Is my live rock dead? (Photos attached)

[kropa008]

Hello, I have very regrettably neglected my fish tank after a big move for a year and I'm finally settled in and ready to get it back to its former glory. I have not been doing my usual amount of water changes and I understand the tank is in rough shape. All the equipment has been running, but my pump just died last week so the only water flow the rock is getting is from the magnet propeller things (forget what they are called). The tank still houses a Dotty back and 2 clowns. What do I need to do to get this tank back to proper working order besides a lot of water changes? Is this live rock still alive? Do I need to buy new ones? Should I scrub the algae from the rocks? What to do with Filter media in the sump? Please help

 

[Quietman]

I'm not sure all that much really. If you kept power head on and fish in the tank (luckily a small number) and they lived, then you have live rock and enough oxygen to support it. It may have a smaller capacity and you'll have to build up livestock a bit more slowly (like a new tank at first).

If you haven't restarted the sump flow I wouldn't until i rinsed the media out in tank water and cleaned up any detritus build up. Just in case any stagnant toxic build up. Assuming it's dense bio-type media. I'd replace any nutrient control media.

If you want to scrub algae, sure. But I don't see any algae waving around, so I probably wouldn't. If you do, just don't do anything drastic like bleaching.

Test your water and see how what amount of water change you need to do to get back in normal if you're even out of normal. If you still have good parameters...just start up a modest water change routine again. If everything is living now...just be aware that you can shock an organism with good water if it's used to bad so wouldn't go 100% water change even if you have high nitrates/phosphates. Do a few 20% over a week.

Should really be a few easy steps and back up and running.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Your rock is alive, no worries there. It is likely being bogged down by heavy waste accumulation. I would suggest doing a search on rip cleans. It sounds extreme but it will set you right back on track without any issue. Basically it involves removing all rock and livestock to temporary totes/buckets. Removing the sand the rinsing it. It worked wonders for me during a move and can bring the beauty back into your tank. If interested me can continue on with the steps and process for logging purposes.

 

[ScottR]

No way to tell from pics if it’s alive or not. But I’m sure lots of bacteria and some creatures survived. Perhaps not pods but you can get it back up with a powerhead. I’ve kept live rock in buckets without a pump for a few days or so. All the coralline lived. Aiptaisa... and some pods. I guess I made my live rock a tide pool.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If it has oxygen and bacteria, probably not but I would open it up a little where there are passages for water to flow through providing oxygen and preventing buildup of mulm and detritus

 

[Rubberfrog]

It's alive, just very dirty. Get some flow in there, clean that rock/sand, and do some serious water changes.

 

[stanlalee]

Live rock is live as long as it's kept wet (for anaerobic and aerobic filtering purposes). Might not be teething with microfauna but that's here nor there. That comes and goes based on food availability. No tank was more dead but running than mine. I had one fish, did no water changes just top off, had only one side lighted (halide ballast was out), added no livestock and only fed the one fish pellets l few times a week, didn't clean the glass. Tank went on like this for over 5 years until my wife said do something with it or take it down. Well 9 months later of water changes, detritus removal, fixing light, adding livestock, putting a skimmer back online, upgrading flow, feeding like a reef it's right back to having pods, worms, starfish, stuff I want and don't want.