My new Live/dead rock

[scuba_steve]

Just got in 50 lbs of walt smith live rock, however I think it spent 3/4 days in shipping and it seems like the rock was pretty dried out. Did I just pay a bunch of money for essentially dead live rock? I'm a newbie so not really knowing much about this makes me a little anxious. What good is live rock if it is dead/dried out?

just a little worried...

 

[Johnsteph10]

Make sure you put it back in water to cure it (again). You'll be surprised at how much life survives! Make sure to brush off the obviously dead things (sponges, algae, etc) and such. It needs to be cured prior to adding to a tank (unless you have a new tank and want to cure it there).

Frequent water changes (ie: every 2 days or so) and monitoring of ammonia/nitrite levels are key.

Turn on the lights for a while -- you want the photosynthetic good guys to live!

Good luck!

John