Is my liverock still alive?

[myerst2]

I bought a used tank which had liverock included. I packed it as would a distributor would send rock. Unfortunately I had problems with setting the tank back up so the rock sat on boxes for a day and half damp in newspapers at room temperatures. Continued problems with the setup forced me to put the rock into heated garbage pales with water circulation for 5 days. The tank is now setup, but I am unsure if I lost all the beneficial bacteria and organisms in the rock. So what do you think I should do? Thanks Tim

[bmwaaron]

Well if you are going to cycle it I belive it would be ok.. I think you would be surprised how long bacteria and other organisms could live out of water.

[scarter]

its fine

[scrmbld33]

you should be fine, though adding a peice of rock from a lfs would hurt if your worried about the bacteria, my friends rock got delievered a day early and had frost on the rocks from being outside till he got home from work, long story short his was fine

[myerst2]

Thanks for all the responses. I think I will get a piece from an lfs to play iy safe. How long does a tank generally take to cycle? Thanks Tim

[chrisqueenz]

Yea, you should be ok.. Make sure to test the water parameters a while after adding the rock..