New setup of saltwater aquarium

Question
Thanks so much for all your help, now one more.  Where I purchased my aquarium they assured me it was okay to start with the one percola, interesting.  Now they also sold me a large live rock living in one of their saltwater aquariums.  The other night I found a huge amount of bristle worms crawling all over the rock.  Any suggestions other than return the rock, and will they invade the other dead rock I have placed in the tank?  It appears they are staying in the live rock for now, as they only come out partially then retreat back into the same live rock in the daylight hours.  Will all live rock contain these pests and is so can I start with dead rock to cycle my tank?
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Followup To

Question -
I set up my new 10 gal saltwater aquarium a week ago.  I got my salinity, gravity, and temp perfect according to all material I have read.  I have added 9 lbs. of live rock and 7 lbs. of  dead rock along with black argonite sand.

1 percola clown

10 gallon all glass
Skilter 250 premium
50 watt submersible heater
Flouresent 20" tube came with tank and hood

I already have new choraline algae sprouting up on the dead rock and I have all sorts of nighttime only creatures crawling out of the rock at night and back in during the day.  Quite a surprise I must say.  I am needing to get some sort of schedule as to when to do my first water change and how long do I have to wait to add my soft corals, and invertabrets.  Also, any way of identifying all the crawlers that come  out at night?

Thanks
Larry


Answer -
Hi Larry,

    Man, you don't waste any time. In general you should wait several weeks before adding any fish besides one or two damsels. Your tank has to cycle, which means the dead material will cause the ammonia level to rise naturally. As part of this cycle the ammonia will turn into nitrites, which will then turn into nitrates. The ammonia and nitrites will kill fish, corals, and invertebrates. What changes this process is the aerobic and anerobic bacteria which live on the "dead stuff" and turns it into nitrates which are relatively harmless. It is only then you can safely put fish, invertebrates and corals in your tank without danger. By the way corals require especially fine water conditions and special lighting to thrive. Please go to www.about.com and click on "hobbies and games". Then on the next page all the way down to the bottom left you will see "saltwater aquariums". Click and you will be on the site managed by Stan and debbie hauter. Take the saltwater 101 class and the 10 ways to start a saltwater aquarium. It is a great place to start. Good luck, Gerry...

Answer
Hi Larry,

    Good to hear from you. There will probably be bristleworms in almost all the rock you buy. The best way to get rid of them is to fill a sprayer with tank water and take the rock out and place on some newspaper. Keep the rock moist with the sprayer and the worms will start to exit the rock. With tweezers grab the worms at their base and gently pull them out. You can also make a bristleworm trap as described in the about.com saltwater aquarium site. There are also some predators for these worms in the dottyback family.