is one week for shipment of LR too long?

wow!!!
didn't mean to start this!!!
ok so i got the rock today.....i opened it...took a big sniff....and it actually didnt smell all that bad.....i would say equivalent to an old bag of potatoes....when i got back from school i didnt get on the message board and i just opened the rock..rinsed it a bit and put it in my tank!!!
Should i get it out and place it in a seperate container??? when i opened the box...all the rock was still wet...it had lots of little tiny worms on it...im guessing they are meggets....is it too late to get the rock out now??? its been in there for about 45 minutes...skimmer is going crazy....did i just crushed my tank??? geez i hope not!!!
 
Ok I hate to even try to be the voice of reason but here goes.

If you use the words mantra and fanatics as you are explaining how their advice isnt appropriate you have to expect a response. In this case you got that plus a moderator response.

Had you simply explained why not cooking the rock is more appropriate advice you would have been much better off.

Although throwing in a few comments about people's inability to comprehend English is fun, you can't honestly expect that not to be taken as a blanket personal attack.

Do not assume advice given as "cook your rock" is given by some dimwit fanatic because a thesis on the subject was not linked. Do not then deny all these things and say "What? I was so sweet about it and blah blah blah"

Surely you can see that there may be some profound deficiencies in your delivery methods and you may be lacking the ability to rationally analyze your own comments.

Rest assured when the Queen said you were a fanatic chanting a mantra and couldn't comprehend English that noone mistook that to mean she was being polite and constructive.
 
stingers81,
I would remove the rock and "cook" it.
That is what I would do.

In case you do not know the process here it is:


Originally posted by SeanT
The purpose of "cooking" your rocks is to have the bacteria consume all (or as much) organic material and PO4 stored on, and in, the rock as possible.

The first step to this is commitment.
You have to be willing to remove your rock from the tank.
It doesn't have to be all at once, but I feel if you are going to do this do it all. In stages if that is easier but make sure that all of it gets done.

The new environment you are creating for your rock is to take it from an algal driven to a bacterial driven system.
In order to do this, the rock needs to be in total darkness to retard and eventually kill the algae's on the rock and to give the bacteria time to do the job.

So basically you need tubs to hold the rock.

Equipment needed.
1. Dedication.
2. Tubs to cook rock in. And an equal amount of tubs to hold the rock during waterchanges.
3. A few powerheads.
4. Plenty of buckets.
5. A smug feeling of superiority that you are taking it to "the next level."
6. Saltwater, enough made up to follow the instructions below and to replenish your tank after removing rocks.
Here are the steps:

1. Get into your head and accept the fact you will be making lots of salt water if you aren't lucky enough to have access to filtered NSW.
2. Explain to significant other what is going on so they don't flip out. This process can take up to 2 months. Prepare them in advance so he/she can mark it on the calendar and that they won't nag about it until that date arrives.
3. Setup a tub(s) where the rock is to be cooked. Garages are great for this.
4. Make up enough water to fill tub(s) about halfway and around 5-7 buckets about 60% full.
5. Remove all the rock you want to cook at this stage. (The rock can be removed piece by piece until you are done.) I suggest shutting off the circulation beforehand to minimize dust storms.
6. Take the first piece of rock and dunk it, swish it, very, very well in the first bucket. Then do it again in the 2nd bucket, then the third.
7. Place rock in the tub.
8. Repeat steps 6 & 7 to every piece of rock you want to cook at this time. The reason I suggested 5-7 buckets of water will be evident quickly...as the water quickly turns brown.
9. Place powerhead(s) in the tub and plug in. Position at least one powerhead so that it agitates the surface of the water pretty well. This is to keep the water oxygenated. You can use an air pump for additional oxygenation if you wish. Only one powerhead per tub is needed. Remember the powerheads main responsibility is the oxygenation of the water.
10. Cover the tub. Remember, we want TOTAL darkness.
11. Empty out buckets, restart circulation on main tank.
12. Wait.
13. During the first couple of weeks it is recommended to do a swishing and dunking of the rocks twice a week.
What this entails is to make up enough water to fill up those buckets and the tub the rock is in.
First, lay out your empty tub(s) and fill buckets the same as before.
Then, uncover tub with the rock in it. Take a rock and swish it in the tub it's in to knock any easy to get off junk.
Then, swish it thru the 3 buckets again, and place in the empty tub..
Repeat for all your rocks.
Then empty the tub that all the rocks were cooking in, take it outside and rinse it out with a hose.
Place tub back where it was, fill with new saltwater, add rocks and powerheads, and cover.
Wait again until the next water change.
You will be utterly amazed at how much sand, silt, detritus is at the bottom of the tub and every bucket. It is amazing.
At times the stench was so strong I gagged.

How it works:

Some FAQ's.
When re-introducing the rock to my tank, a month or two from now, should I do that in parts to help minimize any cycling effect(s)...if there are any?
I never have. Really after a very short while, the ammonium cycle has been established. That's not what you're worry about though, it's the stored phosphates and that you have to wait it out.
When they are producing very little detritus - you'll know - then I would use them all at once.

Would running Carbon filtration and/or a PO4 reducing media help/hurry/hinder the process?
I wouldn't fool with it. You don't want the detritus to sit there long enough to rot, release water soluble P again. You want to take it out while it's still locked up in that bacterial detritus.

I would say that 85% of my exposed rock had Bryopsis (hair algae) covering it.
There isn't a single visible strand on any rocks my tank now.
Remember, the key is patience. Let this process run its course.

And a few last minute tidbits I remembered.
Your coralline will die back, recede etc.
My thoughts on this are GREAT!
Now my rock is more porous for additional pods, mysids, worms etc.
Coralline will grow back.
Throughout this process the sponges, and pods on my rock have not died off.
Every time I do a water change they are there and plentiful.
Click to expand...


Taken from the "How to go Barebottom thread."

But remember, you do not need to run a barebottom tank to benefit from rock "cooking".

hth,
Sean
 
Well, I would not think you have maggots on it but then again I don't know anything about where you got that rock.

If all you have in your tank is sand, water and that rock then you will be fine. Leave the lights off for the most part. The rock will start curing right in your tank and eventually it will "cycle".

There are ways to do things differently (like cooking) but I assure you many, many people have started just like you just did.

Now is the time to read, read and read some more. Learn how to test the water, etc. If at some point while cycling you feel for some reason that you want to do something different then do it.

Do not rush....take this time to learn and watch and you will do fine I'm sure.
 
I agree with mille, but if you wanted to get a jump start on your coralline, I wouldn't think it would be too much of an issue to have a small amount of actinic light going on all the while, would it?

I'm reading 'Ultimate Marine Aquariums' the woman from Garf.org, Sally Joe Headlee, starts all her 'bullet-proof' tanks out with low levels of actinic and no skimming for 6 months. (but she starts out with man-made agro-crete -- so no dies off)

Just goes to show everyone has a different plan for a different situation and patience. Depending on your patience level, I would go with a shorter 'cure' in the tank and do it barebottom with low light, lots of current(10x+), and a decent skimmer.

I had a very very old lighting system that came with the tank I took over. I didn't get the standard 'blooms' till I upgraded that lighting to 4-5 watts per gallon pc's. Bad choice to upgrade and not gradually increase the photo period from a short one, but everything turned out ok in the long run.

So I pose this question, why not a minimal amount of light in the tank? Or is the point to kill most, if not all, photosynthetic life from the rock? Not all photosynthetic life that enters our systems on LR is bad, right?

I could see cooking in the sense that you had a prior algae problem or perhaps to avert a potential problem but I just don't see the value of it as a random prophylactic measure. I personally would like to get some free livestock hitch-hiking on my LR.

I don't mean to plug a product, company or organization, but you meantioned seeding your tank. I'd get a pound or two of Garg grunge (garf.org) to seed your tank after you've cycled it. Leave the skimmer off for a while so you don't skim out all the good stuff (again, Sally Joe doesn't skim for 6 months after seeding with the stuff). After my grunge arrived, my diversity jumped a massive amount with pods and tiny brittle stars (and this after arriving while I was at work and left outside in the cold 50-60F).
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6476198#post6476198 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by zukihara
Lastly, if you look at my gallery then look at SeanT's gallery then you will know who to listen to.
Click to expand...
Excuse me...what exactly does that mean?
I am unsure how to take it.
 
Sean, chill man, look at his gallery, there is nothing in it, as opposed to what is in yours, I think he meant to listen to you, not him.....

Brianna:rollface:
 
hey guys
i took some pictures of the rock
let me know what you think
rock008.jpg

rock005.jpg

rock007.jpg

rock003.jpg

rock002.jpg
 
Stingers81, at this point you still have several options, though personally, if the smell of the rock didn't make you gag, or hurl, then it's probably not that bad, and I would just leave it in the tank, no lights, heavy skimming.

OR, you could remove the rock to tubs and do the cooking thing OR, you could remove as much as the sand as possible and let it do its thing, then add the sand back later.

It really is - in the end - up to YOU, and what YOU are willing to do! ...... Though if it were me, I would at least contact the vendor, let them know what happened with the shipment, and ask them if MAYBE there's a way of at least getting a percentage of your money back, since it is not now what you ORIGINALLY ordered.
Just My OPINION, though.

Good Luck,
Brianna:rollface:
 
That rock looks just fine and if, as you say there was no really foul smell then you just "dodged the bullet". Keep the circulation going well and it will cycle. You might want to keep sniffing the tank over the next few days in case there is a bivalve in there that expires. You won't be able to tell if this occurs by the Ammonia test alone because you will expect to see a rise in it anyway. It'll cycle nicely with some TLC.
 
To all that convinced this poor new guy to keep his rock without asking for a refund, bear in mind that your great advice resulted in him keeping this rock which was sitting in a fedex bin for 5 days. Great job on advice fellas. You did real well here. Mantra indeed.

Cooking is great, but if there is a problem with shipping, that needs to be dealt with.

FYI Stinger, for future reference, I'd ask for a full refund if my rock shipment is even a single day late. We pay these people for quick shipment - if they don't get it to us in the time allotted, the shipper needs to rememdy the situation fully. Take it from a guy who has had this happen at least 3 different times with 2 shippers (DHL and fedex).

I ordered a small box of premium fiji from drfosters and it had hundreds of flies in it. They refunded the whole order via a credit.
 
trippy...do i ask for a refund from the shipping company....it was thrrough usps....or the guy that sent it to me??? i dont want to ask the guy that sent it to me cause hes really nice and was very helpful and didnt do anything wrong....he also gave me a really good deal on the rock (free shipping)
 
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