Can i take "Living Rock" out the sea ?

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Steven A

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Feb 27, 2005
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I live about 15 mins walk from the sea and know people who have boats. Can I take rocks from the sea/beach and will they be living ?
If so how do I cure them to make sure they are clean and safe ?

P.s. This is in the UK (north east) So water will be cooler than what the water in my tank is.
 
Keeping in mind the cooler temps, you will loose much of the life in/on the rock. It will still be a great source of biological filtration eventually. I would choose rock pieces that have fallen free/loose and no longer part of a "greater" structure so as not to undermine the ecology. Also opt for items with little or no encrusted life.

The only other concern would be consevation laws. Most countries will have some sort of guidelines at the very least if not a full out ban. Be sure to check that before proceeding.

Cheers
Steve
 
ok, thank you. I will make sure I only take rocks thats are loose/ have all ready falen off. Do i need to do anything before I would add them to a tank ?
 
Steven_Askham said:
ok, thank you. I will make sure I only take rocks thats are loose/ have all ready falen off. Do i need to do anything before I would add them to a tank ?
yeah, you will probably need a license to collect living items from the ocean.

taking rocks that are "loose" is not the issue here. most costal areas have laws prohibiting the collection of oceanic life. you really should get familiar with the laws in your area BEFORE you go and try and collect something from the sea.

after all, the officer who places you under arrest will know the laws pretty well...

~mike
 
Good point, mp3z24....where ptohibited/restricted, the fines for this are often more than you would pay retail for 250lbs of premium live rock.

I would also Caution (apart from the die-off due to incompatible temps...which I would imagine to be close to 95%, making such an endeavour not particularly attractive), that you may have an issue with pollutants from beaches around the UK...I would check into whatever national database that I could prior to collecting as well.
 
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