just a couple of questions

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I'm in Burnaby but from what I've heard, AI does cure its LR. Smell it. If it smells like the ocean (assuming you know what the ocean smells like living in Edmonton) then it's most likely cured. If it stinks then there is still some die-off. If it's covered with life, like feather dusters, that's great because it'll add to your tank's bio-diversity. Also, it could have any sort of hitchhiker on it, from hermits, crabs, brittle stars, stomatella & other snails, to polyps & corals & macroalgaes & sponges. The more stuff that stays alive on it, the better, usually. If you're real lucky, there'll be pods & live mysis running around in the rock as well. The purple stuff is most likely coraline algae (another positive). Keep it in a lit tank, test your water parameters & watch all the life come crawling out of the LR. If it is still curing, water changes & some removal of dying organisms will be required on your part using a scrubber pad &/or tool like screwdriver. Many times, sponges don't make the transition to capitivity & those that are dead/dying will be black & smelly. If its necessary to cure a bare bottom tank is best so you can see anything that's died & fallen off so you can siphon it out (as Beverly in another post mentioned).

When we first set up our SW tanks, my wife and I used to spend hours just looking for new things to pop out & make us go "oooooh, aaaaah"

Enjoy your tank & keep asking questions. Also you can search past posts & replies for many of the answers. Remember that this addiction is best when some patience is applied since rushing often leads to bad things happening. Don't go too fast or add too many things at once, at least until your tank is several months old & more stabilized.

Anthony