severum mama said:If the rock is cured, then there would be no die off, and no need to wait to begin stocking. Even with a bacterial additive, it's best to take it slow IMO.
I haven't accused you of anything, just pointing out that I am a skeptic when it comes to bacterial additives- I wouldn't have recommended the Bio Spira either. From what I've heard from a lot of folks, even Bio Spira can be pretty much hit or miss, whether that's due to general ineffectiveness, poor shipping practices, etc. If you follow the instructions and add a full bioload along with the product only to later discover it didn't work for you, then you have a real mess on your hands until the cycle finishes.
There's no question that the easiest thing for the OP to do is just to overdose the ammonia while he is out of town. The worst case scenario then is that he doses too much ammonia and stalls the cycle a bit.
technically cured live rock from a store is only partially cures.. you still have to let it set up and have the bacteria regrow to support your biolaod in the tank... now if yout getting it fron someones tank.. then thats fully cures and ready to rock if you setting up a tank thats identical to the originals rocks tank... otherwise you would have to let the bacteria come up to speed with the new bioload you putting on it