Need Live Rock Advice Please!

[johnd4g]

About 4 weeks ago I was ready to order my first Live Rock for my 46 gallon tank, but instead of placing my 70 pound Keys rock order thru LR.com I took the advice of my LFS owner and bought 12 pounds from him. He convinced me that adding 10 to 15 pounds of live rock every month to my established FO tank would be better than adding 70 pounds at once. "Safer for the inhabitants" he said.

Well, a month has passed. All inhabitants except for a dragon goby are still with me. Other than a small (half dollar sized) area of what looks like coraline growth (purpleish area) on one rock, the rest of my live rock looks as dead as the surface of the moon.

I'm disapointed with this LFS rock and ready to order from LR.com as I should have done to begin with. But, I'm still unsure about adding all the rock at once. Should I add it incrementally (10 to 15 pounds a month) as my LFS recommended or get it all at one time?

[EBR]

I had a similar experience from my LFS (whom I no longer use, except for food). When I first started my tank, I got 10# from him "to start with". He too, convinced me that I should get fully cured (aka, "Dead looking") rock, and that the fresh rock was too much of a bother with the curing and smell ("you'll be sorry" he told me, the schmuck). Luckily, through the good advice of this forum, my next move was to order 120# from LR.com, and I couldn't have been happier. It came in fresh, with very little die off and smell. And I'd do it all over again -- just be sure to keep up with the daily water changes and dusting (with a turkey baster) for about a week.

You will NOT be sorry. Oh, and if you DO use LR.com, seriously consider a lighting upgrade. I had the 50/50 flourscents too, but with I had upgraded to the PC sooner. There was quite a bit of the good corraline algea that simply faded away over 6-7 months. The better lighting will help sustain it (a lot of mine has come back since the upgrade, however).

HTH, and good luck.
Matt

[IfoundNemo]

Do BR/LR combinations. BR is atleast $4/# cheaper than LR. The BR will eventually turns into LR as well.

[quarryshark]

Should I add it incrementally (10 to 15 pounds a month) as my LFS recommended or get it all at one time?

I would get it all at one time. To be on the safe side, you can place it in a tupperware tub with a PH and a thermometer to monitor the ammonia for a few days before adding it.
There should not be much die off due to their fast shipping and you should be able to add it to your system in short order.

[lando]

I also say add it all at once. liverocks.com LR comes packed very well and is ussually in transit less then 18hrs. there will be little to no die off. As Qshark mentioed, if you are worried about a small ammonia spike, put it in a tub of aged SW with a heater and PH to make sure all is well. If, after a few days, you have not noticed an ammonia spike dump it in the main.

[Brad]

you can place it in a tupperware tub with a PH and a thermometer to monitor the ammonia for a few days before adding it.

Since the tupperware tub has no existing biological filtration, you could put anything in there and you would begin to see ammonia. So if you put the rock there, only do so very temporarily. Any more time would start to become detrimental to the rock.

[JamesR]

i agree, get all the rock at once from lr.com and with your existing filtration, you should be able to put it in your display right away. you can always do a water change a day or two after. JMO.

Jim