Liverock And Air Exposure?

[tonyh67]

Would there be less die off if when you got the rock in your home, you didn't expose it or leave it exposed to air? We see a lot of images of the rock out in the open in the living room.

Does that make a difference in what may survive? What is the maximium it should be exposed to air?

 

[hdtran]

We put our rocks on a tarp in the living room for about 20 minutes, so that any hitchhikers that we don't want (e.g. Mantis shrimps, red emeralds, hairy stone looking crabs, octopi) feel the lack of water, and hitchhike off of the rock with the dripping water.

You are absolutely right that if we just took the rocks from the filled shipping bag, and put in directly into the tank, there would be less die-off.

 

[Dexter1334]

I did the twenty minutes on the lids. Got one mantis and a few crabs off the rock. Most of them stayed in the nooks and crannies and had to be trapped. I believe some sponges are very sensitive to being exposed to the air, but other than that I didn't experience any die off.

PS: I had one rock in my first shipment that was slightly too big. I took it out and knocked off a corner (sandstone) with a hand sledge and a chisel. It took several pretty good whacks. It also knocked off four pistol shrimp, a clam, and about a dozen crabs. The mantis is still in there.