Harvest your own reef life?

[tory]

How about harvesting my own anemonie? (to begin) What would go into transporting it? How long do you think it could live in-transit?

I live in Spokane, WA...does anyone know about areas "near by" where it is legal to harvest live sand, rock, and/or reef life? If Dive Cert., and ordinances allow, how would you go about harvesting reef life? Has anyone done this or know anyone that has?

 

[MzWeazelle]

One of the biggest problems is that pretty much everything we keep in our tanks comes from much warmer water than any place close. You would have to keep a cool water tank (not sure how cool) to make local animals happy.

 

[Angelscrx]

I wouldn't harvest anything from the ocean. Join a local reef club and grow your own reef. If you buy a few corals and then frag and trade you can have a beautiful tank in time (patience again). Inexperienced harvestors can cause a lot of damage to a reef. Imagine if all the reefers in Washington went to a reef and just took what they needed without any limitations or controls in place? It would soon be wiped out. If you want great deals on corals and stuff go to www.GARF.org and check out their specials or look at the sponsors on this site. Just keep in mind that reefs are in limited supply in the wild and we should really try and conserve that natural beauty and really develop the coral farming process like GARF does. My .02 cents.

 

[tory]

Ah! I don't mean that I want to just jump in somewhere with my rock hammer (kidding--I don't have a rock hammer--if there even is such a thing)...

I am what you might call an excentrc person...once I get into something--I tend to go to extremes. To give you an example: my idea was to go get dive certified so that I could enjoy the ocean and it's natural beauty up close. Thought maybe I'd learn something while I was down there (with a bunch of instructors and rescue people). Then, I got the bright idea that I might even meet some people through that hobby that kept saltwater fish and life back at home. THEN, I thought, WOW--I might even meet people that are professional reef harvesters and maybe, I might get to find a way that is legal (and NEVER harmful) to learn and be privy to harvesting life with them for my own tank. (what great stories, right? "I got this beauty in Figi and this one in the Carribean"....etc...) Then I thought, what if I meet my future husband this way? He could propose to me underwater! ....and it gets more silly as my thought process goes on....

The very last thing I ever want to do is hurt nature and it's habitat. People do bring our saltwater friends up, though, and I guess I just asked the question poorly. So, I'll try again: "Where would one go if they want to meet people that professionally dive and know about harvesting reef life legally and with all due respect?" ("and that would lead to me being proposed to underwater?") --kidding about the last part.

Tory

 

[Scooterman]

I'm not sure about the rules oh harvesting corals, fish etc, I think lots has to do with location. I'd check with the local laws to see, I know that fish in Hawaii has been harvested for resell commercially, well most of our fish is purchased for some guy who dives all day catching fish or corals from some beautiful reef, I'm sure there are licenses for that purpose here in the US, not sure about outside our coast though.

 

[Angelscrx]

Tory, I was just saying that there are other ways to enjoy reefing both at home and in the ocean. I personally wouldn't take things from the ocean because tank raised corals tend to live longer and prosper. They can also come back from near death situations better than corals that are straight from the ocean. There are places that harvesting is allowed in controlled numbers and such but since I am not one to do that I couldn't tell you where. There are no places near here that have reefs with corals that you would want in your tank except maybe Aquariums like the one in Seattle. Patience is the way to grow a reef. If you get a good source of live rock it will have plenty of life in it that will surprise you as time passes. I have sponges in different shapes and sizes that have sprung out of my live rock and copepods (little shrimp looking creatures) too. You can always buy base rock for dirt cheap and get some live rock to seed it. Sand beds are a different story. There are too many differnt opinions on that so you have to make up your own mind. Do some research on the DSBs and BB (deep sand beds and bare bottom) tanks. You may want to start with some hardy soft corals in your tank to see how they do first too. Weel have fun and happy hunting.

 

[soldefender]

You have to wait for collectors in Floridia to die to get a license (so I've heard). Very strict and very, very limited.