Tank set up before live ocean rock

[valley]

Hello, Ive just ordered some live rock online and im pretty sure it’ll arrive on Wednesday. I already have my sand, power head, and heater. The rock will be the last thing I need to set the tank up. The rock will arrive in wet paper and so I have to put it in water asap. It takes me pretty long to make rodi water ( approximately 2 hours for 5 gallons) so how should I set up the tank prior to receiving the rock? Can I have the entire tank setup and ready without rock about a day before delivery? I’d also like to ask if I can just mix the salt in the actual tank? I’ll be using bagged live sand so I’m not sure if mixing the salt in the tank will harm the bacteria in the sand.

 

[X-37B]

Hello, Ive just ordered some live rock online and im pretty sure it’ll arrive on Wednesday. I already have my sand, power head, and heater. The rock will be the last thing I need to set the tank up. The rock will arrive in wet paper and so I have to put it in water asap. It takes me pretty long to make rodi water ( approximately 2 hours for 5 gallons) so how should I set up the tank prior to receiving the rock? Can I have the entire tank setup and ready without rock about a day before delivery? I’d also like to ask if I can just mix the salt in the actual tank? I’ll be using bagged live sand so I’m not sure if mixing the salt in the tank will harm the bacteria in the sand.

Mixing the salt in the tank is fine.
I would dip the rock and remove anything dead in a bucket or similar. I just did this with 150lbs of live rock. Keep an eye on the rock and remove anything that dies in the next few days.

 

[ti_lavender]

I had ocean rock delivered for my most recent tank start. I had everything running like temp and salinity at my desired levels. I even transferred media to my sump from another tank to have some biological filtration. Depending on how much die off there is you might have to do multiple water changes over a few days after you add the rock due to the possible ammonia spike.

Since you’ll have sand I recommend mixing the saltwater prior to adding it to the tank.

 

[KrisReef]

Get the tank ready, properly mixed and filled.

When the rock arrives, shut the pumps down, remove 5 gallons of water into a bucket and add the rock. Replace water, or remove more as needed when you restart the tank.