Live rock

[jasimek]

How long does it take for live rock to show signs of life? It's been a week since it was added and i haven't seen anything yet? I'm concerned it may be dead. LFS put it in styrofoam with newspaper and very little water on the bottom. There was no newspaper covering the rocks and it as not submerged in water. It was out of their tank and into mine in about 45 minutes.

[seapug]

"Live" refers more to the bacteria and microfauna it contains, much of which is too small to see with the naked eye. 45 minutes of exposure to air shouldn't be a huge problem as long as it remained damp. Now is a good time to run some tests for Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate.

[NyteGTI]

How long does it take for live rock to show signs of life? It's been a week since it was added and i haven't seen anything yet? I'm concerned it may be dead. LFS put it in styrofoam with newspaper and very little water on the bottom. There was no newspaper covering the rocks and it as not submerged in water. It was out of their tank and into mine in about 45 minutes.

Mine soaks theirs newspaper in tank water and then puts it in styrofoam which works just fine. like seapug said, no big deal on 45 mins & go ahead & get to testing for the basics.

[xCry0x]

What kind of life were you expecting to see? It can take a while for things to become noticeable.

[Bredfan]

After about 2 months, I started seeing some life in my rocks. I saw a tiny worm, what I think are some tiny copepods and amphipods, and as of two nights ago (4 months-ish) something that seems to be burrowing into a rock - I can't see it, but I can see stuff coming out of a tiny hole in the rock like something is inside digging and pushing out the waste. Then of course there are all kinds of algae that'll likely be on most rocks in some quantity...

[Ron Reefman]

You're going to hear this one over and over as you continue on in this hobby..."Nothing good in an aquarium happens quickly." Live rock is really about bacteria and it's there already, trust me. The other 'stuff' that may or may not be on or in your rock can takes weeks or months to become visible. You might try looking in the tank at night with a flashlight. Many of the critters that live in rocks are night owls. If your rock isn't purple with coraline algae, don't expect too much. If it is, you could be in for more than you bargined for. Sometimes unwanted stuff comes along on LR that you don't want, like aiptasia, mantis shrimp, majano anemones...
In the end, it's all a fun ride and a great learning experience.