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NO but you need live sand if you dont have any.
Usually whan I set up a tank I put all the live sand and live rock in at the same time.
I do check the salinity of the water and if thats good i put in all the rock and sand. It depends on what salt you used to start it up because they have different buffing compounds in them.
And what kind of water you used to start it. Never had a high PH using reverse osmosis water and coral life salt. Most likely a PH of 8.7 wont harm the bacteria and you will most likly have to do some curing on the rock so I would throw the rock in there asap.
If you that worried about the bacteria because of the PH is so high then get some PH down. But I have never had a problem with it. All you need is to start a cycle in the tank with the bacteria. Just throw some live rock in with some damsels and you will see the PH go down on its own because the damsels will use up the alkalinity in the water. You have nothing to lose. Damsels are testing fish anyways.
use reverse osmosis water for refilling and remember to add fresh water not salt water in when it evaporates and buff the water before adding it in.
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