Wild Harvesting Materials

[bucketlord656]

Hey all, I'm an experienced freshwater keeper who's looking to dip my toes into saltwater. I've done my research, and I'm very much of the opinion that wild caught fish and corals are a no go. I'm from an area where wild corals are something I've never had the pleasure of seeing and I have no interest in the fish. What I do have an interest in is the sand and water. I'm more than aware this risks parasites, but that's something I'm more than happy to deal with. Heck, I think it'll add to the environment in that it'll make it more natural and introduce more species and bacteria than I could any other way. The problem is, not only am I not sure of the legality of this or its morality, I'm not even entirely sure how I could tell if the sand and water near me is even somewhat viable in a saltwater tank. What are your thoughts?

 

[bucketlord656]

Also worth asking, any ideas what might hitchhike in clumps of sand or in the water column near a shore? I haven't seen much life along the beaches in my area past bryozoans or the occasional worm

 

[EnterName]

Your profile says you live near the gulf of Mexico where the sand is mostly quartz (I believe). Quartz isn't necessary the best substrate for a reef tank. Aragonite is usually preferred.

That doesn't mean it won't work, but if it leeches silicates into the tank, you will have to deal with diatoms for some time, and there is no buffering capacity to it which would help with water chemistry.

 

[musselman]

If the sand and water at your beach sustains life there, it should in your tank as well. My native tank uses only sand and water from the beach. I assume that everything is illegal. I also assume that nobody cares, but I live in a place where I am often the only person in sight if I go to the beach. Ethically, I think the objective is not to leave the beach degraded. If you fill a bucket with sand at the water line, the hole will be filled by the time you stop digging and nobody would ever know or care. Water? Go ahead and try to empty the ocean. Now, if you were to go around scraping all the life out of tide pools, that would be something else. If you pick up stuff that the ocean has left high and dry and soon to die, like a thousand other beachcombers, who would ever trouble you?

 

[LiverockRocks]

Hey all, I'm an experienced freshwater keeper who's looking to dip my toes into saltwater. I've done my research, and I'm very much of the opinion that wild caught fish and corals are a no go. I'm from an area where wild corals are something I've never had the pleasure of seeing and I have no interest in the fish. What I do have an interest in is the sand and water. I'm more than aware this risks parasites, but that's something I'm more than happy to deal with. Heck, I think it'll add to the environment in that it'll make it more natural and introduce more species and bacteria than I could any other way. The problem is, not only am I not sure of the legality of this or its morality, I'm not even entirely sure how I could tell if the sand and water near me is even somewhat viable in a saltwater tank. What are

It’s important to check local regulations, better yet, purchase legally farmed ocean products from licensed businesses - like TBS or KP.

 

[Fish Fan]

I wouldn't suggest trying to collect sand from local beaches. In addition to possibly violating local laws, the sand can be full of everything from gasoline to sunscreen and who knows what else.

I would suggest ordering sand (and rocks!) from Tampa Bay Saltwater as mentioned above:

Tampa Bay Saltwater - America's #1 Live Rock for Reef Aquariums

Tampa Bay Saltwater sustainably farms ocean aquacultured live rock and hand harvested sand. TBS Live Rock provides beneficial microorganisms, creates a less stressful environment for inhabitants and provides natural biofiltration by the lifeforms found in and on it. Healthy live rock, from our...

tbsaltwater.com

Good luck!

 

[TJ42]

I bought a bunch of live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. I notice they sell sand too that is cultured. They have close ups of it in pictures and it sure looks good with varied content. I'd go that way if you wanted the natural way. I already had a bunch of sand or I would've bought that from them too. Their rock is really great!

 

[The Ugly Phase]

also make sure its legal to take anything from the beach at all some places is jail time for even removing a shell

 

[Malum Argenteum]

If the sand and water at your beach sustains life there, it should in your tank as well.

This supposes that all marine life is relevantly the same and a tiny box full of recirculated water is the same as the ocean.

The OP's location is in close proximity to a naval base, a petroleum refinery, and the mouth of a river that drains an 8k sq mile watershed. I'm guessing pretty much no one would voluntarily put anything from any of those sources into their tank.

What are your thoughts?

Lots of things work until they don't. One serious risk with using materials and supplies from non-standard sources is that if something goes wrong in your tank (chronic cloudy water, unexplained fish deaths, anything really), the difficulty in ruling out possible causes is magnified greatly by the presence of unknown variables. If a person uses, say, RO water and Instant Ocean, there are thousands of data points to compare to in figuring out what might be causing any given problems.

If the goal is more about keeping it "natural" than keeping animals alive, then do whatever (though keep in mind that marine tanks are very, very far from natural and some novel hitchhikers won't change that more than 0.001%). If the metric for success is rather the long and healthy lives of the livestock one has committed to caring for, then reducing all potential failure points seems the way to go.

 

[fish_collector]

Why not just try it and let us know how it goes?

 

[D'sreef]

I know in Alabama it's punishable by a $100 fine and up to 30 days in prison, and I am pretty sure Mississippi is the same.