FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jul 17, 2014 21:13:57 GMT -5
Hello I'm new here and new to the rock community. I'm from the Tampa Bay area in Florida. Rockhounding for 2weeks and I'm loving it and learning alot.
Recently my wife an I went to Honeymoon Island in Florida. We found some neat looking rocks with amazing colors and crystals. Not knowing what we were finding, we decided to take some home with us an got on web to see if anything would show up. To our surprise the rocks we found were agatized coral with crystals. We were amazed at our finds and became addicted to adding to our collection(well, mainly Im the rock addict).
My wife's grandfather gave her a rock tumbler many years ago, it just sat tucked away. Until a few days ago lugged it in for the first time and... IT WORKED! I'm currently on my first tumble cycle of agate. Unfortunately patience isn't one of my top qualities haha.
I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be frequently checking this site and posting pictures of our finds. I've noticed this is a good place to gather info for this new hobby of mine.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 17, 2014 22:09:51 GMT -5
Welcome from tx Dave
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roundrock
noticing nice landscape pebbles
Holding on to the Stone of Destiny
Member since June 2014
Posts: 91
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Post by roundrock on Jul 17, 2014 23:27:56 GMT -5
Welcome from MS Donny
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Post by manofglass on Jul 17, 2014 23:31:51 GMT -5
Welcome from Michigan
Walt
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junglejim
spending too much on rocks
Member since January 2014
Posts: 344
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Post by junglejim on Jul 17, 2014 23:56:43 GMT -5
Welcome from Missouri. I'd like to see some of the coral, I really like to look at pictures and RTH delivers.
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RockIt2Me
has rocks in the head
Sometimes I have to tell myself, "It's not worth the jail time."
Member since December 2009
Posts: 668
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Post by RockIt2Me on Jul 18, 2014 5:48:49 GMT -5
Welcome from the swamps of Louisiana!
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jul 18, 2014 11:30:00 GMT -5
Thank you all for the warm welcome.
Pictures will be coming soon. I have a wagon full, getting them all laid out is a task in its own.
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Post by drocknut on Jul 18, 2014 12:13:20 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum.
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Post by Pat on Jul 18, 2014 12:32:34 GMT -5
Welcome from California!
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jul 18, 2014 12:37:12 GMT -5
my first attempt at uploading our collect. All specimens are under 5 inches. [/a] this bunch is 5 inches + and my favorite larger agate as of now
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deserthound
spending too much on rocks
Member since December 2013
Posts: 390
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Post by deserthound on Jul 18, 2014 12:55:59 GMT -5
Greetings from N. Calif. very nice collection.
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Post by snowmom on Jul 22, 2014 6:13:32 GMT -5
welcome from Michigan!
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Post by Jugglerguy on Jul 22, 2014 8:15:26 GMT -5
Another welcome from Michigan. This is a very good place to gather info. jamesp is the expert on Florida coral. You'll learn a lot from him.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Jul 22, 2014 9:11:57 GMT -5
Welcome from Atlanta. You moved to a great coral spot. I will be curious to see what you find. A man from Tampa got me started collecting coral. He had a rock shop in Tampa for many years. Sold a lot of coral, and cut many cabs from it. He used to go in the phosphate mines of Polk county when you could get on the property and collect.
The Tampa Bay Coral kind of started the coral collecting hobby. Most of the surface material was collected but the continuos dredging operations should keep you supplied. Ballast Point was a big collection area until they made rules about collecting there. I am not to familiar with Tampa stuff. Been to Honeymoon and the islands off New Port Richey. Anclote Key and the tiny rock covered islands. Found a few corals on the islands and a few spear points. Lots of cool rocks on those little islands. They are accessible by kayak, all to the left of the channel and close in as you paddle the 3 miles out to Anclote Key.
A boat or sea kayak would get you around the bay to the dredgings around it. Beware of the wind in that big bay. The coral layer is usually thin and under the sand 5-20 feet deep. So there is often much more sand than coral to pick thru. Making the water line a good spot to hunt as the coral gets washed out. And any construction diggings may have coral.
The third photo down looks like petrified algae/silt. The little specks in it give it away. Lots of that in the area. The coral should have some directional markings or corallite structure somewhere on the rock.
Looking forward to some finds. Welcome to the forum.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jul 24, 2014 11:34:20 GMT -5
Welcome from Atlanta. You moved to a great coral spot. I will be curious to see what you find. A man from Tampa got me started collecting coral. He had a rock shop in Tampa for many years. Sold a lot of coral, and cut many cabs from it. He used to go in the phosphate mines of Polk county when you could get on the property and collect. The Tampa Bay Coral kind of started the coral collecting hobby. Most of the surface material was collected but the continuos dredging operations should keep you supplied. Ballast Point was a big collection area until they made rules about collecting there. I am not to familiar with Tampa stuff. Been to Honeymoon and the islands off New Port Richey. Anclote Key and the tiny rock covered islands. Found a few corals on the islands and a few spear points. Lots of cool rocks on those little islands. They are accessible by kayak, all to the left of the channel and close in as you paddle the 3 miles out to Anclote Key. A boat or sea kayak would get you around the bay to the dredgings around it. Beware of the wind in that big bay. The coral layer is usually thin and under the sand 5-20 feet deep. So there is often much more sand than coral to pick thru. Making the water line a good spot to hunt as the coral gets washed out. And any construction diggings may have coral. The third photo down looks like petrified algae/silt. The little specks in it give it away. Lots of that in the area. The coral should have some directional markings or corallite structure somewhere on the rock. Looking forward to some finds. Welcome to the forum. I'm really excited about what I will find. Funny that you mention the small islands off New Port Richey, I used to take my jon boat out to Durney Key(first island from the hooters channel) and Anclote Island, I would spend weekends out there camping and fishing. I was only 14 then, so it's been a long time since Ive been out there. I did some shell collecting and came home with buckets of starfish and sand dollars. I need to invest in another small boat to do some collecting out there. I live in Hernando now, near Weeki Wachee Springs and curious to find out if there's anything worthwhile out there(besides Mermaids) as well, never really looked before. Thats really neat about the petrified algae. I'm learning so much about the different corals and minerals around here. Im starting to learn what to look for, instead of hounding blindly. If it looked different and glassy I would pick it up as to picking through an overlooking something with potential. At first I thought I was finding sea glass but after researching my finds it my grabbed my attention. For my next trip I will have a lot more knowledge thanks to this group here and sometimes Google, haha.
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jamesp
Cave Dweller
Member since October 2012
Posts: 36,158
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Post by jamesp on Jul 24, 2014 12:52:15 GMT -5
Well you are at a great spot for fossils and rocks. You might try the Hillsbourough river too. And you are close to the Peace River, a fossil haven. A beach about a 80 miles? south is covered in sharks teeth. Ah, it is Venice Beach www.fishingcorps.com/html/the-best-places-to-find-shark-teeth-in-florida.htmlAnd coral. The coral can be found well inland to. My friend that had the rock shop cut cabs out of coral he collected on a 5 acre lot near I-75 just east of Tampa. A large portion of his business was selling cabs from that one lot for many years.
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The Dad_Ohs
fully equipped rock polisher
Take me to your Labradorite!!
Member since September 2012
Posts: 1,860
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Post by The Dad_Ohs on Jul 24, 2014 15:35:39 GMT -5
Hello I'm new here and new to the rock community. I'm from the Tampa Bay area in Florida. Rockhounding for 2weeks and I'm loving it and learning alot. Recently my wife an I went to Honeymoon Island in Florida. We found some neat looking rocks with amazing colors and crystals. Not knowing what we were finding, we decided to take some home with us an got on web to see if anything would show up. To our surprise the rocks we found were agatized coral with crystals. We were amazed at our finds and became addicted to adding to our collection(well, mainly Im the rock addict). My wife's grandfather gave her a rock tumbler many years ago, it just sat tucked away. Until a few days ago lugged it in for the first time and... IT WORKED! I'm currently on my first tumble cycle of agate. Unfortunately patience isn't one of my top qualities haha. I have a sneaking suspicion I'll be frequently checking this site and posting pictures of our finds. I've noticed this is a good place to gather info for this new hobby of mine. Welcome from the east coast, aka (Titusville) space coast.... nor rocks/coral just and sand here. West coast has a lot of possibilities for collects coral, fossil shells and stuff... glad you joined put up some pics of what you tumble !!
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Fossilman
Cave Dweller
Member since January 2009
Posts: 20,685
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Post by Fossilman on Jul 25, 2014 8:49:28 GMT -5
Welcome to the forum......Oregon here..
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jul 25, 2014 15:13:25 GMT -5
Well you are at a great spot for fossils and rocks. You might try the Hillsbourough river too. And you are close to the Peace River, a fossil haven. A beach about a 80 miles? south is covered in sharks teeth. Ah, it is Venice Beach www.fishingcorps.com/html/the-best-places-to-find-shark-teeth-in-florida.htmlAnd coral. The coral can be found well inland to. My friend that had the rock shop cut cabs out of coral he collected on a 5 acre lot near I-75 just east of Tampa. A large portion of his business was selling cabs from that one lot for many years. That sounds awesaome, I can't wait to get out and find new stuff. My mobility is as of somebody 40 years older than me. Im only 30 with the mobility of a toddler(at times),spirit and wisdom of a senior(not that being "senior" is a bad thing. Multiple Sclerosis got me at 23 and its been riding me every step I take towards a fulfilling life ever since since.
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FLrockhound
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2014
Posts: 343
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Post by FLrockhound on Jul 25, 2014 15:16:47 GMT -5
Thank you, fossilman and The Dad_Ohs . A lot of friendly and helpful people here!
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