It wasnt that I tool offense, it just ****ed me off. Read in the original followup to your advice :
PLEASE NOTE!!! I am not doubting your expertise, just wanting to know why I would need to give a long soak in SW to something that I thought would be neutral to begin with.
I put that in for the express purpose of averting the possibility of daring to question anyones expertise.... I am not in fishguys head, so I dont know if he read that, if he ignored that, or if his response about ignoring it at my own peril was tongue in cheek, but I bristled at it. No big deal, its past.
I realize my status in the hobby is rookie at best, & I VERY much appreciate the goldmine of info that fellow hobbyists can supply me with. I just wanted to know specifically what the reason to the rhyme was, so I could know why I was doing it. I think that in itself shows likely more good sense than just doing it "because XXXXX said".
More than the advice of a vet, I appreciate Fishguy apologizing for coming across as brash. I too will apologize for not letting it pass.
But enough of this teenage drama crap!!! Pretty soon I will be wearing a skirt & baking cookies, lets talk man talk! Rocks, & salt & fish!
As far as what I am going to do with the rock, well that depends. I am not sure yet. Keep in mind, the only thing in my tank right now is a rag, some bags of fiji pink, & about $600 of light equipment & bulbs. As it stands, I will get the big box and :
1) set the rock up to see what I can make out of it
2) determine how much more rock I am going to need
3) in the process determine how filthy the rock really is... It seems I read that RR cleans it, but I guess I will judge that myself. If it is really funky, I will clean soak it.
4) Even if the rock appears to be clean, I will likely drop it in some FW with a PH to see how much dirt will come off of it, & I will go from there.
I would likely take more proactive precautions if I had a tank up & running. But I dont. Assuming the stars align, & I get my RO/DI today (I have been waiting on it for a couple weeks now), I would still have to :
plumb the ro/di thru the kitchen & to my fishroom
paint the back of my tank
plumb the bulkheads (which have been drilled now THANKS WAYNE!!!)
Pick up my sumptank from JoMars, measure it out & buy the cut glass for it
paint the stand & canopy
wire the lights
and most imprtantly reinforce the floor
All of the above is of course done when I am not repainting every room in the house 16 different colors, to please my wife & kids, &/or at work.
So in short, I have time to let the rock set in water, & I likely will, just for peace of mind.
I need a beer.