well i went to the LFS and picked up 3 whopping pounds of LR
i asked a few questions about it . they had it sitting in black tubs . I asked if they feed it . I was told no . die off from new rock into that holding tank kept the rock going .
there was one pump in the tub which seemed to provide some circulation.
we choose a few small peices that looked brown , had some coraline on them and didnt smell
placed them in my tank

.
kept the shrimp in there as well .
The shrimp still looks eatable lol no signs of decay thus far .
I had to add about 1.5 gallons of top off water yesterday , and again today .
I will see how that trend continues , as i dont even have the lights on yet.
I am quickly see what all the hype is about in regards to ATO units .
I am not in a rush to start this cycle . would be nice to have some CUC in there in say 3 weeks , but will see