Using sand from the sea

[nick_schembri]

Hi
I am thinking of starting a saltwater fish only tank. I live on an island in the mediterranean and was wondering wether using sand from the sea from where I live would be; harmful, beneficial, or wether it has no effect.
another question:
Are the rocks that I see when I go snorkling, covered in algea and sponges, live rock?
Thanks.

 

[jackdp]

As long as you get the sand from offshore where there is little pollution and there are no local laws against the sand should work fine.

Are the rocks that I see when I go snorkling, covered in algea and sponges, live rock?

Any rock in the ocean will have beneficial bacteria on it and be LR, rock with sponges, corals, coralline etc is just prettier and more "live" Again, some governments limit the collection of such things from inland waters so you may want to check before taking anything.

 

[nick_schembri]

Since I only live about 2 minutes away from the sea do I have to clean the sand/rocks before I put them in the tank? I checked the law and there isn.t anything about sand and rocks since only about 3 species of corals live on the rocks in the area. I was also thinking about catching a peacock blenny and housing that in my tank since they are quite small and its only a 10 gallon. They are quite easy to feed too (we feed them bread and everything we want at the beach) I think this is helpful since this is my first saltwater tank. If I succeed in doing this I might make my 75 gallon saltwater.