How long does Live Rock live outside of water?

[ps2cho]

I am going to be downsizing my 50 cube to a 33g AIO soon. The new tank arrives in 1-2 months due to backlog, but that gives me a month.
I have aiptasia in the current tank, so starting with fresh dry rock so no risk of transferring any.

if I let the dry rock cycle in a tub for the next 1-2 months feeding it every week with some food, then it goes out of the tub for a few hours to aquascape, will all the bacteria die, or is this still worth it?

Thoughts?

 

[T-J]

You'll be fine. Remember, we used to get live rock shipped to us from Fiji with nothing more than wet newspaper wrapped around it.

 

[ATAquariums]

You would be fine

 

[ps2cho]

Thanks guys, so not a waste of time then!

Will throw a shrimp into the tub and let it decompose to get that bacteria going.

Hoping I can get the tank ready for SPS at month 4. Dry rock has ALWAYS been the hardest at getting a tank ready, so any time I can get a head start is a benefit.

 

[dhnguyen]

Just think that in the wild, reefs get exposed all the times and for long extended periods when the tide is low. You'll be fine.

 

[NeonRabbit221B]

Keep a spray bottle of tank water around and you can thank me later. I would say about 30 minutes out of the tank air drying max, spray every 20 or so.