live rock safe for tank?

[viruzjk]

i picked up some live rock from a canal close by. it was partialy in the water and some of it was on shore. what could i do to make it safe for my tank? i was thinking of letting it sit outside in the sun for a while, or maybe soaking it in bleach water. i dont care if i turn it into base rock, i just want it to be clean. any advice?

[FB]

Not sure. I would be concerned about all the possible contaminates that could be in it. Oil / Gas / Pesticides / Heavy Metals. What uses the canal and how clean is it.

[silvers]

I would delete this post. taking any LR from any where in FL. is verry illegale and carys a huge fine and inprisonment I would not be suprised if someone has not already seen this post and turned it in, you need to get if off of here ASAP

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12904942#post12904942 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by silvers
I would delete this post. taking any LR from any where in FL. is verry illegale and carys a huge fine and inprisonment I would not be suprised if someone has not already seen this post and turned it in, you need to get if off of here ASAP I am pretty sure this is a prank and should be deleted. No one could be ignorant enough of the fishing laws of Florida to pick up any piece of rock while there.

[BeanAnimal]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12905717#post12905717 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rhodophyta
I am pretty sure this is a prank and should be deleted. No one could be ignorant enough of the fishing laws of Florida to pick up any piece of rock while there.

Your kidding right?

People don't even know traffic laws, let alone what they can and cannot pick up.

Furthermore, anybody petty enough to turn somebody in for picking up a few rocks is more ignorant than the person who picked up the rocks.

Anyway.... to answer the OP's question. As already mentioned, it is hard to tell how much undesirable material is on or "in" the rock. Canals and coastal areas are full of metals, oils, pestacides, sewage and other things that will not do your tank well.

The rocks could be cured, like any other LR purchase.

[stugray]

I agree with Bean "Your kidding right?"

I spend a few months in Florida every few years, and I studied ALL I COULD about the legality of picking up mangrove propagules from the beach ( an actual living thing ) and could NOT find ANY online proof that it was illegal ( damaging a LIVE mangrove intentionally IS )

Anyway, picking up "A ROCK" and taking it home is NOT illegal no matter what state you live in.

INTENTIONALLY going out in the ocean and removing rocks MIGHT BE partially, depending on your intent. HARVESTING "live rock" without a license IS ILLEGAL ( because it contains OTHER corals and organisms- hence the term "live rock").

Bringing home some cool rocks from the beach, canal, inland water ways is NOT. I doubt that a rock out of a canal ( BRACKISH water ) is "live rock" in any true sense of the definition.

Stu

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12906256#post12906256 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BeanAnimal
Your kidding right?

People don't even know traffic laws, let alone what they can and cannot pick up.

Furthermore, anybody petty enough to turn somebody in for picking up a few rocks is more ignorant than the person who picked up the rocks.
I don't intend to kid, but I can see that level, after all some people don't even know how to or at least bother to spell "you're" correctly. (Funny you mentioned traffic laws. Today I saw a guy zoom through a construction zone when the person holding the stop sign aimed at him took a step forward, giving the idiot just enough room to fly past him.)

But I do figure someone who has lived in Florida, kept a reef tank for two years and made over 100 posts here, would be kidding around, or playing a prank. There are accounts of the fine being $5000, mandatory jail time, and possible confiscation of any vehicles and boats involved in obtaining and transporting the rock. http://wetwebfotos.com/talk/thread.jsp?forum=5&thread=11813
More stories like this are on the web, and the rules are in the brochure you get with your Florida fishing license.

As to someone being petty, I am sure many people believe they would be doing a public service to their state and protecting the environment by reporting any live rock taken. A friend of mine (separate from the story linked to) had been a long time collector in Florida and used to put a few rocks in his collecting tubs to calm down the fish he'd netted. After the live rock law was passed, he was told that he could not do that any more even if the rock was going to be returned. Simply lifting a rock above the water line would be interpreted as breaking the law. For a while, he would be followed everywhere he went by a game warden until he was handed off to the next one.

[stugray]

Rhodophyta,

Also, - "No one could be ignorant enough of the fishing laws of Florida to pick up any piece of rock while there."

That statement is false because a large fraction of the population at any given time is ignorant of the "the fishing laws of Florida" because: 1) they are Tourists or 2) they are people who get just near enough to the water to look at it ( and therefore dont care about fishing laws ) or 3) "Picking up a rock" is NOT "Fishing" where I come from.

Of course your statments about someone who is a Florida native, are correct, they SHOULD know.

Stu

[Rhodophyta]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12907829#post12907829 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by stugray
Rhodophyta,

Also, - "No one could be ignorant enough of the fishing laws of Florida to pick up any piece of rock while there."

That statement is false because a large fraction of the population at any given time is ignorant of the "the fishing laws of Florida" because: 1) they are Tourists or 2) they are people who get just near enough to the water to look at it ( and therefore dont care about fishing laws ) or 3) "Picking up a rock" is NOT "Fishing" where I come from.

Of course your statments about someone who is a Florida native, are correct, they SHOULD know.

Stu Well of course any statement that says "no one" or gives people the benefit of the doubt on their ability to overcome knowledge with ignorance and apathy is going to have its exceptions.

[GIJOE007]

Furthermore, anybody petty enough to turn somebody in for picking up a few rocks is more ignorant than the person who picked up the rocks.

Please watch what you say Bean...calling people ignorant in this case is unacceptable and you should word your responses more accordingly based on the original topic.

It is ILLEGAL to remove anything from some bodies of water due to the fact that your altering the natural eco system and potentially harming the inhabitants contained within it. Sure you say its ok to remove a few rocks...who cares, but what if everyone did it? I think we've messed with nature enough and hence the fact that many areas have protected conservations for such resonses.

Do not insinuate that this is condoned in the future, because it is not. You need a liscence and permits to remove livestock or l;ive products and anyone who thinks its ok, it is not.

IMO, put the rocks back and leave them alone....you dont know what is in the rock and to make it safe for a home aquarium, you'd probably have to scrub and clean the rock in water and vinegar to ensure no harmfull elements are introduced into your aquarium. Your basically turning the live rock into macro rock in this process to make it safe to use, so why pick them out of the water in the first place???

[stugray]

Everybody keeps forgetting one thing: the OP said that he removed the rock from A CANAL!

That means inland water-way. It is NOT the ocean. The rock is NOT live if it comes from brackish water.

And I am sure that he just messed up the whole ecosystem....

they DREDGE the inland waterways on a regular basis. I THINK that picks up a few rocks when they do that. CANALS are NOT protected wildlife preserves ( however in Deltona he IS surrounded by them ).

Stu

[BeanAnimal]

GIJOE007, I am going to kindly ask you to please stop following me around and correcting my speech. You are not a moderator and your are not my handler.

Furthermore, as was the case LAST TIME, you missed the entire context of what I said and taken the conversation off on a tangent. It is rather funny that YOU are asking ME to stay in context. My remarks were DIRECTLY in context to the conversation, yours are tangent to the conversation. No surprise, as that is exactly what happened LAST TIME you tried to correct my posting style in a public forum.

I will kindly repeat MY POINT very clearly so that you understand.

I could care less if it is ILLEGAL or not to remove a rock from the beach, that had nothing to do with my comment. The point was that turning somebody in for taking a rock IN THIS CONTEXT is petty. Somebody THAT PETTY is IGNORANT of the reality of the situation. You can ramble on about slippery slopes, eco systems, protected habitats and nature but the fact is that in the END it is a ROCK, not a truckload of rocks. In many cases the zero tolernace reality and associated arguements are ignorant of reality.

We can certainly get into the discussion of the law and its merits or detractions, that however is another entire topic.

[BeanAnimal]

And if you pick that rock up from the bank and throw it into the canal, you are illegaly dumping! Worse, imagine a kid who picks up flat rocks from the road and skips them into the canal!

[GIJOE007]

I am out of context...what are you talking about! Did I not state in my post that if he wanted to use the rock he aquired, my sujestion on how to clean it so it would be safe to use in his take??

I'm not your handler and YOUR NOT MINE so back off already. last time I checked your not a mod either and THIS iS A PUBLIC FORUM.

Best of luck viruzjk with what ever you do.

[BeanAnimal]

Yes, most of your comments were out of context, as was the case in the other thread.

You opened by attacking ME, as was the case with the other thread.

You missed the CONTEXT of my comments, as was the case in the other thread.

Your still attempting to divert the conversation from the my point in CONTEXT with the thread and turn it into a personal argument, same as the other thread.

You attacked me and are now acting like you have been attacked... priceless.

[GIJOE007]

IMO, your last post has nothing to do with the thread topic at hand, so why are you posting it? clean out your pm box to discuss privately or pm ME with your issues, and leave the thread comments to discuss the thread topic. Who's out of context now?

[BeanAnimal]

Sir,

I have no desire to speak with you in private. As for the conext? Your kidding right? This is getting childish.

[LJA]

I think all wildlife laws in Florida (where I have lived for 15 years) are there for a reason. There are in fact many laws along the beaches where I live against disturbing the dunes and sea grass due to erosion of the shoreline. Obviously, there are laws against harvesting any coral, fish, ect without a fishing permit (which costs about $20) but I have never heard anything about picking rocks from a canal being illegal.

As BeanAnimal and others stated, whats the big deal? I think common sense should be implemented when anything is harvested from the environment, and I believe most reefkeepers who have been in the hobby at least a year can discern appropriate behavior when it involves the environment.

I see no harm or legality issue with taking rocks or sand or mangroves. Even if you went to Sebastian Inlet and wanted to take some hermit crabs or snails from the tide pool I don't think it would be a big deal as long as you weren't mass harvesting them.

The only issue here is if they are safe to use, which you should probably cure them anyway.

[stugray]

GIJOE007,

If Im not mistaken "Hamilton, Ont" is not in the US.

Maybe you know about some laws in Canada, that makes you an expert on laws in Florida?

Unless, you arent spelling your own location correctly......

Stu

[GaryR1984]

Wow, I'm thinking I lost some brain matter after reading this thread. I should of gone and smoked some dope instead. Anyways, I'm not here to insult anyone, more here to chime in since I've been in Florida more then half my life. I wanted to comment on the part about the fishing license and laws.

I blame the state and govt. on that one. Have you looked into how they educate people before handing out a license? Wal-Mart SELLS them. Enough said!

Also, since this all started because of a few people who in my opinion did not fully read what was said. I think everyone is speculating that the poster got this rock in the ocean or a river simply because this website says "Reef Central". There are a lot of fresh water canals in Florida.

Now, I'm also going to say it was a rock taken from FRESH WATER becasue the poster lives in Deltona, which for those who choose not to research this, or in my case know of the area, this is near Orlando, which is CENTRAL FLORIDA. Not the east, south, or west coast.

http://maps.google.com/maps?source=ig&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENUS273&q=Deltona&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&resnum=1&ct=image

Enjoy, I hope this puts an end to this topic.

Also, or the first poster. Just soak it for awhile and let it "Cure" in some water for a good long time. Personally, I wouldn't use it.

[demc2h]

I am very happy to read this series of posts. It makes me feel good about myself as a human being. I thought that having cancer was a bad problem to have but you all have shown me that my problems are small. What is really important in the scheme of things is that we post lots of words to hear ourselves debate over silly issues that really dont matter in the big picture....

[viruzjk]

WOW! thanks to all those who posted comments on HOW TO CURE THE ROCK. im going to try soaking it in vinager water and scrubing it. i dont care if it was illigal or not, its petty. i found the rock on the shore of a saltwater canal (haulover canal to be exact) whick is located around titusville florida. the rock is not live its basically macro rock its just really dirty. i't looks the same as figi rock i bought of the internet. so i figured i would save some money for once in this hobby and take some free rock.

[stugray]

viruzjk

Sorry you had to go thru that.

Have a shrimp for me at Dixie Crossroads & a chicken fried steak at Cracker Barrel, and all is good ;-)

Stu

[BeanAnimal]

:)