Will live rock seed dead rock in my tank?

[shadfish]

I'm setting up a 220g fish only this weekend to replace the 75g reef I had to tear down 7 months ago. Which of course means that once I get movement in my tank, I'll get the jonesing for a reef again and will likely go back to dumping my paycheck into LPS & SPS again... but I digress.

Anyway, I have about 250lb of dead/dry rock (which I prefer, I had a nasty bout with Aptasia last year) that I will be setting up with it.

My question... if I buy some healthy LR and put it in the mix, will it seed the dead rock bringing it to life again?

Sorry if this feels remedial... I've always dealt with LR so this is a first for me.

 

[ghbrewer]

Yes, it will work.

 

[crew]

I've read that you don't even need live rock. You can seed your tank from the shell of an invert from a healthy system. Sure, it will take longer, but it's the same eco system and you will be less likely to bring in anything nasty as a shell is more "transparent" than live rock.

 

[ghbrewer]

You can seed coralline with snails, but you won't get sponges, amphipods, copepods, worms, etc... Those items are beneficial as well. Tho, they can be purchased separately.

 

[crew]

That's a good point - thanks.

 

[bluespot]

Yep, like everyone said you will get all sorts of extra life when you add stuff. I haven't ever really worried too much about using some live rock as a seed versus just inverts. Especially if the seed rock doesn't have visible aptasia, bubble algae, etc. You will most likely get a pest of some sort eventually. Most frags come on a rock like plug and a lot of things you don't want may be hidden or not grown out and won't die off even when dipped. Long term, I don't know of any tank that is completely sterile of any unwanted life. I say If you want to go with a little live rock go for it. You won't hurt anything and it will seed the tank faster.