adding live directly rock to tank

just curious, every time i buy a new piece of live rock from my lfs, i add directly to tank.
is this a bad idea? i've been reading where a lot of you guys call others "brave" for doing so.

 

Well you do run the risk of adding organisms that will negatively effect your tank. Hitchhikers can impact a tank dramatically, temporarilly and over a long period of time that may not become evident till some time down the road!
It is adviseable to inspect your rock before hand, to minimize the potential introduction of detrimental hitchhikers for one.
Also, if you add live rock to your tank it is best to add small amounts at a time to reduce the chances of effecting your water parameters(cycle?)!
Sometimes it is like playing Russian Roulette?!!! You don't know for sure what is living on and in your live rock!

 

Very true i added a piece of live rock today 2kg, and along came with it a hairy slug thats the best i can describe it, its about a cm long ?

 

dending on the "condition" of the said live rock'.. smell it for having dead
organisms on it ' , does it have defined or cobvered with coraline.

if you add to much ' you can effectivly throw your tank back into a cycling mode .
causeing all sorts of spikes to water chemistry.

if your dead set on doing this' buy only rock thats been known to have come froma tare down tank.
then "dip" it in high salinity for atlest 3/5 minutes , this will help rid you of the nastys. ie.> aptasia, infestations of worms, and the like .
If hair algea is seen' or brown's .. scrub it with a rough brush in the bucket ,

 

Very true CR, I pick up a piece of LR once and it had a baby octopus inside hiding. I was lucky enough to catch it in time.

 

i've heard it's good to give the live rock a fresh water dip, for about 10minutes. this is supposed to kill off unwanted organisms. any truth?

 

Personally I wouldn't put one peice of LR in my tank unless it came from a VERY trusted source (like Otty!) If your gonna add rock add dead base rock and cycle it yourself, I like to even "kill" it myself. This is just my opinion too many hitchhikers in LR. Put a freshly "dead" but cured peice in and you know what is entering your tank! If you choose to use LR then a good freshwater dip is a good idea. I bought some when I started my tank. It set in 20 degree weather for 2 hours then I freshwater dipped it and I still had a snail and worm live!! I have no idea if they were bad or not... but to me it's not worth it no more live rock!!!