Is live rock form the california coast usable?

[Fballvera22]

I was wondering of it was possible to use live rock from california? If i were to get it myself, what steps would i need to follow to make it usable in my tank?

Thanks

 

[Toyman321]

Im not a saltie so I may be wrong on this but I am from California. If you are talking about Coral and Coral sand we dont have Coral out here, the water is too cold. They may also be a problem in that the water in a tropical salt tank will be much warmer than the water off our coast.... not sure if Im correct on that though

 

[Fballvera22]

I am not so much talking about coral, but the rocks of the shore that have bacteria in/on them?

Any more info/help?

 

[wayne]

Yeah to some extent, but expect a lot of die off as quite a few things, especially algaes, won't adapt to to higher temps well

 

[S.Reef]

To start with it is illegal to take anything out of the water. I am not familiar with Californias regulations but you will definatly need a permit. The rock will need to be kept at a lower temp...thats all I can think about.

 

[nightrydaz04]

If you pick it up yourself or even from a store you must cure the live rock before putting it into an established tank, you never know what kind of boogers are hiding in there... I had to learn that the hard way... If your picking it up out of the ocean bring really thick black plastic bags and some sturdy thick paper towels... wrap the live rock in the paper towels while submerged in the water but them in the bag and take them home for curing. Oh and make sure to keep some of the water from the location in the bag to about a quarter full this will also help keep the bacteria from dying off. do you know how to cure live rock... It's a long stinky process

 

[nightrydaz04]

don't change the light and temperature to drastically either sorry forgot about that step... that's what the black plastic bags are for to keep the light out.

 

[aresgod]

yea, and then hire a laywer, it is illegal to take ANYTHING from the beach/coastal waters without a permit, there was a national law protecting the tidepools of california, just spend the money and support the aqua cultured live rock business.

 

[dbacksrat]

hmm...its illegal, cannot tolerate higher temperatures, stealing from nature, etc, etc

there are a number of good shops w/ live rock in the phoenix area, or you can also buy from online vendors

 

[Fballvera22]

could you recomened me any places in phoenix

 

[dbacksrat]

hmm...i bought my LR online (from liveaquaria.com)
i was just at aquatouch--their LR seemed pretty good, though i did see some bristleworms...i didnt check out the prices though

here is a good list of LFS's--good luck

 

[1979camaro]

you will probably end up with bristleworms eventually no matter where you get the LR...