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cpaseth
02/05/2010, 02:15 PM
I live in Santa Barbara, near the ocean. What are the ramifications of getting live rock from the ocean? I was thinking I would dry and boil them to hopefully remove any parasites. Any thoughts?

username in use
02/05/2010, 02:20 PM
If your talking legal ramifications your probably breaking the law. As far as the the Rock goes, why go to the trouble of getting it from the ocean and then drying it out and removing all the great diversity that youd be getting? Seems counter productive.

DThompson
02/05/2010, 02:44 PM
I live in Santa Barbara, near the ocean. What are the ramifications of getting live rock from the ocean? I was thinking I would dry and boil them to hopefully remove any parasites. Any thoughts?

That would no longer be live rock. Also, check your local laws. I don't know what they are in that area, but California loves laws so it would be worth checking before breaking any.

If you do get some, just cure it like your LFS does. I am sure you can learn more on here about how to do it.

Playa-1
02/05/2010, 02:46 PM
Is that the same rock that the fishermen pee on at 5am every morning? or is that the one down by the sewer pipe?

reefinder
02/05/2010, 02:48 PM
Im assuming your are doing a warm water tank at home. first off, it is illegal to take rock from the ocean. that water around you is cold water atlantic, so the rock has a diffrent biodiversity then warm water species. So if you dont dry and cure the rock then it will have a masiive die off in your tank, loading your tank with phosphates/nitrates. so you would have to cook it and i would recomend curing it also in vinegar. But dont steel rock FROM THE OCEAN we already take so much in this hobby as it is, might as well buy a macro rock, it will cost the same after you add up all your expenses and time it takes to make rock from the ocean suitable for your tank.

tufacody
02/05/2010, 03:03 PM
Cali would be the Pacific :)

SMITTY27030
02/05/2010, 06:22 PM
I would definately check laws and if permitted i would cure it like in the lfs (stated above). yes you may bring some great stuff in but what about the little pests and problems that come with them...

clownfreak
02/05/2010, 07:23 PM
Most of my rock came dry off a Mexican beach and filled in some weight on airline bags... I guess it depends how much you take and if there is anything living in or on it. Another option might be to make concrete rocks if you're willing to cure them.

lordofthereef
02/05/2010, 07:42 PM
I personally have not found any info stating that it is illegal to collect rock off the coast of California. All I was readily able to find is information regarding collection of rare and/or endangered species. I would be interested in seeing a link or something that explains this in a little more detail. I think when it comes to collecting people in this forum tend to just to state such activities are illegal a bit too hastily. But, I could be wrong.

All that said, Santa Barbara is a pretty populated place, which gives it the tendency of having contamination issues. I personally wouldn't grab rock in SB, at least not anything you would have access to along the shore.

gary faulkner
02/05/2010, 07:45 PM
Cali would be the Pacific :)


And trying to cure it in vinegar would melt it.:bounce3::bounce2::bounce1:

roblack
02/05/2010, 07:58 PM
lol! Leave it, can't be good rock for a reeftank anyway. The liverock you want for a tank comes from coral reef areas, is porous, and allows for good biological filtration. The rock around SB is probably dense and not porous enough to be good for your tank in terms of filtration.

clownfreak
02/05/2010, 08:54 PM
I guess another thing to ask would be what do you want to use this rock for? Base rock. or to seed base rock? or just to completely stock a new tank with fully live rock?