Do you have to add ammonia with live rock

[ILikeFish!]

Setting up a new tank and I’m wondering do you have to add ammonia with real ocean live rock or can I just let it sit for a couple of days until ammonia goes to zero then I can get fish?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I’m Ngl I’m getting kind of confused, some people say not to add any bottled bacteria to the water when getting LR because it might mess up the stability of the rock but other people are telling me it won’t hurt anything to add some and it will help, I don’t know who to trust.

Adding another wrinkle - are you going to be doing anything to the rock to remove unwanted hitchhikers before you put it in your display tank?
Many people will put the rock in another tank/container and inspect it for critters. Some use hyper/hypo salinity to encourage critters to vacate the rocks while others do a period of observation.

 

[ILikeFish!]

Adding another wrinkle - are you going to be doing anything to the rock to remove unwanted hitchhikers before you put it in your display tank?
Many people will put the rock in another tank/container and inspect it for critters. Some use hyper/hypo salinity to encourage critters to vacate the rocks while others do a period of observation.

I was planning on doing a Hypo dip

 

[Dan_P]

Every one keeps saying I’m using bottled bacteria, I never said I was just asking if you have to add like fish food or some source of ammonia or something to the water to feed the bacteria on the live rock before you get fish.

No one on this forum knows anything about your rock or its history. You can assume they are right, and the odds are good they are, that the rock is fine. Or you can perform a very simple inexpensive experiment and prove that it is. And then you instantly become the expert about your rock.

Sure, add a little ammonia before the fish arrive, testing the water when you add it and then 24 hours later. You do not have to add much to feed the bacteria nor run the test. < 0.5 ppm should be fine.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

No one on this forum knows anything about your rock or its history. You can assume they are right, and the odds are good they are, that the rock is fine. Or you can perform a very simple inexpensive experiment and prove that it is. And then you instantly become the expert about your rock.

Sure, add a little ammonia before the fish arrive, testing the water when you add it and then 24 hours later. You do not have to add much to feed the bacteria nor run the test. < 0.5 ppm should be fine.

Or, don't add any ammonia and test ammonia at least an hour after you add the rock to your tank. If you have some and it goes away in 24 hours, then you had a little die off and the existing biological filter (nitrifying bacteria) is adequate.
But... Be sure to test with something other than API... I don't have a problem with this test in general but it has a tendency to have a slight "false positive" and show .25 ammonia when it's really zero. This would make things difficult if you're adding 0.5 as Dan suggested. Get a test that measures free ammonia.

And most important, post lots of pictures of the rock once you get it!!!