What have you collected ?

[pmcadams]

I see stuff at the beach and around the inlets quite often and think "That would look nice in my tank".....

What have you caught, captured, collected in the wild that was put in your tank ?

:)

[JNicho]

Not sure where you are located...but be careful...collecting wild specimens requires a permit almost everywhere...you can get hit with some pretty stiff fines if you get caught collecting without them.

[darkdruid]

I lived in Florida for years and if it would live in my tank, I grabbed it. Sand,f ish, crabs, snails, soft corals, plants....I had awesome tanks.

[darkdruid]

Not sure where you are located...but be careful...collecting wild specimens requires a permit almost everywhere...you can get hit with some pretty stiff fines if you get caught collecting without them.
Florida just requires a saltwater fishing license only, 20 aquarium species per day, per person, and a gallon of caulerpa per day.

[JNicho]

Florida just requires a saltwater fishing license only, 20 aquarium species per day, per person, and a gallon of caulerpa per day.

I've lived on both coasts at various points...be careful with the statement above...while it's true you only need a fishing license, there are far more prohibited species in Florida than there are allowed species...and the FWC guys are not very forgiving...ignorance of the law is not going to get you very far in most instances.

[darkdruid]

I agree, that's why you'll notice I said, 20 aquarium species per day, per person. You have to know what's considered legal aquarium species BEFORE you go.

[JNicho]

I agree, that's why you'll notice I said 20 aquarium species per day, per person. You have to know whats considered legal aquarium species BEFORE you go.

Very good...I'm not trying to start a war, LOL!..I just didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea and get in hot water...get caught picking up the wrong thing for your tank and it could really ruin your weekend! Most states have pretty stringent collection laws, my point was just that people need to be sure and do the research first.

[irfisher]

I found a rock anemone in the Indian River. I was a really cool but aggressive. It would snatch anything that got close to it. Shrimp, fish, crabs, snails and a yuma were on its food list. It is now living back in the river.

[DThompson]

Florida just requires a saltwater fishing license only, 20 aquarium species per day, per person, and a gallon of caulerpa per day.

Yup. I have some beautiful rics from Florida. I do believe the laws are changing this year. But my understanding is that the causal collector will still be able to do it.

[greenbean36191]

RBTAs, GBTAs, A. bicinctus, Fungia, tridacnids, Acropora cervicornis (none of these were for my home tank), Trochus, cowries, Nassarius, Astraea, about a dozen different species of sea hare, 3 or 4 species of nudibranch and their food, lettuce slugs, several different species of cleaner shrimp, arrow crabs, all sorts of blennies, neon gobies, several species of sea cucumber, several species of brittle/serpent stars, Linckia multifora, sand sifting stars, Echinaster, Chaetomorpha, Halimeda, half a dozen different species of Caulerpa, shaving brush algae, Ulva, Gracelaria, lots of different sponges, tons of zoanthids and palythoa, a couple different species of gorgonian, star polyps, fighting conchs, snowflake eels, seahorses, horseshoe crabs, mantis shrimp, pistol shrimp, pufferfish, burrfish, emerald crabs, pipefish, several types of hermit crabs, cerith snails, cone snails... and I'm sure I'm forgetting lots of stuff.

A lot of this stuff (e.g. A. cervicornis) went into lab systems and was strictly for research. You CANNOT collect it legally without special research permits, so don't even think about it. Alot of it was also stuff I just kept for a few weeks in dedicated tanks before I let it go again, so it isn't all stuff you should throw in a reef tank.

If you plan to go collecting, know your local laws and obey them. Also, nothing that has been in a system with anything from any other part of the world should ever go back to the ocean, even if you find out you can't keep it, so know what you're collecting BEFORE you take it. Don't just grab every cool animal you see and find out later if it's something that you can keep (or worse, something that could hurt you).

[theyammieguy]

I might collect some peppermint shrimp this summer. I think that's about the only thing worth collecting in Galveston.

[pmcadams]

If you plan to go collecting, know your local laws and obey them...

Do you know where such a list, species legal to collect, exist on the web for Florida ?

[ackee]

I've collected almost every fish I have had over the last 30 years. I did buy a pair of false perculas 8 years ago, and still have them. I've collected dozens of tropical Atlantic species here in NJ, all of them Gulf Stream strays, including Angelfish, 4 species of Butterflys, Lookdowns, Burrfishes, Cow and Trunkfish, Short Bigeyes, Southern Blowfish (a great fish), Oceanic Tangs, Triggerfish, Damsels, Seahorses, and many others. There are some interesting local inverts, like colorful tube worm clusters, but these often carry tiny crabs that grow quickly. I used to collect lots of things in the Caribbean before 9/11, and still do, but more cautiously, only one or two specimens, and transported in check-through luggage, never carry-on. A few recently collected specimens are in a small album in my Public Profile on this board.

Most of my live rock is Caribbean, carried back a piece at a time over many years, wrapped in damp paper and a plastic bag, and just placed with my clothes in a regular suitcase. I've brought back loads of Caribbean inverts as well, though not live corals, which are illegal to import under federal laws without special scientific permits from the US and from the place where you are collecting. It's important to distinguish between, and to know, state, federal, and international laws when collecting and transporting. Florida is ok for fish collecting, but inverts can be a problem. Besides, there's not much in Florida that I can't get in New Jersey in late summer. State laws are not a problem here in NJ and other northern states, but can be severe in places like Florida and California. North Carolina can be an excellent source of tropical specimens, with very reasonable regulations.

Most Caribbean nations have strict rules about removing anything from the reef, but some do not, or limit their regulations to marine preserves. You need to know what you are doing, both legally and operationally. Fish can be difficult to catch, maintain while stayng in temporary accomodations, and transport by air without running into security issues.

[greenbean36191]

You can find Florida's laws here:
http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/SaltwaterRules_index.htm

You can also pick up a copy of the chart of size limits and closed seasons most places that sell fishing licenses.

[Beaun]

I've collected several tropical strays, usually selling the better ones to local shops (looksdowns and short big eyes). I also keep local hermits in my reef tank, I have housed them in there for 6 months with no deaths or coral problems yet. I used to keep a temperate local species system with striped killifish, mummichogs, a cunner and a northern puffer. Local inverts included hermits, snails, lady crab, and a mud crab, everything was collected by myself it was a fun system to have for a while.

[tektite]

I might collect some peppermint shrimp this summer. I think that's about the only thing worth collecting in Galveston.

There's a lot you can collect in Galveston.

Peppermint, ghost, and sargassum shrimp; Sargassum anglers (very cool looking) and Sargassum nudibranches/crabs, keyhole limpets, pistol shrimp, of course pods and mysis, Molly blennies, different snails, some gobies, hermits, rock anemones, pipefish, porcelain crabs, and puffers that I know of.

[pmcadams]

You can find Florida's laws here:
http://myfwc.com/RULESANDREGS/SaltwaterRules_index.htm

You can also pick up a copy of the chart of size limits and closed seasons most places that sell fishing licenses.

Thanks !

[Paul B]

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_0153.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_0148.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/boxfish013.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Localanimals006.jpg

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Anemone1.png

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/scan0003-1.jpg

And the codium seaweed

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Codium007.jpg

[LobsterOfJustice]

I've got a local tank with some cool stuff in it. Filefish, seabass, belted sandfish, blennies, gobies (eaten by the filefish), sand perch, oyster toad... as far as inverts go porcelain crabs, peppermint shrimp, a few kinds of anemones, hermits, snails, urchins and sand dollars... and a lot of uninteresting stuff (algae, sponges, tunicates, bryzoans). Had a juvie flounder but it didnt last long.