Getting live rock from the beach

Damsels R Cool

I made you a avatar from the meanest damsel I ever had I thaut you might like it since you have no avatar LMK what you think

 

Then get base rock. Its not live. Much cheaper too, and just turns into live rock eventually anyways.

 

For Florida this is what I found.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission: Basic Recreational Saltwater Fishing Regulations [July 31, 2008 to Decmber 31, 2008].

ORNAMENTAL TROPICAL FISH AND PLANTS
MINIMUM SIZE LIMIT (Total length) Spanish Hogfish 2” Spotfin Hogfish 3” Porkfish 1½”

MAXIMUM SIZE LIMIT (Total length) Angelfish (except Rock Beauty) 8” Butterflyfish, Jawfish 4” Rock Beauty 5” Gobies 2” Spanish Hogfish 8” Spotfin Hogfish 8”

BAG LIMIT Fishes / Invertebrates: 20 per person per day. No more than 5 angelfish and no more than 6 Octocoral colonies PLANTS: 1 gallon per person per day. Live landing and live well requirements. Harvest in Biscayne National Park & John Pennekamp State Park prohibited.

So from the above statement, it looks like you can obtain Octocoral colonies; I do not know what type of corals these are but it looks like you wont have a problem if you get any of these.

Moreover,

PROHIBITED SPECIES
It is unlawful to harvest, possess, land, purchase, sell, or exchange the following species:

Nassau Grouper, Goliath Grouper (Jewfish), Sawfish, Atlantic Angel Shark, Bigeye Sixgill Shark, Bigeye Thresher Shark, Bignose Shark, Caribbean Reef Shark, Dusky, Galapagos Shark, Longfin Mako Shark, Narrowtooth Shark, Night Shark, Puffer fish (harvest prohibited in Volusia, Brevard, Indian River, St. Lucie and Martin counties), Sevengill Shark, Sixgill Shark, Smalltail Shark, Basking Shark, Whale Shark, Spotted Eagle Ray, Sturgeon, White Shark, Sand Tiger Shark, Bigeye Sand Tiger Shark, Manta Ray, Spiny Dogfish, Longspine Urchin, Stony, Hard and Fire Corals, Sea Fans, Florida Queen Conch and Bahama Starfish. Harvest of live rock in state waters is prohibited.

Below is the link to where I got this info:
http://myfwc.com/marine/Docs/July2008RegsChart.pdf

 

thank you i like it

 

Forget about the live rock,but some corals you should be ok. Pretty much you can take zoanthids,ricordeas,anemones, feather dusters,some sponges,etc.. NO HARD CORALS!!

Also I think its wise that everyone who collects should print out the rules and regulations and laminate them so they can take it with them when they collect. Pictures and info on species would not hurt either, might save some problems with fwc officers.

here are rules and regs for Florida

RECREATIONAL HARVESTING INFORMATION FOR MARINE LIFE SPECIES

http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/coral_questions.htm

 

the best stuff comes into your tank on the rocks you buy with corals on them.i don't see why you can't just order the rock.you can get nice figi for $5 a pound mailed to you anywhere.by the way,tampa bay live rock comes in a bucket with the rock submerged in water.its very live and has lots of hitch hikers like sponge,snails,crabs,small corals

 

Southern District of Florida - Press Release

 

You can get ricordea since they are basically sea anemones, but that guy was taking just too much and selling them on top of that.

 

in Fla.. check out this thread

http://www.3reef.com/forums/general-reef-topics/florida-laws-harvesting-marine-fish-inverts-pants-48259.html

 

I'm pretty sure you can go to the State of Florida fisheries and wildlife website...there, they have all the info on collecting.

We go to the Keys as often as we can. All we take is what is legal, according to the State of Florida fisheries and wildlife websites...

Soft corals, hermit crabs, and some fish---damsels mostly--but you CAN NOT take live rock, or any hard corals. Even rubble that's laying around (and there, there is a lot), so it's tempting, but ILLEGAL. Also, no sea fans, sea whips, or sea pens.

I'm pretty sure you have to have a salt-water fishing license to do any collecting as well.

However, if you're in the desert in AZ, you are probably going to the Gulf of Mexico to collect...if so, you need to check with that state's requirements as far as what you can and cannot collect.

There are a lot of sites that you can buy live rock on for fairly cheap...I had a lot of base rock in my tank and had a small load of live rock sent to me (for 100 bucks) that I added into my tank. Okay, so it took a little while before all my L.R. was nice and cultured, but it was neat to see my L.R. growing and what changed about it every day. If you use an additive like Marc Wiess' reef vital DNA or a product called Purple Up, it happens a lot faster...