LR Question

[tucker2]

My First Post!!
About 4 months ago my tank developed a leak forcing me to break down the setup. The LR I had in the tank has dried out killing everything on it. About a week ago I set the tank back up with the same rock while adding 2 new pieces of LR that I just purchased. My question is...will the LR that I let dry out ever regain its old form or has the damage been done? I purchased the 2 new pieces of LR hoping that it would help colonize the rest of the rock.
Thanks!!

 

[scsinet]

Live rock that has died becomes "base rock." Be careful. All the animal matter that dried up on the rock may rot off when it is submerged again, so you could get a big ammonia spike. That's not necessarily a bad thing if you're cycling again though. You didn't mention how much old rock you have, but if you add maybe 1lb of new LR for every 2lbs of "base rock," then you should have no problem. Bacteria and critters will eventually colonize your old rock and coraline algae will encrust it over again. It will take some time though and things will look a bit strange until then. The more LR you add, the faster this will go.

 

[tucker2]

I have about 40 lbs of the old, dried up rock. I added about 10 lbs of new LR. I really didn't want to add anymore rock, but will try to squeeze in another 10 lbs, or so.
Thanks for the info.