Hi jakkalofv. My rock was absolutely NOT smelly at all. Many live rock vendors, I hear, ship their rock under wet newspaper and the like in order to keep the rock damp. This causes a lot of die off that results in smelly rock (especially sponges which can't tolerate even brief exposure to air and smell really bad when they start to die). In those situations, you need to clean and rinse the rock well to get the dead tissue off before putting it in to cycle. Otherwise, the cycle will be pretty intense.
Richard (at TBS), on the other hand, ships his rock UNDER WATER and counter-to-counter to your airport. This makes a remarkable difference in staving off the die off which these other shipping methods result in. The downside of this approach is, of course, the increased weight and shipping cost. But, given the objective and the investment you're making, it's certainly worth it in my opinion. Because the rock stays saturated with water, sponges and other life that does not do well when in contact with air, generally does alright.
Your LFS probably has live rock in a tank that they're selling that's been cycled. Of course, they got it someplace, didn't they? The rock probably sells for $6 or more per pound and if you got it, you could bring it home under water and drop it right into your tank with some decent results BUT I'll guarantee you: While it might be good rock, you're unlikely to see the same variety of life on it that you'll find on TBS's aquacultured Gulf rock. Plus, when you consider all of the elements of Richard's "Package," it really is a great deal (and that's not even including the little "extras" that he throws into the mix).
Finally, aquacultured Gulf rock has a different character than, say, Tonga or Fiji rock - it's a little more solid, or less delicate, in appearance. But, as you see above, it works great.
I really hope this helps you make your decision. I started looking into getting into this hobby about 6 years ago but put it off until just recently. On and off, I've tried to research a lot of topics (building a tank, building a sump, building a skimmer, making fish food, etc.) to give myself some peace of mind that I wasn't going to totally bomb on my first try. To this end, Richard gives you some really good instructions on how to prepare for and to monitor the tank cycling. Some of the best advice is to have a new test kit handy and to have a lot of salt water ready to make water changes. I probably went through 60 or 70 gallons of water replacement in the first week for a 90 gallon tank. I'm only a few days into the second delivery but the cycle is far less intense (I've not gotten above 0.5 ppm so I think the first cycle did a good job of establishing a functioning biological filter).
Also, as a side note, you'll find when you add your first batch of rock, you're skimmer will go nuts, producing lots of skimmate, for a day or so; this is perfectly normal (though it had me, a newb like you, calling the skimmer manufacturer for advice on how to collect all the foam which was coming off faster than it would break down into the collection cup!).
I think I've given more than just a simple answer to your question, but I hope it helps! Good luck!
