Ammoni in curing rock cooler at 0 - ready?

[BOSLawGuy]

So, my tank has:

7-8 lb LR that I purchased from LFS
1 Clownfish
1 BiColor Blenny
3 snails
3 crabs

I figured this was a good start as tank was cycled, and all levels were good.

I have a cooler that has been curing dry rock (approx 75-100lbs) for a few weeks, which Ammonia is now at 0.0ppm

Since adding the clownfish, blenny and snail/crab crew to my tank, Ammonia has risen from 0.0 to 0.25 (not there yet, but in-between 0.0 and 0.25). Note: It has been 48-60hrs.

Questions:
1. Is my DRock ready to be placed in the tank with the current LR so that it can start to seed/grow the good bacteria? Or should I test other levels (Nitrate,Nitrite, etc?)
2. Am I being over-cautious about the Ammonia levels in my tank?

[Hokies83]

Have to check Nitrites to.

[BOSLawGuy]

So once Ammonia & Nitrites @ 0, I can place the additional rock into my DT?

At that point, do I need to add anything to allow the bacteria from the current LR to spread?

[thegrun]

Yes, once ammonia and nitrites are at zero you can safely add it to your DT. You do not need to add anything else to the new rock, it will already have a bacteria population on it.

[Fizz71]

Yes, once ammonia and nitrites are at zero you can safely add it to your DT. You do not need to add anything else to the new rock, it will already have a bacteria population on it.

+1

Did you actually CYCLE your new LR or just let it sit in SW? IOW..Did you do anything to get bacteria growing in there? I'm thinking you did since you're saying ammonia is "now" 0...I'm assuming it was above 0 for a while?

The only reason I ask is because you need to get the ammonia out of your tank now before you lose the blenny and adding dry rock with no bacteria on it isn't going to help for a few months.