LR LS bacteria question

Discussion in 'Live Rock' started by coldshot, Mar 25, 2009.

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  1. coldshot

    coldshot Blue Ringed Angel

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    I have some dry rock from John at reefclleaaners.org There is no live rock to be found around here and dont want to order off the web and have to cure it. So how about if I buy a bag of aragonite live sand. Will that seed the rock and my substrate (crushed coral) and will there be any spikes involved?
     
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
    #1

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  2. tronb24

    tronb24 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I started my tank this way. All live sand and just base rock.I had the normal cycling spikes which I think came from the stuff in the live sand that dies off similar to how some of the stuff from live rocks dies off. I'm guessing my rock is "live" now and I think the sand had to be responsible for bringing it to life.
     
    tronb24, Mar 25, 2009
    tronb24, Mar 25, 2009
    #2
  3. coldshot

    coldshot Blue Ringed Angel

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    Do you have a picture of your rock now?
     
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
    #3
  4. tronb24

    tronb24 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    [​IMG]

    In the lower left hand corner you can see a very white piece of base rock that I just added a few days ago. All of my rock started out looking like this.
     
    tronb24, Mar 25, 2009
    tronb24, Mar 25, 2009
    #4
  5. coldshot

    coldshot Blue Ringed Angel

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    cool thnx one more question. I have a fish in the tank will there be any spikes from the live aragonite that would pose a threat to him...
    And how long did it take for your rock to start taking off like that?
     
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
    #5
  6. tronb24

    tronb24 Coral Banded Shrimp

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    I don't know for sure if you will experience noticeable spikes if you are putting this stuff in a established aquarium. I had spikes in new set up. It took my rock about 3-4 months to start to gain color from algae. At six months I am now experiencing a boom of coralline algae on those rocks, glass and powerheads that seems to double in size daily.

    Now I should be clear. The rock in the top-middle is a different type of rock that came with the zoa colony that is attached to it. It was that color when I bought the coral.
     
    tronb24, Mar 25, 2009
    tronb24, Mar 25, 2009
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  7. coldshot

    coldshot Blue Ringed Angel

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    I am not really concerned about the coraline (coraline is a plant not algae) I need the benficial bacteria that really makes it all healthy....
     
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
    coldshot, Mar 25, 2009
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  8. stepho

    stepho Panda Puffer

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    Where did you hear that coraline is a plant?

    If your tank is cycled you have the bacteria in there already. It's pretty much impossible to not introduce the bacteria into your tank.
     
    stepho, Mar 25, 2009
    stepho, Mar 25, 2009
    #8
  9. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

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    You can cycle a tank with only base rock and nothing else if you wanted. I have done this when I cured some base rock. Got an ammonia spike, then nitrite spike. There is a false belief that one needs to "seed" their tank with live rock that already contains bacteria. That is not true. The entire point of the cycle is to grow this bacteria.
     
    GuitarMan89, Mar 25, 2009
    GuitarMan89, Mar 25, 2009
    #9
  10. coldshot

    coldshot Blue Ringed Angel

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    You had live sand and that seeded the rock...Right or Wrong?
     
    coldshot, Mar 26, 2009
    coldshot, Mar 26, 2009
    #10
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