A ? that has puzzled me many times

[tigerlover]

I've been in this hobby about 3 1/2 yrs. I've set up and ran 3 tanks about 5 different times(1-55, 2-30, 2-10) and each time a question has haunted and puzzled me. The first time in a 55 I used live sand and one peice of live rock, the second(10) I used the sand from that tank and some base rock, the third(30) I used sand from the 55 and base and live rock, now I'm setting the 30 back up with the 10 for a refugium(we moved and it came down), and I'm using sand that has been "dead" about 8 months, some rocks that have been dead for the same amount of time(For those of you who replied to my earlier post on lr, I forgot about these rocks, or I just didn't want to add them cuz' they were covered in fw algae from being outside, but I cleaned them), and for the first time, good quality live rock that I have ordered. Now in these new ones of course I expect all of the normal growth because of the rock I have ordered, but here's something, if I didn't add anything live, just base rock and sand, how is it that people seem to think that if I put a cocktail shrimp in and wait long enough, by some miraculous abberation of nature the tank will become "live", coralline, little critters in the sand bed, ect., HOW THE HECK IS THAT POSSIBLE???!!! :notsure:

 

[thegrog]

If by base rock you mean your old LR that is "dead", you will get new LR from them. Bacteria are tough little critters and can survive through most anything. Chances are your old LR still has a few of them hanging around dormant (unless you have bleached them with chlorine) and will spring back to life with water and food.
However, if you are starting with pure base rock (never been live) and plain sand, chances are you will not get a miracle and will just end up with a rotting peice of shrimp in your tank. You need to seed it with something. A handful of live sand will be all you need.

 

[tigerlover]

It is my old lr, but I've soaked it in vinegar and scrubbed it with a toothbrush, plus its been in a bucket of fw for 8 months.
But my point is that you can't just stick some play sand and some river rocks and get a sw tank, right?

:happyfish :yes: :thinking: :yes: :yes: :yes:

 

[wax32]

Right