Wild Hawaiian tank

[kablamo]

Hey all, i have a slightly crazy idea, can anybody tell me if this is a good idea or a terrible idea?
I just set up and started cycling a 12 gallon eclipse system.
I live in honolulu and am thinking of taking my boat out to sand island (not a reef, just a bunch of rubble) and grabbing 100 percent of my aquarium contents from the ocean.
There is plenty of live rock scattered around and also plenty of sand.
I may also try to net a few damsels and inverts while i'm at it.
When I move to Japan next year I can just put all of the contents back where I found them!
Anyone think this is a dumb idea?
Anyone have any advise on how to do this sustainably?
Thanks!

 

[pnkflydlvr]

sounds cool and i can't really think of a reason not to, unless its illegal to collect the stuff.

 

[morval]

i think it would work but make sure its legal/get a permit

 

[rushprop]

cutting out the middle man. Like everyone else said, just make sure its legal, or you make it legal. Or at least do it under the cover of darkness.

 

[privatejoker]

I like the idea and I also like the under cover of darkness idea. Go for it.

 

[markw]

I LOVE this idea, maybe if you could take some pics of you doing it (if its legal of course), in iether case, watch for sharks (i hear theyre bad there, but im not sure). I cant wait to see how this turns out.
Mark

 

[nano reefer]

hope this works out. get a license to catch the livestock like fish too.

 

[alexmir]

I would vote against putting it all back.............If you added a fish, plant, or coral to the tank, then put it back in the ocean it could cause problems with parasites. Bringing foreign things into a diff. part of the ocean could be bad news

 

[kablamo]

Originally Posted by alexmir
http:///forum/post/2689025
I would vote against putting it all back.............If you added a fish, plant, or coral to the tank, then put it back in the ocean it could cause problems with parasites. Bringing foreign things into a diff. part of the ocean could be bad news
Even if I harvest EVERYthing from Keihi Lagoon and bring Everything back to Keihi?
I'm not planning on paying a dime for livestock, rock, or sand.
I know where to get Hawaiian Zebra Hermits, they are EVERYwhere, and I will probably only get one or two damsels, because everything else is either too big or too rare (moorish idols, hawaiian cleaner wrasse)
I don't really understand where a parasite would come from that would be a problem going back to the same place.
I'd like to keep this tank 100 percent Keihi Lagoon.

 

[mimzy]

it sounds like a great idea to me if u get permits for it - but the whole putting it back thing might be risky... the water you will be using for waterchanges might have a different content of who-knows-what than the ocean and you could set off a whole chain reaction and blow up the universe.
...also, I'd be worried about what kinds of mad crazy hitchhikers you'd get in that natural live sand....

 

[kablamo]

Originally Posted by Mimzy
http:///forum/post/2689034
it sounds like a great idea to me if u get permits for it - but the whole putting it back thing might be risky... the water you will be using for waterchanges might have a different content of who-knows-what than the ocean and you could set off a whole chain reaction and blow up the universe.
...also, I'd be worried about what kinds of mad crazy hitchhikers you'd get in that natural live sand....
Whos to say I don't grab a few gallons a week from the ocean it self?
And the hitchhikers are going to be half the fun!
I may grab the rock and sand and wait a week and see if i get anything worth showcasing!
The biggest problem for me is that every piece of live rock has a little tuft of hair algae on it, i hate that stuff.
Oh, and i'm not going to dump the water back in the ocean, just the fish rock and sand. Anyway, i don't have to decide any of that now. For now i need to plan the tank!
Can anyone recommed some native hawaiian species i can look for small enough for a 12 gallon? I'm planning on having one fish, MAYBE two at the most.

 

[kablamo]

So today I am going to grab the sand and the rocks, I will probably wait a while to see what kind of hitchhikers i get. I'll take some pictures.

 

[mauishelldiver]

Contact department of aquatic resources and they'll give you a free permit that allows you to take up to five fish a day. Or you can get a commercial permit for only fifty bucks a year that lets you take unlimited fish as long as you send it monthly reports and can show you have facilities to keep fish alive long enough to sell.
The guy in charge on Oahu (i live maui) is skippy hau, I think. happy fishing

 

[kablamo]

So I went and picked up some sand today and it's amazing how much garbage was in a one gallon jug of sand, at least 30 small pieces of brown glass from broken beer bottles, several green chunks of glass, and a lot of broken porcelain, all smoothed over by a few decades of wear. Its kind of sobering how much crap is in this sand.
Oh, and so far, I haven't seen a single living thing in the sand.

 

[krazykarel]

Yes it's unfortunate what's happening to Hawaii beaches due to people who don't give a rat's pitute. A friend of mine just went to Borabora and said the beaches and even water there blow Hawaii's away due to lack of pollution.