it dry out in the sun and scrubbed it with bleach. Should I do anything further to make sure that it is dead or is the bleaching and sun sufficient? Also I am planning on putting it in the tank with a couple of pieces of establish Live rock and all new live sand. What type of cycling can I expect? With my nano my tank cycled fast because I used to live sand and live rock.

mcgyvr · 06/12/2018, 11:49 AM

All you "should" need to do is drop it right in..
If its clean with little to no dead/decaying organic matter then there should be little to no cycle and as you already have "some" live rock that should have a sufficient bacterial population on it already it "may" be sufficient to avoid any typical ammonia spike associated with the cycling process..

But its always good to monitor for ammonia/nitrite in situations like yours where they are "hidden" variables and we don't know how much live rock you already have not the amount of dead/decaying matter in said "live sand" (it does after all typically sit on a shelf in storage for a while just barely damp)..

So if anything I would expect a short or little/no cycle..

06/12/2018, 11:27 AM	#1
Jholden Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Posts: 3	Regenerating dead live rock I’ve had a 13 gallon nano tank up and running for about two years. Well of course, I decided to get a bigger tank. I’m buying a tank secondhand from a lady that had it set up for about three years. She broke it down about three months ago and is selling me everything as far as equipment and rock. The rock she has is now dead. She said that when she broke the reef down she let it dry out in the sun and scrubbed it with bleach. Should I do anything further to make sure that it is dead or is the bleaching and sun sufficient? Also I am planning on putting it in the tank with a couple of pieces of establish Live rock and all new live sand. What type of cycling can I expect? With my nano my tank cycled fast because I used to live sand and live rock.

06/12/2018, 11:49 AM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	All you "should" need to do is drop it right in.. If its clean with little to no dead/decaying organic matter then there should be little to no cycle and as you already have "some" live rock that should have a sufficient bacterial population on it already it "may" be sufficient to avoid any typical ammonia spike associated with the cycling process.. But its always good to monitor for ammonia/nitrite in situations like yours where they are "hidden" variables and we don't know how much live rock you already have not the amount of dead/decaying matter in said "live sand" (it does after all typically sit on a shelf in storage for a while just barely damp).. So if anything I would expect a short or little/no cycle.. __________________ Who me?