Just received my LR and am soaking it...

[33w_fish_guy]

for my husband! He posts on here, but since he is at work, I got the joy of opening the rock box! It came later than we expected, and the box was warm to the touch, as were the rocks when I moved them from the shipping carton to the soak box. ( I don't know what you call the place you dip the rocks in!)

I don't know how long you are supposed to keep them in the soak box for, but all I have seen appear have been worms and little bugs. I did find a clam loose in the box, but it was D.O.A.

Do most LR have stars, crabs, mantis, and all that stuff? Do you think the only thing that survived were the bugs and worms? Should I have soaked the papery stuff in there, too?

Sorry for all the ????'s. You can see I'm no fish expert.
Moni

 

[33w_fish_guy]

I keep checking the rock, and it looks as though all the worms are even dead now!

This isn't looking to good, is it?

 

[lando]

Opening LR is like Christmas, huh? First off, who did you order it from? How long was it in transit? What did it smell like when you opened the box?

 

[33w_fish_guy]

My husband ordered it from marinedepotlive. When I opened the box, it stunk, and still stinks.

It left yesterday afternoon from the company, and it arrived this afternoon around 2pm. We live in AZ so the box and the rock was warm when it was delivered. I openend it right away, and the smell wasn't
"pleasant."

What should we do?

Moni

 

[mfuchs]

The curing process will take some time and it will stink big time. So I suggest that you place the container outside or in your garage. You seem to have started good so far.

Below is a curing method that I got from LiveAquaria.com:

"Method A: Curing process of live rock for the established display aquarium that already contains fish, corals, or any other marine animals.

Place the live rock in a new 30-gallon plastic garbage can. Consider adding bottom drains to the container to speed draining and water changes.


Completely cover the rock with freshly mixed saltwater, with a specific gravity of 1.021 - 1.025


Provide a heater and keep the water temperature near 80 degrees to speed die off.


Create constant water movement with a power head or air stone.


Keep the area dimly lit to prevent algae blooms.


Perform 100% water changes twice weekly.


Scrub the rock with a new nylon bristle brush or toothbrush between water changes to remove any white film or dead material.
Most rock will be fully cured in 1- 3 weeks, at which time it is safe to add to the display aquarium.

When the water conditions stabilize and ammonia and nitrite tests are zero, the rock is ready to be placed into the display aquarium."


During the curing process, most of the inverts that you find with it will die. The worms that you see are probably brisle worms and I have heard that you really don't want those anyhow. So the die off that you are seeing is normal.

 

[lando]

Does it stink like death or stink like the ocean? ther ewas probablly some die-off in transit. Leave it in the soaking tub with a heater, powerhead. test for amonia over the next couple of days. Once you are reading zero, put it in the main tank

 

[phases99]

Hmmm, I bought my Fiji from Marinedepotlive.com and it didn't stink when it arrived. How long was it in transit? Mine was wrapped in wet newspaper. It took a good 3 weeks to cure and was void of any visible life. You may want to scrub some of the obvious looking dead stuff off after a few days. Don't worry it will look great in a few months.