When to expect life on live rock??

[slam308]

Sorry, I'm sure I'm getting impatient, but so far, three weeks after getting the LR, I've yet to see any pod, life, snail or critter. I've got tons of brown stuff, some hairy, some not, but no life form visible to the naked eye.
My nitrites are down to .5 after topping out at 20.
Am I missing something, or do I just need more time?
Is most of the LR "life" the type that you'll never see but it's in there anyway?

 

[reefbuzz]

Throw a wad of macroalgae in there and you'll seed the rockwork; get a handful of LS from another tank and mix it with your sand.

 

[dfs/la2]

Slam308,

Thank you for your post. It can be normal for Live Rock to take several months to reach its full growth potential. Many of the macroorganisms will not be visible on the surface of the rock until after full acclimation. The suggestions given by Reefbuzz are valid as well. However, if you are unsatisfied with your Live Rock, please contact us by PM, by phone at 1-800-334-3699, or by email at customerservice@drsfostersmith.com, and we will be happy to assist you.

Nate M.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[slam308]

Lol, I don't know if I'm dissatisfied. I don't know what to expect. Not sure if you can tell anything from the picture, but any info is appreciated.

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[aquaticvet1]

Hi Slam308,
Please do not ever feel bad about asking for a refund including the shipping cost. If any item does not meet your expectation then you are entitled to that. Please contact my staff at LiveAquaria.com for a full refund.
The rock should improve with some more time ( several more weeks ) but I still want you to have a refund as you did not receive what you thought you were going to.
I really appreciate you choosing us as your source and I promise that we will never let you down.

Race Foster LiveAquaria.com DrsFosterSmith.com

 

[slam308]

Whoa...I never asked for a refund, although I certainly appreciate your loyalty to your customers.
This is my first saltwater aquarium, so I simply have no idea what to expect in the cycling timeline. I've read, and been told, to wait a couple weeks and then I should expect to see some kind of life.
It's been three weeks since I got the LR, so I was hoping that wait time was over. Now, I am realizing that the waiting period probably starts after the LR is fully cured.
I will say that, considering I bought the "cured" Fiji premium LR, I can't imagine how long the uncured rock would take to get to this point. That patience I don't have.
So, in my original post I was just asking for information. Am I on the right track; is this what's expected; where in the process am I? Most important, when can we reasonable expect, with good management, to see some form of life?

Thanks for your time. I never expected to actually see one of the owners answer questions on this site! I've ordering from F&S for over 5 years, and we were just looking the other day for some big cushy dog beds for my other babies.
Thanks for any info you can provide in my newest endeavor,
Slam308
customer # C-1956033

 

[mfinn]

slam308
I think you may be expecting a little too much.
I have found in the past when I have bought live rock from places such as liveaquaria.com that you may get hitchhiker corals, but not all the time. You may get different macro algaes, but hopefully not too much as they can be a pain.
As you rock cycles, you will start to see pods, but mostly when the lights are out.
Most of the life you want in there, you will have to add yourself.
Once the nitrites are gone, I would start adding a few snails and hermits to help battle the cyno and other algaes that are part of the cycle of a new tank.

 

[slam308]

mfinn,
I hope I didn't come across wrong in this post. My last reply took a while to write and get my point across, so I'm hoping it "crossed in the mail".
I am not asking for anything except an informed opinion.
Dr Foster's offer of a full refund was a complete suprise. I don't feel it was warranted because there is probably nothing wrong with their product, it's simply my lack of knowledge that brought me to the original question of "when can I expect to see something "living" in the tank."
I asked on other forums about adding snails at this point and was advised to wait for three weeks after I hit the zero ammonia/nitrite point, and I guess I'll do that.
I welcome any informed input. I realize that my limited knowledge is probably the biggest hurdle I face.
Some posters say add snails now, some say to wait. I can only take what little knowledge I have and weigh that against the opinions I'm getting and hope to make the right choice.
The majority opinion seems to be that it's better to wait than to rush.
Again, I'm open to any guidance from those more experienced than me.
Slam

 

[mfinn]

No I didn't see or read anything into your question, other than asking a simple question.
Dr Foster's offer is about standard with them. They will bend over backwards to help you out.
It is my opinion that you should start adding a cleanup crew as soon as the nitrites are gone. Nitrites can be hard on inverts.
The sooner the better.

 

[dfs/la2]

slam308,

In our experience it is beneficial to add some cleaning inverts such as snails and crabs to your aquarium in order to speed up the development of the live rock. While this process does require time and patience, please contact us, per Race’s request so we may further assist you with this issue.

Sincerely,

Joyce F.

 

[slam308]

Yesterday, we did a 4 gal water change and put in two Astrea snails, two blue leg hermits and a sally lightfoot crab.
They've already made good headway on the brown fuzz and stuff covering the rock.
Now for the real smack in the head (to me), I was sitting watching the crabs do their work and all of a sudden, there's this tentacle thing coming out of a hole in the LR reaching up into another hole! So, it appears there IS life on my LR!
I'm guessing it's a peanut worm. It's a single brown and white tentacle that streched out about an inch into the other hole.
Also, for anyone else that might have been checking out this thread, I spoke to one of the supervisors at LA yesterday. They'd called Friday night and left me a msg. The people at F&S are great. I didn't feel right accepting a refund. They sent the rock I ordered, I just got impatient. But I did get to pick her brain for a while and it reassured me I'm on the right track.
Kudos to everyone at the company and thanks to Mfinn and Reefbuzz as well.

 

[slam308]

Figured I'd update things...
The Astrea snails turned out to be Turbos, the sally lightfoot died after 4 days.
However...last night I saw a REALLY tiny feather duster (I think) on the LR. I noticed a little red dot with "feathers" around it coming out of a small white "s" shaped tube on the LR!! I can't wait for my stepsons to come over tomorrow night so we can show them!
I've had all the lights on their regular cycle for two days now.
Moonlights-10pm-10am
Actinic-10 am-10 pm
Day lights-12 pm-8 pm
I guess I must be doing something right for this little guy to come out and try to grab a meal. Will he be okay with what's floating around, or should I try to add something for him? The hard part, he's probably no bigger than --> o <-- that.

 

[dfs/la2]

Slam308,

Thank you for your update. We are glad to hear your live rock is making good progress. A small amount of invertebrate food, such as phytoplankton, fed twice a week should be sufficient for the feather duster. For just one tiny feather duster, you would only need about one drop per feeding, but if you are feeding other invertebrates in your aquarium, the normal amount of food should be sufficient.

Nate M.
LiveAquaria
Drs. Foster & Smith

 

[slam308]

New Update...
Sat in front of the tank for two hours last night and saw two new peanut worms (I think). Came back up after the moonlights came on and saw another three new peanut worms!!
Lol, anything that looks like a tentacle and comes out of a hole and I call it a peanut worm. Oh well.
So now what kind of compensation can I get for the eyestrain I'm getting by staring at the tiny holes in my LR????

 

[Fermat]

Glad to hear your rock is coming along. MY LA select premium rock has been in my tank for 9 weeks now (after 3 weeks curing) and I also had no idea what to expect on how fast things progress.

I don't think I saw anything for 4 weeks, then spotted with a flashlight several (peanut?) worms. A week later I started seeing tube worms (I can now spot at least a dozen) and 1 feather-duster like worm (is in a crack in the rock rather than a tube, and has striped feathers). I've been feeding phyto a couple times a week. I have several kinds of corralline (red, light purple, darker purple), but have been a little dissapointed so far that it only covers 20-30% of the rock. I also have 2 patches of gold/brown colored sponge which I'm happy has survived.

I've had moss-like green algae cover much of the upper rocks, but I've heard it is just a stage and it already appears to be receeding as corralline algae slowly moves in. Also, I've touched the rock and sponges and other things in my tank with my bare hands and have gotten very small bristles stuck in my fingers, and I've been told that it is likely I have bristleworms (which is good).

Happy so far with my purchase. I haven't spotted any pods yet, but I keep looking! Nitrate is 7.5 and dropping (will probably drop faster once I move the sponge filter to QT later this week), and I've needed calcium supplements lately which might also be a good sign that things are progressing.

 

[slam308]

Fermat,
Our tanks must be pretty much on the same timeline. I got home last night and there were pods everywhere. I'd never seen them before. I must admit, I'm a little squeamish about sticking my hands in the tank now. They remind me too much of bugs.
Lol, that's a girl for ya.