@Zack Klabunde, I also prefer all the "bad juju" ocean rock has the the painfully long time it takes tank rock(rock that has been cured and matured in home and never exposed to the ocean or a rock from the ocean since drying out) to really be considered mature. I still don't think it can EVER be considered as mature as a living rock that came out the ocean.
When I get my rocks the LFS turns the lights on in the building (tank light is usually all there is in there, with that many tanks and coral growing lights it's bright enough to see, yet has a nice, relaxed dark room vibe) so you can see the actual color of the rock and inspect it for any pests. This is real Florida live rock, so you may find some uglies... But in my opinion those are far outweighed by the "good juju" in those rocks. I can pick off an aptasia or two and vermetids are no match for stainless steel toe nail cutters. The ones that look like diagonal pliers, not the ones in your wife's mani/pedi kit... the kind you have to use on them fungused up crusty toe nails like Granddaddy had. ;Yuck
I used to have a ton of life in the nano. I'd see little bristle worms and copepods all over the place after the lights went off. Im pretty sure the evil coral shrimp took care of the bristle worms and the copepods I think died off.
My thought is if I provide an environment in which ocean rock and whatever other rock I add can mingle for a sufficient amount of time, my whatever rock will be as full of life as the ocean rock. The ocean rock might still make its way to the sump of the 90.
@NY_Caveman, good idea on the light... I might stick a cheap low par reef light in there to get some coralline growth... not until all the excess nutrients are gone tho. We're not going to try and grow any nuisance algae in there.
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