175g Saltwater predator tank - Update:Aug 10th/10- FISH ADDED

[Greenmaster]

Originally Posted by scherzo

...Once again, you can't tell if the LR is actually live.

What usually happens is they harvest the rock from the ocean. It sits on the beach, sometimes in the sun. As soon as it does that some things start to die on it. In fact, as soon as sponges hit air they pretty much die immediately. This starts the process of dying rock.

They don't really ship rock in containers of water. This would be far too expensive so they usually wrap it in wet paper while flying it out. This also continues the "dying" process. The rock will sit in containers and in airports for up to 2 weeks! THEN it finally gets to your store.

The only way it starts to become live again is if it sits in water for a few weeks and it will come back. You then purchase it and bring it home. It dies a little and you may (depending on your setup) have a little die off and may detect some ammonia or nitrates as the rock becomes fully live again.

phew!

Many retailers are quite honest and will tell you that their rock is OK if it has been curing in their store for quite some time. They know how long it has been sitting for. If they tell you that it just came in and it is live, I would be a little skeptical.

It is exciting starting a new talk! It looks like you're off to a great start and reading forums and learning from others! Enjoy the journey.

A good sign that rock is "live" is coralline algae as the algae takes a while to grow and if it is alive and well then the bacteria should be as well. "Live Rock" generally means that it has bacteria on it.
The rock when it arrives at your LFS it is "Live" it's just not "cured" (most of the time... some times it has gotten too dry/warm/cold that it is no longer live but that is rare). There has been lots of die off and that is what "curing" is for. Some LFS will sell you un-cured rock for cheaper because they don't have to keep it in there system while all the stuff that died on route finishes decomposing. Never add un-cured Live rock to a system with fish in it.