Is it ok to ..

[slammy16]

I purchased my LR the same time i bought my tank and sand etc..
Is it ok to not really clean off the LR before putting it in the tank? It had been in the store for a while, I cant be positive on how long all of it had but pretty sure that it was for a decent ammount of time.
I just started putting stuff together and put all the LR in and didnt bother to clean it off ... it has some dead things on it i just kinda thought it added character to it.

 

[lefty]

You're on the right track. Not cleaning the LR before putting it into your tank will help the cycle along.
-lefty

 

[slammy16]

kewl...
I had read somewhere on these boards to scrub and clean your LR and i kept thinking man... i didnt do any of that and its been in my tank now for almost a week. I do have a couple featherdusters that i guess hitched a ride they seem to be doing ok, I also put in 1 shrimp to get everything moving along. Someone had told me that it was optional scince i started everything all at once.
1 week in, and still cant wait to put something living in there... I dont know if i can make it another week or 2,3,4,......ughhh

 

[lefty]

It's better to scrub the rock if it's going into an already established tank. You would also want to cure it in a separate container so it wouldn't throw your tank into another cycle. But since your tank has just been set up, not scrubbing it was the way to go. It still wouldn't have hurt either way, but I still believe what you did was the best decision for your tank.
Your feather dusters might not survive the cycle. It's a possibility though, and I hope for your sake they do. They're pretty neat.
-lefty