Live Rock after crash - dead or alive ?

[mling]

On Wednesday, a faulty heater crashed my 16G.  The temp was 97 when I got home, all BTAs and lobster dead, 2 clowns lying on their sides.  Luckily both clowns survived when I transferred them to another tank.  Yesterday, I cleaned out the entire tank, emptied entire sand bed and removed and rinsed the all the Live Rock.  The before and after pics kind of gives you the idea of how much died.

 

Before

 

 

After ( now )

 

Now I am wondering if my live rock is alive or dead.  If it got “killed” by the 97 degrees temp, will this tank now go through a cycle like t new tank ?

Nitrates tested a 0 after 24 hours.  But since it has been years since I started a new tank, I don’t even have and ammonia or nitrite test kit.

Is this new set up ready for new life ?

[YHSublime]

I'd venture to say not yet. Especially if all those nems died in there. I would do 100% new water, and at least rinse your rock off in RO/DI, personally I would be prepared for another cycle. My 2 cents.

[wildcrazyjoker81]

Agree with Isaac. Your more than likely oing to get another cycle of some sort with everything that died.

[mr.x-ray]

+1 Empty the tank and rinse all the dead you can off with RO, then start over. Sorry about the crash. Sux.

[mling]

I did empty and clean the entire tank yesterday till it was bone dry. Brushed off all dead tissue of BTA from the LR. It now has 100% new RODI water.

[zygote2k]

Can I ask why you're even running a heater on a 16g tank? Usually lights, pump, powerhead are enough to keep a small volume of water warm enough.

[mling]

Can I ask why you're even running a heater on a 16g tank? Usually lights, pump, powerhead are enough to keep a small volume of water warm enough.

 

My tanks are in the basement which is pretty cool. The heater light comes on during winter so I guess it is needed.

[davelin315]

I would say the rock is likely fine.  Don't forget, most bacteria thrive in warmer water.  Although 97 degrees is probably about 10 degrees warmer than what they really want, as long as it wasn't completely oxygen deprived you should have plenty left.  I doubt it is all dead, although you could have lost some.  I would say that bacteria is far more adaptable than a clownfish - if they survived, the bacteria certainly did.

[treesprite]

When considering the likelihood that the rock would cause a big cycle or minimal to no cycle, you need to consider whether or not there were things besides just bacteria living in and on the rocks. Most liverock in an established tank has things living in and on it, for example micro serpent stars, asterinia stars, feather dusters, sponges, bristle and other types of worms, maybe aptasias, mojanos, hydroids, barnacles, or other things.

[sen5241b]

what kind of heater was it?

[mling]

It has been 12 days since I clean out this tank so here's an updated pic taken today.

 

Looks like the Rock did not "die".  I was caught up in IncCoral's sale and bought a sponge crab just to discover what a pest it is so I put it in the tank.  It's still very much alive.  I am kind of surprised by the amount of cyno I now get since the bio load is so low.  I only put a few pellets to feed that crab every 3 or 4 days. Oh, anyone with a FOWLR that wants a free crab ?

 

As for the brand of the heater, it was a titianum one, don't remember the brand since I tossed it without checking.