How long can live rock be dry without dieoff?

[reefpimp#1]

I'm getting a shippment of live rock in tomorrow in the morning but the filter and sand wont arrive until afternoon. Can I safley wait till then to put in the live rock without dieoff or does it need to go in the tank asap? The rock is coming on a 3 hour ride so when I get it, it will already be about 4 hours out of water before I could it to the tank. But if I wait till afternoon it will be out of water for about7-8 hours.

 

[dig bmx]

Thats fine.
It will most likely come wrapped in wet newspapers or in moist bags so just leave it in there and it will be good.

 

[reefpimp#1]

So it should be alright for the 7-8 hours without die-off.

 

[dig bmx]

Well theres gonna be die off. More than if you put it in right away but it's not gonna be catastrophic. Honestly you have nothing to worry about at all.
I got a shipment of rock once that sat outside all night. I had no idea it was delivered. The next morning I found it and rushed to throw it in. There was still tons of life on it despite that. So I really don't think you have anything to worry about.

 

[boxfishpooalot]

pods will die in about half an hour of being totaly dry. But with small pockets of water in the holes I imagine about 2 hours for pods.

 

[stingers81]

my rock took 8 days in mail to get delivered
I think few extra hours for you will be fine

 

[RichConley]

If you're really worried, mix up a batch of water the night before, and put it and the rock in a rubbermaid container or something, or a rubbermaid brute trashbarrel.

 

[NexDog]

My rock was 24 hours in moist newspaper and die-off was considerable. Took 2 weeks to cure it.

 

[reefpimp#1]

Well thanks for all the tips, unfortunatly the rock was from a "new shipment" and therefor was not cured before being sent so I guess a few hours really aren't gonna matter. I actually finished setting up the tank and adding the rock earlier this evening. So I guess we get to see how bad its gonna be in a few days.