Should I get my LR before my lights or wait???

[Kayadad]

I just preordered an ati t5 fixture for my 40 breeder. I am pretty much all set with my tank, minus the light.

Should I get my live rock now or should I wait until my light comes in?

Does cured or uncured make a difference?

thanks

michael

[sir_dudeguy]

get your rock asap. It doesnt need light, but its required to get your tank going. It doesnt matter if you get cured or uncured. Uncured means uncycled, and cured means cycled....so if you get uncured it just takes longer really.

Normally cured rock has no spikes, and if it does they are minimal.

[Im14abeer]

Agree, you should go ahead and order the rock. What rock are you considering? I would recommend, if you're going to cycle the tank with the rock:

Setup the flow first, at least temporarily. And start the heater.

Get some eggcrate, and put it in the bottom of the tank.

Scrub off anything obviously dead with the black nylon bristle, wood handled "toothbrush" you bought at the hardware store when you got the eggcrate. ;) Swish in a separate bucket of saltwater.

Set the rock out loosely on the eggcrate. Best parts up.

Start testing Ammonia each day after 1 day, nitrite each day after the third day. Nitrate after the fifth day and after every water change.

Speaking of water changes, if the ammonia gets over 4 in the first few days change 15 gallons. And probably 10 more gallons the next day. With rock scrubs in between. (Just the dead stuff. Don't forget to swish.) Suck out any crud in the eggcrate while the rocks are out during the water change.

If the ammonia tops the chart, you probably need to scrub better. And change another 10 gallons.

You don't have to be religious about this, but I think if you keep the ammonia in check, more will survive on you rock. And we pay pretty dearly for lime rock, one of the most plentiful resources on this planet.

Put the lights on as soon as they come in.

After the ammonia and nitrite are gone, you can add the substrate if any and remove the eggcrate (if you wish). Then you get to aquascape. Now you can let the water "age" a bit.

The timeline depends on the quality of the rock as you receive it. Cured/Uncured is really a matter of degrees. Sorry for the long post to answer a question you didn't ask. You will however, probably pay more for your rock than any fish or coral.

[drummereef]

The rock doesn't need light so I'd say get the rock. If you can, get cured and avoid the stinky mess. There will be some die off, but no where near as bad as uncured.