# Finding Live Rock



## motica1 (Jul 29, 2009)

I've spent a lot of my life in the water diving, snorkeling, fishing and lobstering. Instead of buying expensive live rock, could I just find some in the ocean, along with sand? I don't have to get all the rock for the tank,just a few peices to seed some base rock. Maybe a couple pounds of live sand to mix in with aragonite sand.

For a 30 gallon tank, how many pounds of sand would I need for a 4" sand bed?:-?


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## onefish2fish (Jul 22, 2008)

in alot of places, taking rock is illegal so i would check first. the sand, if you go out far enough should be alright but may compact to much when in your tank. i do however know a guy that takes a cup full of sand and leaves it in his tank for a week or so then removes it. theres a chance of introducing something nasty but this also brings benefits as well.


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## tales (Aug 29, 2009)

You cant remove rocks from reefs, most places they are allowed to collect them they must break off the reef 1st and wash up on shore (We know some country's pick at live reefs)

As for the sand that could be trouble, that holds a lot of bad stuff. You can use play sand free of silicates like southdown or new castle, this can be found in home centers.
All you need is to add a cup of live sand from another reefers tank that has been running for some time.

4" is a little deep maybe 12-14lbs of sand


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