Quick (Dumb?) Questions

[as40]

Hey all! For all the reading and research I've done I should be okay, but I'm still not entirely sure on a few points regarding LR. I don't know if these are kind of dumb questions, but here it goes.

I'm getting all my live rock either tomorrow or the next day (by mail). I figured I wanted to go ahead and get it all at once, cycle it through once, rather than a piece here and there and have to keep going through the cycle again and again. Want to make sure I'm okay on a couple of points before the rock goes into the tank.

1. Ideal temp. range between 78-80, right? Is this stuff really sensitive to a couple of degrees off one way or another?

2. No light while it's "curing", and cycling, right? Or, if not, how much light should I give it per day? And how much once it's cycled/cured?

3. I don't have any fish or anything in the tank right now. Don't plan on getting any until way after the tank has stablized and the cycling is complete. So, in theory, there isn't much in there to feed the LR, except all the die-off that will happen when I first get it/place it in the tank. And for all the little hitch-hikers and crabs and such that will come along with the rock, there won't be much in there. What, if anything, should I feed them/the LR? Is it necessary to feed anything while it's curing/cycling?

I just want to double check and make sure I have all my bases covered before everything gets here, would hate to have everything die on me. Thanks in advance everyone! :D

[plantman1028]

I think the most important thing when curing lr is skimming.If you have a good protein skimmer it will go along way to help establish and keep a healthy aquarium.You will get some die-off in shipping,what i do is give it a light scrub to get any excess dead material off then arrange the rock.If the tank is cycled you should cure it in a trash can or rubbermaid tub.as far as hitchhikers,if you place the rock in sw with a grav of1.030 for 30 seconds a lot of the crabs and whatnot will leave the rock,then you can pick the good critters from the bad.Hope this helps in your rock project.oh, i just put the light on for about 6 hours when curing.

[Cearbhaill]

I think a lot of this depends on the condition of the rock that you get.

The temperature is fine.

Light- I was told 5 hours per day. If you need a bit of algae to feed an anticipated future occupant, maybe longer. I know I left mine on much longer purely by virtue of staring at it so much.
So for lighting I would say "it depends". (I am noticing that this is the single most often used phrase in reefkeeping- it depends. Makes me cringe to say it but clichés are clichés for a reason- they're right.)

As far as what to feed the live rock- it depends :D :D :D :D :D (I crack me up!) on what is growing on the rock. If a large number of sponges, corals, crabs, snails, brittle stars, etc. survived the shipping (and I have all of these and more) then yes- I am feeding them.

That's a whole nother education!

[as40]

Thanks for the advice/info. That answers some of my questions. I'm getting anxious now that I found out it is definately arriving today. I can't wait to place it all in the tank and see what happens! I guess as for the feeding I will have to do some more learning and hopefully find out something quick.