Making Live Rock

lbiminiblue

Well-Known Member
This idea came to me during my trip buying some Live Rock. I have pictures, I'll post them later. I saw the store had their little 55 gallon drum with live rock in water, and they were curing it. This brought me to think of making my own. Here's the twist: I live right next to a marina, and we have a boat in the water there. There are several construction jobs going around my neighborhood and plenty of refuse limestone lying around the area. I was thinking of getting some of the nicer pieces I could find and putting them in a big egg crate basket and tying it off with dockline to the dock. I would let the rock sit in the water for as long as it takes to get nice and colonized, come back later, pick it up, and sell it to an LFS. I know several that buy rock.

Is this doable?
 

DaveK

Well-Known Member
Check your local regulations. Live rock collection in Florida is generally banned. You don't want to have a problem removing your live rock later, even though you put it in there in the first place.

Also, solid limestone is not very porous. I think it would provide a less than ideal surface area. Consider some of the man made products such as agrocrete, with is course aragonite sand mixed with cament and formed into LR kind of shapes.
 

lbiminiblue

Well-Known Member
Check your local regulations. Live rock collection in Florida is generally banned. You don't want to have a problem removing your live rock later, even though you put it in there in the first place.

Also, solid limestone is not very porous. I think it would provide a less than ideal surface area. Consider some of the man made products such as agrocrete, with is course aragonite sand mixed with cament and formed into LR kind of shapes.
Yeah I was wondering about that. They can tend to be sticklers about that, through no fault of their own. I might just make my own....I've looked into that before, and it seems relatively inexpensive.
 

SantaMonicaHelp

RS Sponsor
I hope you were able to accomplish your project without any trouble :)
If you did, please tell us about it and send us some pictures!

-Nancy
 

cracker

Well-Known Member
I'm also in florida, The authorities are pretty strick on collecting liverock in"state waters" In my research concerning aquaculture in florida waters It's mind boggleing difficult to get permits.Also growing live rock falls under this as well. Ok it 's illegal to collect liverock from state waters.even if you put your own rock on the bottom it's considered state property.( I believe ) If You hang it from a dock on "private" property and it doesn't touch the floor/bottom Your ok. A marina doesn't really have good clean sea water. fuelspills, people dumping holding tanks, runoff etc. Now if You had access to a dock on the intercoastal with nice clean water for personal use, I'd do it. If You want to sell it. I think it's considered a commercial enterprise so I don't know about that. I found the legal stuff at "My FWC" and I googled Aquaculture permits in florida. I even contacted the guys at TBS in Tampa. They went thru all kinds of difficulty getting their permits. Ask them what they think. The state has gone to great lengths to tie up loopholes on live rock collecting.
 
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