can i do this?

im going to Hawaii on my buddies plane and was wondering if i could "snag" some free live rock from a reef down there
i am not asking if it is legal im asking if it is ok for my tank it has 4 damsels in it and nothing else so i am not worried about another cycle period
so do you thing this is a good idea if so ill most likely get 2-3 hundred lbs or less
let me know what you think

 

Where do you have the damsels? In your 750?Im pretty sure its illegal. And youre going to have die off from the rock so its going to cycle.

 

Well besides the ethical reasons you shouldn't do this I'd be worried about what hitchhikers you might get a hold of.

 

The die off you are going to get from point A to B will be tremendous. You can always just nuke the rock when you get back and let your current rock seed it. That would be your safest bet.

 

Why bother & take risk?

You are going to need 3X that amount of rock anyway for your 750.

Certainly is illegal, unethical and immoral - those laws are there for a reason.

Why start cutting corners now???

 

+2 Why chance going to prison and why damage the reefs further for rock that you're going to have to transport a long way just to end up having to "kill" it. It would be much cheaper in the long run to just buy dead base rock if you're looking to save some money. Check out Marco Rocks:

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To answer your question sure it will be fine to add that rock to your tank just be sure there are no killer critters hidden in it.. Thats assuming there is a return trip Good luck I say nothing is illegal unless you get caught..
Now when I ran my 750 I had close to 3,500 lbs + I also used rock I hauled back from Fla. I set up a 800 gl tank for a Local Judge and it was almost 6,000 lbs of rock in that one
I hope its a C130 Hercules your buddy is flying Kidding and good luck with it.

 

It is illegal in Hawaii to take anything from their waters. Not worth the charges in my opinion.

 

I've taken some from Hawaii. The rocks are very smoth and round. Nothing nice looking about them. I like my reef to look awesome by having natural reef looking rocks. As for your tank, it will be o.k. It's just a matter of how good you want your tank to look. These rocks will not make your tank look all that great.

 

If you can see rocks you need more croal growth.. Rocks are just setting places for corals.. ;D