Tis true about the die off from the short ride home. In Nov of '05 I brought some beautiful and fully cured rock from Alamo Aquatic (on a super mega discount). Since I didn't have a tank yet, I threw it all in a 10 gallon tank, put a CPR bak-pak on it, a heater, and monitored all the levels. It was only a 15 minute drive home and I sure enough got a sizable but quick spike. I "cured" the rock myself for about a month before moving it to my main tank (a 12 gallon aquapod), and then just to make sure I waited almost another month before adding fish. I think this is why everything's done so well. At least that's my theory. Patience seems to be the key with this hobby.