FireEater
Guest
I hope this helps everyone who would like to learn what to collect. There is so much life to collect on the coast, but you need to know what is safe for your tanks.
Here is one of the large clams we collected in Boliver. He is about the size of a dime. You can see his little snorkle on the left. We also collect the little pea size ones in the sand.
A decorator that has attached zoas to himself.
A Sargassum Nudibranch. I have not had luck with these in the past. I thought I would try two in my refugium this time though and see what they do. This one immediatly attached to the glass and has been eating with his mouth. The other went down the overflow and into the micron bag. I will get him out and put him in the sump with the cheato and carlupa.
The eggs (curly cues) of the nudibranch in the Sargassum.
A sargassum shrimp. These guys are great to have and fun to watch. I threw a bunch into the sump, refugium and main tank.
I picked up some Limpets off the rocks. You can also collect the keyhole limpets. The two keyhole limpet are marked by the blue arrows below. Once they blend in with the rock, the only time you will notice them is when they move. You will then see a white spot on the rock until they move back. These guys NEVER move more than an inch from thier spots. Then they move back perfectly in the same spot. Third pic down.
Keyhole Limpets, first pic is recently, second pic was when they were new. The Oyster above them died as they do not do good in our tanks. Water must be to clean. I have not tried target feeding the oyster to see if it would live longer.
This is a Sargeant Major Damselfish. I put him in the refugium.
The Sargassum Angler. These fish need a tank of thier own. The will eat anything that is thier size or smaller. Feed only once a week as they need time to digest thier food. They are neat to have and watch as they are more active than other anglers. Didn't someone say they were showing up in some LFS?
The crab on the left is a Sargassum Crab, a good crab. The one on the right is a baby Blue Crab, A very bad crab. The main difference between the two is the good one a ROUNDED, the bad one is Pointy. The points on the sides of the Blue Crab is a dead give away.
A spheramatoid, which you can read about in this THREAD Link is invalid
A local Pistol Shrimp I caught on the Dike.
Local Pods. I will figure out an easier way to collect these guys. We also collect Mysis Shrimp.
Sorry for the bad pic on this one. I will try and replace it later with a better one. This guy is not like the rock anemones. It is not sticky and the body is leathery feeling.
The Molly Blennie. These guys gobble down every prepared food you put in the tank. I have not seen them eat any algea at all.
These snails are collected in the marsh areas. They mainly stay out of the tank water up along the edges. I've seen them clean the edges up some but they mostly stay closed up. I suspect they move along at night. Not really worth collecting.
These snails I collect along the dike. The act just like the snails above.
You can collect the Ghost Shrimp by the hundreds. They do well in your tank and can also be used as food.
A Gobie you can collect in Galveston. He started to color up a little but was lost when the tank cracked.
A green Pod we collect on the dike.
Hermits can also be collected and they do well. But beware, the bigger they get the more they become a nuisance. These hermits will kill snails to get a shell. I usually add them to the sump. One big one and a few small ones. They clean up things well. If you put any in your main tank, make sure they are small. This one is smaller than a dime. Keep an eye on them. We do have two types down here. I will go out and get pics of both soon. One is the striped kind with pointy claws and the other is more rounded off and not pointy.
Rock Anemone. They can be collected off the Jettys at night. They are hard to get and you need to be careful as to not damage the foot. They come in reds, blues, whites and purples. They will eat fish and shrimp so be careful in your tank. I have not ever had a problem with them and now only keep one in my tank. They need to be fed a piece of shrimp or squirted with mysis and brine every once in a while. The more you feed, the faster they grow. And NO clowns will not host them.
2 mouths on this one
The much sought after peppermints collected from the Jettys at night.
Pipefish. I have had good luck getting them to eat frozen brine. They need to be treated as seahorses as they are fragile.
The Porcelain Crab. I collect these on the Dike. Once they are in your tank they will color up nicely.
A Whelk is a very bad snail. These guys eat meat and kill other snails to eat.
A Puffer Fish. These fish have never given me problems on the main tank. They grow slow and eat prepared food. The eyes are blue and the skin is smooth.
Rock Crab. Do not put these in the main tank. I keep one in my refugium only. They need to be fed once a week, piece of shrimp or fish. They come in a variety of colors.
I hope this helps everyone out this Summer as the sargassum rolls in. Most of this stuff you can collect at anytime. Remember, if you are not sure on what you should put in your tank, then ask here first before you put anything in your tanks. Try and post pics or refer to pics posted already.
I will post more pics as I collect this Summer.
Mark
Here is one of the large clams we collected in Boliver. He is about the size of a dime. You can see his little snorkle on the left. We also collect the little pea size ones in the sand.
A decorator that has attached zoas to himself.
A Sargassum Nudibranch. I have not had luck with these in the past. I thought I would try two in my refugium this time though and see what they do. This one immediatly attached to the glass and has been eating with his mouth. The other went down the overflow and into the micron bag. I will get him out and put him in the sump with the cheato and carlupa.
The eggs (curly cues) of the nudibranch in the Sargassum.
A sargassum shrimp. These guys are great to have and fun to watch. I threw a bunch into the sump, refugium and main tank.
I picked up some Limpets off the rocks. You can also collect the keyhole limpets. The two keyhole limpet are marked by the blue arrows below. Once they blend in with the rock, the only time you will notice them is when they move. You will then see a white spot on the rock until they move back. These guys NEVER move more than an inch from thier spots. Then they move back perfectly in the same spot. Third pic down.
Keyhole Limpets, first pic is recently, second pic was when they were new. The Oyster above them died as they do not do good in our tanks. Water must be to clean. I have not tried target feeding the oyster to see if it would live longer.
This is a Sargeant Major Damselfish. I put him in the refugium.
The Sargassum Angler. These fish need a tank of thier own. The will eat anything that is thier size or smaller. Feed only once a week as they need time to digest thier food. They are neat to have and watch as they are more active than other anglers. Didn't someone say they were showing up in some LFS?
The crab on the left is a Sargassum Crab, a good crab. The one on the right is a baby Blue Crab, A very bad crab. The main difference between the two is the good one a ROUNDED, the bad one is Pointy. The points on the sides of the Blue Crab is a dead give away.
A spheramatoid, which you can read about in this THREAD Link is invalid
A local Pistol Shrimp I caught on the Dike.
Local Pods. I will figure out an easier way to collect these guys. We also collect Mysis Shrimp.
Sorry for the bad pic on this one. I will try and replace it later with a better one. This guy is not like the rock anemones. It is not sticky and the body is leathery feeling.
The Molly Blennie. These guys gobble down every prepared food you put in the tank. I have not seen them eat any algea at all.
These snails are collected in the marsh areas. They mainly stay out of the tank water up along the edges. I've seen them clean the edges up some but they mostly stay closed up. I suspect they move along at night. Not really worth collecting.
These snails I collect along the dike. The act just like the snails above.
You can collect the Ghost Shrimp by the hundreds. They do well in your tank and can also be used as food.
A Gobie you can collect in Galveston. He started to color up a little but was lost when the tank cracked.
A green Pod we collect on the dike.
Hermits can also be collected and they do well. But beware, the bigger they get the more they become a nuisance. These hermits will kill snails to get a shell. I usually add them to the sump. One big one and a few small ones. They clean up things well. If you put any in your main tank, make sure they are small. This one is smaller than a dime. Keep an eye on them. We do have two types down here. I will go out and get pics of both soon. One is the striped kind with pointy claws and the other is more rounded off and not pointy.
Rock Anemone. They can be collected off the Jettys at night. They are hard to get and you need to be careful as to not damage the foot. They come in reds, blues, whites and purples. They will eat fish and shrimp so be careful in your tank. I have not ever had a problem with them and now only keep one in my tank. They need to be fed a piece of shrimp or squirted with mysis and brine every once in a while. The more you feed, the faster they grow. And NO clowns will not host them.
2 mouths on this one
The much sought after peppermints collected from the Jettys at night.
Pipefish. I have had good luck getting them to eat frozen brine. They need to be treated as seahorses as they are fragile.
The Porcelain Crab. I collect these on the Dike. Once they are in your tank they will color up nicely.
A Whelk is a very bad snail. These guys eat meat and kill other snails to eat.
A Puffer Fish. These fish have never given me problems on the main tank. They grow slow and eat prepared food. The eyes are blue and the skin is smooth.
Rock Crab. Do not put these in the main tank. I keep one in my refugium only. They need to be fed once a week, piece of shrimp or fish. They come in a variety of colors.
I hope this helps everyone out this Summer as the sargassum rolls in. Most of this stuff you can collect at anytime. Remember, if you are not sure on what you should put in your tank, then ask here first before you put anything in your tanks. Try and post pics or refer to pics posted already.
I will post more pics as I collect this Summer.
Mark