live rock question

[standup]

hey all, i have a question regarding live rock orders from websites.. seeing as they offer the live rock for like $3/lb as opposed to 6-7 at the LFS
i have a tank with nothing but live rock in it... the oldest pieces have been sitting there for a few weeks now, and i just put in 2 new additions yesterday, now my question is this:
the extensive and seemingly over-the-top acclimation guides for precured live rock- are they absolutely necessary? because at another site they recommend u basically get the live rock its own tank, scrub it, and do 100% water changes every week... which sounds rediculous to me, i don't feel like having a seperate tank set up purely for the thought of curing pre cured live rock... i just wanna put the stuff in my display tank and get it over with!!
on the other hand, i do not want to stick live rock in there right away and find out that i have nuisances in the tank that i definately do not want- i.e. bristle worms or mantis shrimp (the dreaded mantis lol)
so please help me with anything that you might have advice wise, i'd greatly appreciate it, thanks!

 

[nacl-man]

Adding more rock to a display tank is always dangerous. Those acclimation procedures are over the top for a reason. If you are adding rock to your display and you are concerned about problem hitch-hikers I don't think there is really no other way to do it.
Get yourself a big rubbermaid trash can or storage bin, a powerhead and a heater. Takes up a lot of space but if you find yourself a mantis it'll be worth the hassle IMO.
If there isn't anything in the tank you can always do a salinity dip to get rid of any unwanted hitchhikers then just dump the rock in there. You will go through another cycle though, chances are things that are living on the rocks now in the tank may die off.
That prob didn't help.

 

[dreeves]

Curing the rock is the simple process of allowing the natural die off which will occur to happen outside your tank or in a tank where it will not do any harm (uncycled tank)
The die off is organisms which will decay, turn into a nasty case of amonia, etc.
As far as unwanted catch a rides...put the rock in a salt mix of 1.035-1.040 for a few minutes...they should evacuate the rock into the container...then you can pick through what you want and dont want...have a pair of needle nose pliars handy as some of the critters will try to exit the rock but cant...yank em out...
Hope this helps ya!

 

[standup]

how about pre cured rock from the sight? on top of the acclimation thing, its cheap as hell... but does anyone know if the size of the rock remains consistant? or am i going to get a 20lb piece of rock thats a big boulder and can't do anything with, and then some small pieces that i still can't do anything with, i dunno wut to do.... seems that i'm tired of paying $6 /lb at the LFS.. and that's at a discount!!
is precured the same type of thing that u get at a lfs? cuz where i get it it's ready to throw right in the tank, no problem... is that precured? or is that cured? plz help!!!

 

[jerseysaltwater]

i bought cured live rock from another website - i was able to specify piece size - i asked for all 6~8" pieces, and all were that size but one very nice display/centerpiece which is about 10". since it was in transit a few days just wrapped in moist newspaper inside a sealed plastic bag, i made a bucket of saltwater and vigorously dunked each piece in and out of the bucket to shed the loose stuff, then using a toothbrush, scrubbed any spots that looked black / dead. my tank had no livestock, so i just placed them in the display tank. HTH - eddie

 

[standup]

and everything worked out okay? that's great to hear- i don't want to have to go thru the painful process of REcuring live rock for like 3 weeks... i just want to use a salinity dip and scrub the ---- out of it- i'm glad to hear that this worked out for you!! i'm really excited that everythings going to be okay now liek you- i don't have any live things in my tank other than the rock!!
thanks a lot! this helped me out tons!

 

[the josey wales]

I bought LR from this site 2 months ago.. most of the peices were 5 to 7 in. with 2 @ 10 to 12 in.
They have a lot of coriline and look great! I'm very satisfied.
My tank had yet to cycle, so I kinda wanted "dead stuff" in my tank. I also find the idea of trapping a mantis kind of challenging, so I wasn't too concerned about that....
I went from box to tank and got lucky, but I think if I did it again, I would use the "salty water dip" method.