How long can Live Rock be out of water?

[hatzo1]

So I found some rock at a price I liked and purchased it. So the Shipper F'd up and dropped package off at a wrong counter (Express v/s Ground) which now delayed the package. Making it go from 2 days total to 5 days almost 6 before I can get it in the tank . Just wondering how concerned I should be with the amount of die off and whether it will be usable for cycling an new tank still.

 

[lmm1967]

It's going in a new tank with no livestock - right?

Unless rock is shipped underwater and put in a tank within 24 hours there is going to be significant die off. In your case, there will probably be more die off than if you had received it in 2 days. But, and this is just my opinion, I don't see it as all that bad in reality. As long as there is nothing live in the tank you are putting this in.

Look at it this way - anything that does survive is going to be the toughest of the tough. Your die-off is going to have already happened and you are going to get a really quick spike in ammonia and a real boost to your cycle. Once your tank is able to process all that die off I think you'll be in pretty good shape.

All that said - I would agree that you are owed some sort of compensation due to the mess up. If this is from a business that offers clean up crew I would ask them if they would be willing to send you some cleanup crew after your ammonia drops off. They are going to have plenty to munch on.

 

[hatzo1]

Imm1967 thanks for the input that does make since to me also .
Yea there is no livestock in the tank , its has been filled and running for 2 weeks waiting on the rock .
I will seek some compensation, though ordering again from this vendor probably wont happen.
Imagine if it was livestock I had ordered.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[Adam]

At 5+ days I would refuse the shipment. If it's dropped off at your door with no signature required I'd just toss the box.
Have the shipper resend the order.

If you open that box it's going to stink pretty damn bad, think gag a maggot bad.
Dry rock would be no big deal, but wet live. Bile just backed up in my throat... lol

 

[lmm1967]

At 5+ days I would refuse the shipment. If it's dropped off at your door with no signature required I'd just toss the box.
Have the shipper resend the order.

If you open that box it's going to stink pretty damn bad, think gag a maggot bad.
Dry rock would be no big deal, but wet live. Bile just backed up in my throat... lol

That is certainly true - I block out the trauma associated with smells strong enough to make you wish you could just set your entire neighborhood on fire.
Heck - depending on how it's packaged the UPS guy may actually pass out and I certainly hope nothing being shipped to me is on the same truck as that rock.

 

[hatzo1]

Well we will see how it turns out at this point. Thursday was the ship day ... Luckily its gotten nice and cool here in GA and with the way they say they ship it maybe it will be just a little stinky. Its shipping to my work LOL. I dont think that I will get anything voluntarily for compensation just from the emails back and forth. But I have that angle covered if need be.

 

[enderg60]

Unless the rock was packed in wet towels or something it will be dying after 5 days and will need to cycle. If it was packed with towels, you might only have a small ammonia spike.

You will know when you get it by how it smells.

 

[FutureInterest]

Rock is expensive to ship. Hate to say it but it could have been intentional to ship economy.

 

[danh]

Did you buy this live for the bacteria specifically or for bigger critters in the rock?

 

[hatzo1]

Ok well here is the update. I received the rock and no foul order all looks good. Nothing that caused any alarm. Really didn’t look much different from past purchases. It was in a styrofoam cooler and still very wet. The shapes and sizes actually impressed me. (Btw it was Caribean Rock) I purchased for the bacteria not for the critters. I rinsed it in some RO saltwater I have and placed it in the tank to begin the cycling. So we shall see . Again thanks for all the input guys .

 

[Adam]

Feeding the tank with ammonia from Dr Tims could be a good idea instead of real food. If there is any bad critters the lack of food will bring them out in the open.

I got some Tampa Bay rock and I got a few Gorilla Crabs. I was just able to catch what I think was the last one. That took over two years... Gorilla's are common in the Gulf and Caribbean and can last a while in transit.

 

[FutureInterest]

+1 on the Gorilla crabs... from tampa bay rock. I'll never add that stuff to my tank again. I had to smash open several of my rocks to get that crab out. Granted there was some very cool life on those rocks. It just wasn't worth the headache though of the gorilla crab. When I finally caught him... I was tempted to do horrible things to the lil guy...

 

[lmm1967]

Here's my Tampa Bay hitch-hiker. I enjoyed the crabs - although they were not in a tank where they could actually do any harm. The whelk snails were the only things that would prevent me from doing TBS rock again.

 

[dball711]

Leo, what is that? Looks really cool and kinda scary...

 

[lmm1967]

Leo, what is that? Looks really cool and kinda scary...

Oyster Toadfish - and yes - I'm afraid of being bitten by it. His aggression has increased dramatically over the past 2 months. If I'm in my tank room he is out of his hiding spot and ready. If I walk to the one side of his tank he'll actually come all the way out, "stand" on his pectoral fins in a "ready to attack" position.

I put a video up on youtube of me feeding him a little while back. This link should start at the interesting part.