Local collection, Long Island Sound

[gmate]

Lowest of low tide at Silver Sands beach in Milford (you coulda walked out to the island in the sound) yielded some nice macroalgae. Greens, reds, yellows, browns. Got a yellow-looking calpura thing. My tang is going nuts chomping on some foods. Tons of tidal pools. I was with the lady so I couldn't spend too long because it was a bit chilly on the beach, but alone I could have been out there for hours.

I'm aware that I could possibly transfer pests, parasites, etc. It was a simple transfer, RO/DI dip, and put in the display. I got some snails too, no idea the species (the little black/brown ones that are EVERYWHERE) but once you pop em in the display they stop being so active. So those probably weren't a good grab. I got a nice tiny asian crab (look like miniature emerald crabs) and he's going nuts exploring.

I think I might grab macro algae for the tang on the regular basis, he's loving it. My hermits are nibbling too. My peppermint shrimp came out of hiding for the first time in weeks to eat and frolick. I did not have any macro algae in the display prior to today.

In retrospect, I would grab just algae and maybe a small crab or two. I'd stay away from snails. Some of the rock that had the algae attached did have some neat little worms come out after a few minutes in the display, but I don't know if I would go near any porous rock again.

Anyone collect locally and use in display? I am starting to comb the beach as my next tank will be a coldwater / temperate setup. I want to familiarize myself with what I can locally. A friend does oyster-ing in the sound and offered to keep an eye out for smaller fish and inverts when he pulls up baskets for me in the future.

Glenn



Interesting read: http://www.reefsmagazine.com/forum/reefs-magazine/46421-local-collecting-tri-state-area.html

Excellent cold-water local collection tank, currently ongoing and he constantly updates. This is out of Massachusetts: www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1939645

[Collinrb]

I go out with sein nets and cast nets pretty regularly, for bait. I pull up all kinds of things. Peanut bunker, small blackfish. You can get yourself out to long wharf in new haven and hop on the quinnipiac when they otter trawl, you might be able to grab yourself anything from squid, fluke, to spider crabs and mantis shrimp


by the by, those are perrywinkle snails, or at least that's what I was told

[mtc1966]

the snail most likely need colder water to survive. i would be cautious with strange crabs as well may eat coral. its the pods i would go after or small feeder shrimp. i tried grabbing macro for my sump one time it did not last. most likely temperature trouble. but if you using it for food should be good.

[Collinrb]

any filter feeders that you grab out of the LIS will filter out any pollutants,(in a seperate tank of course) but this doesnt go for parasites. One time I had a clam literally from the fish market in a tank at school that lived.

[michaelr]

the snails could be periwinkle snails. i believe that they are found up here. periwinkles can withstand warmer water too.(i have a few in my dt)

[Paul B]

Anyone collect locally and use in display?

I have been doing this all my life (and I am old) those mud snails live forever but the hermit crabs do not, gras shrimp live for years as do the amphipods that I collect every few weeks in the summer.
In the late summer I get seahorses and tropicals. My boat is in Port Washington.
Bucket of amphipods
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/amphipods002.jpg

[mtc1966]

paul how do you catch the amphipods ? would love to be able to collect some in the summer for my seahorses.

[staninct]

Funny you should bring up asian crabs. I was down at the beach here in Branford last summer and decided to show a friend's kid what lives in the tidal areas and under rocks. I brought a dime sized asian crab home and threw it in my 8g. Its now closer to silver dollar size and a cool inhabitant! From what I understand they're very hardy and thrive in many different temperature ranges, and she has proven that to be 100% correct. She hasn't eaten any of my hermits or other snails yet, but that may be a product of being well fed! I don't think I'd recommend an asian crab for a big display, especially an LPS/SPS setup since their claws look very similar to a gorilla crab, but it was cool to take a local/invasive species home and have it thrive.

[Paul B]

To collect amphipods you can go to a muddy beach at low tide and lift rocks at the shoreling. The rocks that are not stuck in the mud will not be full of hydrogen sulfide and will be crawling with amphipods. Just swirl the rock in a bucket of water. They are all over my anchor chain and if you put a frayed rope in the water for a week or two it will attract thousands. At certain times of the year they are free swimming and a net will yield thousands.
As for those Asian crabs, they are very hardy. You have to stem on them to kill them as I have had them for many years. The only problem with them is that if you have anything near the top of the tank, they climb out. They spend much of their time just above the water eating algae.

[mtc1966]

thanks Paul .

[DLANDINO]

To collect amphipods you can go to a muddy beach at low tide and lift rocks at the shoreling. The rocks that are not stuck in the mud will not be full of hydrogen sulfide and will be crawling with amphipods. Just swirl the rock in a bucket of water. They are all over my anchor chain and if you put a frayed rope in the water for a week or two it will attract thousands. At certain times of the year they are free swimming and a net will yield thousands.
As for those Asian crabs, they are very hardy. You have to stem on them to kill them as I have had them for many years. The only problem with them is that if you have anything near the top of the tank, they climb out. They spend much of their time just above the water eating algae.

For the transfer from catch bucket to tank...any acclimation or special requirements?

[DLANDINO]

I was up at the CT Science Center last yer and they had a "local" tank set up. To my surprise there was a butterfly fish and a lion fish if I remember correctly.

[Paul B]

There are plenty of tropical fish here in the late summer including burrfish, big eyes, lionfish, lookdowns, triggers, trumperfish, coronetfish etc. You don't have to aclimate those crabs, just throw them in. They live under the ice and on hot rocks when it is 100 degrees, they will live in the middle of the Long Island Expressway if they don't get run over. Nothing kills them.

[staninct]

I was up at the CT Science Center last yer and they had a "local" tank set up. To my surprise there was a butterfly fish and a lion fish if I remember correctly.

Those are probably the seasonal tropicals that hitch hike the jet stream from down south. Collecting them is great since they're only going to die when the water cools down anyway.

[Paul B]

I collected this little guy and in a year when he grew too large I donated him to a public aquarium

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/boxfish007-1.jpg

[staninct]

Paul - that's awesome!!!

[gmate]

From what I've read tropical fish take the gulf stream north and can easily migrate into the Long Island sound. However this is a one way thing and they perish in the winter. So if you do local collect and find a tropical, keep it or give it away to a LFS!

I will certainly be doing more beach collecting this summer too. You're a little luckier Paul as on the island you have the option of going out a bit father into more pristine waters. On the Connecticut side, everything is a little bit nastier. Heck, if I could go out to Montauk and collect I'd be a happy camper.

[DLANDINO]

Anyone.....PaulB, I'm looking at you :) Have a list of reef safe, locally collected animals?

[Collinrb]

I think it'd be safe to say that most of them would be listed "as caution" Lemme know next time you're going to go collect, I'll bring my nets and buckets, and chest waders

[michaelr]

ive seen pipe fish down near my friends marina all the time. Its really kind of cool how that all happens. now i feel bad though because it never crossed my mind how doomed they are

[danbmx]

Many pipefish live in LIS year round and do not die in the winter

[Paul B]

.....PaulB, I'm looking at you Have a list of reef safe, locally collected animals?


You can collect at least 100 pipefish with 3 passes of a sceen net, but I don't have great luck with local pipefish and I have kept many.
Most of the fish we get here are not reef safe. We get triggers, puffers, burrfish, trumpetfish, coronetfish etc, all of which are not reef safe. But we also get seahorses which live fine and breed in a tropical tank even though they are local to NY and not tropical, we also get lookdowns, lionfish, butterflies and big eyes.
I collected these guys, some of which are local NY creatures
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/boxfish007-1.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Localtank008.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Project17.png

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_0148.jpg
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/boxfish004.jpg

These local horses are in the process of transfering eggs in my reef
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/scan0003-1.jpg

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

OK he was on land
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Baldassano02.jpg

[monty]

i put a small blackfish and a cunner in my 180 a few years ago -- just tossed them in and they did fine for a few months -- when i got sick of them i caught them both with sand worms (grinded down the barb on a hook) and pulled them out --- it was actually pretty cool to see them dart out of the rocks, take the bait, and quickly retreat back into the rocks ---- as they do so will in their natural environments

not a good addition to the tank thought, they continuously made a huge mess of everything.

[DLANDINO]

Paul, what is the white Anemone looking thing?

[gmate]

Paul, what is the white Anemone looking thing?

Those are definitely anenomes. I have seen some CRAZY dhalia anenomes come out of the northern atlantic. Most vivid stripes of purple and pink. There's a lot of color in coldwater between anenomes and sponges, but it's usually pretty deep in the water (20ft+).


That being said. Since I put the sand and macro algae in my tank, everythings perked up. I put about 50 of the snails in my tank and they are going nuts. Way more active than my other snails that I got from the LFS. I even added pods and sand from the tidal pool. Tons of worms and things reorganizing my sandbed. Can't really say that the tank has been this active since the addition of some local flair.

Even better, is that I put quite a bit of macro in and my tang ate it all. I think I'm just going to setup a 10g as a holding tank for collected macro and feed the tang for free on that and pods (he eats the little guys I collected as I drop them in, like they were live mysis). Plus it's way more fun.

[Paul B]

not a good addition to the tank thought, they continuously made a huge mess of everything.


And those blackfish grow to about 15lbs very quickly.
That s a rock anemone and they are all over the Sound. it is only 1/4" high. We also have large white anemones in the Sound but they don't live in a tropical tank.

[gmate]

And those blackfish grow to about 15lbs very quickly.
That s a rock anemone and they are all over the Sound. it is only 1/4" high. We also have large white anemones in the Sound but they don't live in a tropical tank.

Paul, how far out are those anemones? Can you get/find them in tide pools usually or do you find them fairly far out / dive? I'm considering upgrading the reef to a 90 and making the 55 a local tank w/chiller, but I don't dive nor do any of my friends. Interested in what I'd be able to collect locally without going deep.

[Paul B]

Right here for the tiny ones. For the large white ones, you have to dive about 30' deep. Those big ones are not photosynthetic because it is dark at that depth in the Sound, very dark.
I go collecting almost every week in the summer if you want to come by boat.

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Project6.png

[gmate]

Paul, that's so damn tempting. I would love to go out collecting with you and see what's out there - your avatar says Long Island, so I may assume you are on the opposite side of the water as me :P

[Paul B]

That water is Port Washington about 1000 yards from where my boat is docked. My avitar is a Long Island Sound hermit.
This is a much larger inlet. Here there are diamond backed terripins which are protected.
(I am not in the picture)

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/SandHole002.jpg

[IDrawFish]

I'd love to go collecting with you. Do you dive or just drop nets?

[Paul B]

To collect shrimp and blue claw crabs (that I eat) I drag a 2 man net through a tide pool. For the pods I just lift rocks in the tide pool and shake it in a bucket of water.
I don't dive here to collect, I only dive for lobsters and to explore wrecks.
I am carrying the net here for shrimp.
The tropical fish I get on the south shore in late summer.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/mini-pod20trip20007.jpg

[suicideissleep]

paul b i have a cold water tank that i have been letting cycle for a while im very very interested in collecting some pods nems and shrimp cuc so on dunno really were to go because i havnt really dont that before so i figured its a learning experience. or if you catch some stuff let me know i will bu y some stuff off you

[Paul B]

Suicideissleep, I don't sell stuff but I will give it to you if you like.

[BlueChip]

Ever put a squid in a tank?

[Paul B]

I have never caught a squid small enough to put in a tank but I hatched out a load of octopus.
In Italy they have a tiny squid about an inch long that I would love to get but I have never seen them for sale live in the US.

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

[suicideissleep]

thats sweet and paul let me know when you go out i def want pods a cool nem or 2 hermits snails let me know when you go out or if you collect any i will come find you to pick them up just let me know

[Paul B]

I go out every week in the summer but I can only go collecting during the week. The boat is booked up on weekends for parties.

[BlueChip]

That's cool man! Those octo are tiny!!

[suicideissleep]

awsome def let me know im home with my son most of the time

[mtc1966]

do you raise and release the octopus ?

[Paul B]

No, I did not raise the octopus, but I tried

[SueAndHerZoo]

No, I did not raise the octopus, but I tried

Wow, brings back memories of when I "rescued" a bunch of newly hatched octos from Boston University. Did you keep them all in the same tank like that the whole time? I had to set up separate enclosures for each one because they try to kill each other. It was such an exciting venture - I hope to try it again sometime.

Sue

[Paul B]

I had them in the same tank. When they would "wrestle with a brine shrimp, they would ink, it was so cool

[LISound]

Hey guys,
cool thread. I grew up in Oyster Bay, Long Island and have been on the water most of my life in both commercial and recreation enjoyment. I've also produced many television shows about local species here in the northeast. While the crabs may look cool, they are carnivores and are considered an epidemic here. They are nasty little crabs, best used for blackfish bait. I had reported on them back in my news days when they were first discovered on Long Island. They hitched rides in freighter ballast tanks in Asia and when they would pump out in the ocean on the approaches...out they came.

I fish offshore during the summer months and you wouldn't believe the fish we see in the gulf stream. We are 100 miles or more offshore. Find any piece of floating debris and you find tropical fish and Mahi. I've have raised small mahi but not for more than a month. Those fish need to swim. Small squid as well...crazy to watch those carnivores eat. Most of the fish I would collect are small, but there are bigger fish out there. Triggers do well, as do small pilot fish. And those have some real cool blue/black color.
I've taken and kept small sea robins, porgies, weakfish, and bass.
All with the cast net in the fall for peanut bunker. I have also pulled up deepwater coral that look like a polyp of some kind. White skeleton looking. I've kept them in the live well but never saw anything open.
Also feather dusters of some kind and barnacles are very cool.
Clams will span in your tropical tanks if they go from the fridge to the warm water. That was a mess.
Blackfish are also messy eaters and will eat any invert...for the most part. But they don't grow quickly. In fact, very slowly. A 15lb blackfish would be 15-20 years old or more. They grow fairly quickly as young of the year fish but up to about 6 inches. You can find the small ones in rocky tidal pools in the late summer.

Paul is a wealth of info as he's been doing this a very long time. Cooler water is key but it's hard to keep the local fish as they need to swim. They just don't last very long.

There is a ton of local algae out there too. Now is a good time to look for some of the colder water species and while the water is still gin clear.

Paul is right about the pods. I usually pick up a lobster pot float and shake that in a bucket. The diversity is amazing. Pods, shrimps, mussels, and who knows what else.

Hope you found some of that interesting. My boat is in Norwalk and can set some of you ct locals up for a collection trip. The Norwalk Islands are home to a ton of cool little creatures.

[mtc1966]

very cool i myself have given up on boats on the ocean just get sick to easy. my collecting would have to be from the shore.

[SueAndHerZoo]

very cool i myself have given up on boats on the ocean just get sick to easy. my collecting would have to be from the shore.

Me, too, Mike. I was about to jump up and wave my hands to say "take me, take me!" but then I thought, "awwww, I'd probably get sick and ruin the whole trip." :(

I'm fine as long as the boat is moving but as soon as it anchors, the stomach churns....

Sue

[Paul B]

My boat is in Norwalk and can set some of you ct locals up for a collection trip.

LISound, thats cool. You can do the Conn. shore and I can do the Oyster Bay shore. I do most of my collecting of that small stuff in Port Washington where my boat is.
(I am also a Captain) There is some inrteresting stuff like large 6" mantis shrimp off of Huckelberry Island but you have to SCUBA at night about 30' deep. At that same depth there are thousands of large white, non phoptsynthetic anemones but they do not live in a tank. That soft coral LISound was talking about is very common in some areas, not real good looking as it is white and it also does not live in a heated tank. Being white I am sure it is also not photosynthetic. As a matter of fact, nothing in the Sound is photosynthetic as the water is very murky. The visability while diving ranges from absolute zero to about 3', usually somewhere in the middle so not much light diffuses and at 30' it is pitch dark, black, unless you go out east.
Under the Throggs Neck Bridge there are very strong currents, I mean stupidly strong as the Atlantic Ocean tries to flow through there twice a day. I have dove there which was a mistake and you only have a window of about 15 minutes when you could do it.
Nothing under there exceopt gigantic clams as no one has ever clammed there.
The tide pools are the place to collect and there are three. One is on Huckelberry Island and you need a boat. It is a tiny Island between New Rochelle and Kings Point just north of Execution Light. It was a big drinking and gambling place during prohibition now deserted and privately owned. It is the largest cormorant hatchery on the east coast. Nasty, dirty birds.
Execution Lighthouse, abandoned about 40 years ago and is now automatic. A private investor bought it for one dollar and I went there as a consultant with some other people.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/ExecutionLighthouse002.jpg

View from the top
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/ExecutionLighthouse014.jpg

Water is not too deep here and there are some small wrecks that have some skinny, not bad looking corals but they also do not live in a heated tank. Yes I have tried all of this stuff at one time or another as I have been diving these waters since the 70s

This was takes about 10 or 15 years ago on the rocks at Execution Lighthouse.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/PaulSCUBA.jpg

[gmate]

Scott, we must make a collection trip this summer! It would be so awesome.

And Paul, I love hearing all that information. It's so nice to know the diversity of my local environment that I grew up thinking was a desolate wasteland.

[SueAndHerZoo]

Wow ..... I'm awestruck. And to think I get excited when I can roll up my jeans and wade around up to my knees flipping over rocks and finding "treasures". LOL

Sue

[Paul B]

I'm awestruck. And to think I get excited when I can roll up my jeans and wade around up to my knees flipping over rocks and finding "treasures". LOL


I am still awestruck when I do that even though I know exactly what I will find.
I can show you a place that is loaded with 1/4" horseshoe crabs, but I don't collect those as they don't do well in a reef. There are places loaded with diamond backed terripins and thousands of hermit crabs. There are a few fiddler crab cities (as I call them). Their habitat seems to be diminishing and so are the fiddlers. They are easy to keep in a tank with half land and half water. Grass shrimp I can get by the pound and also baby eels about 3" long.
LISound can take you out deep for the more interesting stuff that hitched a ride on the Gulf Stream. Gas is too expensive to get my boat out too far and it is also in the Sound.
This is the eastern Sound in Riverhead
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_0584.jpg
This is the western Sound over the Bronx. I am anchored off Huckelberry island
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Girlsboatnite09007.jpg

Off my collecting tide pool in Port Washington, watching amphipods on the anchor line
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/P7180314.jpg

Female fiddler crab
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/IMG_0634.jpg

Rock crab.
extreamly common on the south shore
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Localtank008.jpg

[gmate]

Wow ..... I'm awestruck. And to think I get excited when I can roll up my jeans and wade around up to my knees flipping over rocks and finding "treasures". LOL

Sue

Me too! My girlfriend thinks I am insane. "It's all just mushy sand and seaweed, what the hell are you doing"

ME: OH LOOK A CRAB

[DLANDINO]

Thanks for all of this advice Paul! So, the nails that I see by the 1000's on the beach now and throughout summer, can you add these to our reef relatively safely? I know they are cold water animals but then I see them happy as...well...snails in the boiling tidal pools in the mid summer months. Wondering if they can have longevity and acclimate to our tanks long term. I assume that they are omnivorous as I think I see them on dead clams and crabs as well as on seaweed.

[gmate]

Thanks for all of this advice Paul! So, the nails that I see by the 1000's on the beach now and throughout summer, can you add these to our reef relatively safely? I know they are cold water animals but then I see them happy as...well...snails in the boiling tidal pools in the mid summer months. Wondering if they can have longevity and acclimate to our tanks long term. I assume that they are omnivorous as I think I see them on dead clams and crabs as well as on seaweed.

I've put 30 or 40 in my tank so far and they're all doing very well. Unlike other snails they tend to stay in the sandbed and don't really climb the live rock. But they go all over the glass and I haven't used a scraper since their introduction. I've also seen a decrease in Cyano. They are very slow and my hermits do pick on them. Paul has the expert answer I'm sure, but so far my inclination is yes you can use them. I didn't do too much acclimation, and it took them a day to really start moving around. They are far more active at night. The bigger snails (Periwinkle) move over the live rock but the little guys don't.

If I could make a suggestion, get more Periwinkles than the small ones - they seem more active and tend to be bigger. Paul, do you know what species the smaller mud snails are? They look like Coffee Bean snails but they're definitely not Nassarius (though there are Nassarius species that I've encountered on the short, just not as common).

EDIT: Answered my own question with some google'ing.

Ilyanassa Obsoletus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ilyanassa_obsoleta
http://i10.ebayimg.com/07/i/001/35/a5/4017_1.JPG



http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/general-discussion/64384-long-island-sound-snails.html

Apparently mud snails do really well, but Periwinkles do not. So definitely grab the smaller mud snails!

[DLANDINO]

I've put 30 or 40 in my tank so far and they're all doing very well. Unlike other snails they tend to stay in the sandbed and don't really climb the live rock. But they go all over the glass and I haven't used a scraper. I've also seen a decrease in Cyano. They are very slow and my hermits do pick on them. Paul has the expert answer I'm sure, but so far my inclination is yes you can use them.

Thanks for the reply! I am definitely curious to see others experience. When did you collect and add them? Did you do it in the summer months when they were already acclimated to the warmer temps or did you recently do it? Also, how did you introduce them. Did you scrub their shells at all to get off any gunk, drip acclimate etc or just add them straight away.

[gmate]

Thanks for the reply! I am definitely curious to see others experience. When did you collect and add them? Did you do it in the summer months when they were already acclimated to the warmer temps or did you recently do it? Also, how did you introduce them. Did you scrub their shells at all to get off any gunk, drip acclimate etc or just add them straight away.

I actually grabbed them last sunday at Silver Sands State Park in Milford which is only 15 minutes away. It was low tide. I grabbed about 150 of them in a 5g bucket with sand and pods and some macro's. Water temp was probably 55 or 60, pretty chilly.

All I did was give them a quick RO/DI rinse and then plunked about 20 in my display. Waited till the next day to see if they would die immediately or acclimate. They seemed to do fine. Added more, now all of them move around. Excellent, excellent sand sifters. My hermits cleaned the gunk off of their shells. Some did get eaten in the process.

In the future, I would definitely get more or use them in the future. Even though a CUC is cheap on reefcleaners, this is cheaper, faster, and gives me an exuse to play at the beach in low tide and find cool stuff.

[IDrawFish]

The snails you are talking about are actually called Mud Snails, Ilyanassa obsoleta if you want to get fancy. You can keep them in a reef tank although as anything from the sound it could be questionably safe due to pollution and such but they never bothered corals and actually kept the sand bed quite clean. I used to years ago they do make good sand sifters and will generally lay dormant until feeding time then swarm. I just drip acclimated them as with anything else.

[Paul B]

So, the nails that I see by the 1000's on the beach now and throughout summer, can you add these to our reef relatively safely?

The "Nails" you should not use but the "snails" are fine and they live forever. I have some in there over 2 years but they are so common that you can literally fill a fifty gallon barrel of them in a few hours. Their name is Mud snail.
Periwinkels are more rare but you can also find them.
The mud snails are great scavengers and will eat anything including meat and fish that they sniff out immediately.
To acclimate them you can stand 10 feet from your tank and throw them in. They will aclimate on the way. Temperature does not concern them as they live under the ice or in boiling tide pools or even on hot damp rocks.
I don't scrub them, wash them, sandpaper them, soak them in acid, burn them with a blowtorch or use nasty language on them. Just throw them in like M&Ms. I have always had them in my salt tanks since Nixon was President. He even came collecting with me. OK, No he diden't. :crazy1:

There are more snails here than dirt. Nails also
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/boat011.jpg

[SueAndHerZoo]

The "Nails" you should not use but the "snails" are fine and they live forever. I have some in there over 2 years but they are so common that you can literally fill a fifty gallon barrel of them in a few hours. Their name is Mud snail.
Periwinkels are more rare but you can also find them.
The mud snails are great scavengers and will eat anything including meat and fish that they sniff out immediately.
To acclimate them you can stand 10 feet from your tank and throw them in. They will aclimate on the way. Temperature does not concern them as they live under the ice or in boiling tide pools or even on hot damp rocks.
I don't scrub them, wash them, sandpaper them, soak them in acid, burn them with a blowtorch or use nasty language on them. Just throw them in like M&Ms. I have always had them in my salt tanks since Nixon was President. He even came collecting with me. OK, No he diden't. :crazy1:

There are more snails here than dirt. Nails also


LOL I really like this guy! :lmao:

[SueAndHerZoo]

Thanks for the reply! I am definitely curious to see others experience. When did you collect and add them? Did you do it in the summer months when they were already acclimated to the warmer temps or did you recently do it? Also, how did you introduce them. Did you scrub their shells at all to get off any gunk, drip acclimate etc or just add them straight away.

I gotta tell ya.... I'm shocked that we are even having this conversation! In the past whenever the subject of "harvesting from local waters" came up people would emphatically state that the parasites, pollution, etc. would probably cause major disaster. Yet here we are in a 3-page thread about collecting and no one has said "NO - DON'T DO IT!"

So I guess I can now safely admit that I have been bringing home "treasures" for over 3 years now and, fortunately, have not had a bad experience. My sister lives on the beach in Branford (Short Beach - Hotchkiss Grove) and whenever I'm there, 90% of my time is spent in the water or along the edge poking around and looking for "neat stuff". I started with just bringing home "green crabs" to feed to my octopus and when I put a few in my display tank I got such a kick out of them I kept them there. Then I started bringing home snails and tossed (literally) them into the display tank. They were a welcome addition. I once came across a pool of copepods and grabbed a few soda bottles full but unfortunately they died on the way home (too warm?) and I haven't been able to get that lucky since.... but I'm still looking!

I foolishly don't acclimate or rinse my finds and so far, so good. Granted I only put them in the tanks that I haven't invested a lot of money in.... anything locally caught is off limits in my 92 gallon corner tank.

Regarding temperature and time of year, I have taken crabs and snails out of ice-cold water (last weekend) and have taken them during the intense heat of August.... all do fine.

I have a conch egg-casing in one of my tanks right now..... hopefully I'll get to see the miracle of the hatch and I will then bring hundreds of tiny conch's back to the beach.

Love this hobby. :thumbsup:
Sue

[eddiesylas]

Sue, didn't you her parasite crashes are Sooo out of style! This year power outage crashes are "en vogue".

I am doing full H2O changes using water off of Avery Point (but not at low tide as I don't want Thames River Water). But to be fair I have macro algae and only one coral no fish and will probably not continue this practice in warmer weather.

[LISound]

most creatures from the sound are fine if healthy. I've even put snappers in the tank...but never in my sps reef tank. if you guys are really interested, I would recommend setting up a small tank for the summer 20-29gallons. go to the beach now and get some local rock and sand and start the tank.
most of the small fish i only get in the late summer, when they are young of the year. It's also illegal to take some of the species under size. But to be honest i have done it. baby fluke are really cool and I get them in one spot in oyster bay harbor on LI. but I'm sure we could find them around here. 1-2" in size. so cute. All the small fish are pretty cool. a small school of peanut bunker look like chromis, but they produce a ton of waste and filter feed...they also make great baits.
Some of the most colorful fauna in the sound are the sponges, although I've never bothered with them.

I used to watch for feeding habits when I kept the local species to understand how and where they would feed. structure etc. you'd be amazed at what you can learn by studying them.

Norwalk Aquarium has some very cool local species tanks. their reef tanks are poor at best. i think there are only 2 of them. but worth a trip for sure.

Paul, I fish all over the sound and have spent a lot of time in your neck of the woods. Some great topwater behind david's island as well.
I would assume some good diving off of captains as well. huge boulder field off of little captains in about 20-30ft.

[brutuscz]

Sue, didn't you her parasite crashes are Sooo out of style! This year power outage crashes are "en vogue".

I am doing full H2O changes using water off of Avery Point (but not at low tide as I don't want Thames River Water). But to be fair I have macro algae and only one coral no fish and will probably not continue this practice in warmer weather.

LOL..,.really funny!! But, very true this year. Between the stupid hurricane and the even stupider snow in october..lots of hobbyists with lots of problems. I lost power for 12hrs during the hurricane...lost huge monti's and acros I have had for years. We consider this a rebuilding year.

[SueAndHerZoo]

Sue, didn't you her parasite crashes are Sooo out of style! This year power outage crashes are "en vogue".

I am doing full H2O changes using water off of Avery Point (but not at low tide as I don't want Thames River Water). But to be fair I have macro algae and only one coral no fish and will probably not continue this practice in warmer weather.

Oh man . . . (thwaps self on forehead)...... I am SO behind the times! I thought we were doing parasite now, then broken heater crashes, and THEN power outages. Is there a schedule published somewhere? If not, there should be! :lol2:
Sue

[mtc1966]

Sue were doing seahorses now

[SueAndHerZoo]

Sue were doing seahorses now

:headwallblue:

Then I guess I was AHEAD of schedule on that one. Been there / done that.

(no seahorse tank crashing for you, Mike!)

Sue

[LISound]

LOL..,.really funny!! But, very true this year. Between the stupid hurricane and the even stupider snow in october..lots of hobbyists with lots of problems. I lost power for 12hrs during the hurricane...lost huge monti's and acros I have had for years. We consider this a rebuilding year.

my tank was toast after the first storm let alone the snow in October. I'm just glad i didn't get it back in order after the hurricane.
I'm just starting to restock coral now.

The good thing, I'm pest free at the moment. will be very careful with new additions.

[Paul B]

In the past whenever the subject of "harvesting from local waters" came up people would emphatically state that the parasites, pollution, etc. would probably cause major disaster.

My reef was started with water from under the Throgs Neck Bridge which goes to the Bronx. I don't worry about putting inlocal anything.

Some great topwater behind david's island as well.
I would assume some good diving off of captains as well. huge boulder field off of little captains in about 20-30ft.



LISound, correct, I have been diving there for decades and have about 200 dives in the western Sound. Davids Island is about in the center of my diving as that is surrounded by reefs. It is also a cool Island to explore also as it has been abandoned since about 1965 or so. It was a missile base during the cold war and is full of military barracks and off limits. But no one will find you there as the place is very overgrown with vegetation and vines. I have been in most of the buildings there and even the road that once circled the Island is nothing but trees with almost none of the asphalt left. The once pristine parade grounds look like a forest.

[LISound]

My reef was started with water from under the Throgs Neck Bridge which goes to the Bronx. I don't worry about putting inlocal anything.



LISound, correct, I have been diving there for decades and have about 200 dives in the western Sound. Davids Island is about in the center of my diving as that is surrounded by reefs. It is also a cool Island to explore also as it has been abandoned since about 1965 or so. It was a missile base during the cold war and is full of military barracks and off limits. But no one will find you there as the place is very overgrown with vegetation and vines. I have been in most of the buildings there and even the road that once circled the Island is nothing but trees with almost none of the asphalt left. The once pristine parade grounds look like a forest.


all the reefs up around that area are very cool. need your gps to navigate back there for sure. I've never been on the island and over grown is an under statement. :lol2:

[Paul B]

need your gps to navigate back there for sure

I was going back there long before GPS and I had a lot of dented props to prove it. It is really a horrible place to travel around as most of the reefs are 6" below the water surface.
I like to dive a few hundred yards away at Huckelberry, you can anchor in 30' of water and it is a short swim to the wall dive around the Island which is full of lobsters, mantis shrimp and anemones. The best part about diving there in the 70s was that no one at that time dove so there were a lot of artifacts from prohibition which is where the bottles in my reef came from.
At that time Executiton Lighthouse was boarded up and you could not get in but on one dive we went on to the rocks to rest and check out our lobsters, we found the door was broken down so we went in with our dive lights. The place was full of WW2 artifacts like huge microphones, speakers, vacuum tubes etc. We came back a few days later and the door was fixed and there was barbed wire around the entire Island. We got nothing.
At that time the stairs that winded up to the light had rotted away and there was nothing in the tower but rust. Years ago someone stole the freznel lens of the light which was worth about $75,000.00. No one knows what happened to it.
A guy used to live on the tiny Island and there was a kitchen and fresh water cistern, it also had a power line to shore but it is now shorted out and no longer used. The only power on the island is solar power to work the light which is not the original light. It is a modern light bolted to the side of the tower and is automatic.
The Island was said to be haunted and was on a recent broadcast of Ghost hunters. The rumor was that British soldiers chained American Patriots to the rocks and let the high tide drown them. That is how the Island got it's name but I crawled all over and under the thing and didn't see any ghosts. I don't know if they saw me.
I had access to the lighthouse 2 years ago and my wife and I climbed to the light.

Huckelberry Island on the left and Davids Island on the right
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Huckleberry_Island_from_north_Glen_Is_jeh.jpg

Davids Island as it stood 4 years ago. I explored this place pretty much but now I read it was all destroyed on 08 by the Army Corps of engineers.
It is amazing that this place is 100 yards from the Bronx and almost no one knows it's there
http://www.hudsonvalleyruins.org/yasinsac/newroc/slocum.html

http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/ExecutionLighthouse019.jpg

[LISound]

very cool Paul.
tell me more. lol
I really could listen to those stories forever as I've grown up fishing in the rocks with my dad who is a die hard bass fisherman. Always within 30 yards of the shore. you should come up to the norwalk islands one day. there are some shallow water wrecks that are just teaming with life. I even caught a small cod on one of them last year. yes, Cod fish in the sound.
When i was commercially digging for clams, I would get the occasional mantis shrimp caught on the end of my rake. one of my fishing buddies caught a cobia off mattinicock pt. many years ago. and every now and then you find some puffers make there way in to the extreme western sound.

[LISound]

double post

[DLANDINO]

Thanks for all of the advice Paul! I went down to the beach a few minutes ago and took 10 "mud snails" to give them a whirl and see how they do. I did however take them and give them a fresh water dip and light toothbrush shell cleaning before putting them in the tank. I did not temp or otherwise acclimate them at all. They immediately righted themselves after falling in upside down and began their trek across the tank. Some burrowed into the sand and resemble Nassarius snails and others made their way to a small cyano patch that developed in the past few days. Not sure if they are eating it or if it is just a coincidence. I'll update the thread with my experience as the days pass. Here is a quick pic.

http://desmond.imageshack.us/Himg690/scaled.php?server=690&filename=newsnails.jpg&res=medium

[mtc1966]

that would be great if they eat cyano.

[mtc1966]

can any of you Clinton area guys recommend a good spot to go and pick up rocks to shake out in a bucket for pods?

[Paul B]

you should come up to the norwalk islands one day

I was there, love the place

[gmate]

Dave I found my snails may not necessarily eat the cyano, but the sift the sand so frequently that it doesn't really get a chance to form up as much.

And you will not be disappointed, I'd go get more now! I love these guys and have found a free form of CUC for the rest of my days!

[DLANDINO]

Dave I found my snails may not necessarily eat the cyano, but the sift the sand so frequently that it doesn't really get a chance to form up as much.

And you will not be disappointed, I'd go get more now! I love these guys and have found a free form of CUC for the rest of my days!

Thanks you too for the inspiration and personal experience.

[DLANDINO]

can any of you Clinton area guys recommend a good spot to go and pick up rocks to shake out in a bucket for pods?

Clinton Town Beach. There is no one at the gate now and until Memorial Day so its free to enter. It's on "Waterside" off of Main St.

[mtc1966]

Clinton Town Beach. There is no one at the gate now and until Memorial Day so its free to enter. It's on "Waterside" off of Main St.

thanks:thumbsup:

[eddiesylas]

I have not had any success in propagation with locally caught pods. Just my experience with the two or three times I added them to the aquarium. They survive for a little while in the fuge but just slowly died off. Some of them are wicked fast and I suspect predatory (just a guess- not evidenced) but fun for the few weeks they cruised around.

[mtc1966]

eddiesylas i wont be counting on propagation just snacks for seahorses.

[mbg75]

Interesting thread. I'm in Mt Sinai. On the water few times a week.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

[AquaticEngineer]

I know this might be a long shot, but are any of you guys interested in collecting some stuff for my cold water tank and shipping it out to me?

If you are keeping a coldwater tank yourself I could trade you some of the stuff I've been able to collect.

[gmate]

PM'ing you.

[suicideissleep]

once i start collecting for my cold water tank i will hit you up also

[Collinrb]

since youre near clinton, check out hammonasset as well. i used to go there as a kid at low tide there are literally millions of rocks to shake around. found a mantis shrimp once there before i knew what they were (luckily i couldnt reach it haha thought it was a lobster)

[SueAndHerZoo]

Since I just posted this thread yesterday about my "haul" from the beach, thought it was time for the two threads to meet. :)

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20115635#post20115635

Sue

[gmate]

It's been 3 weeks since my haul and some of the macros have made it and all my snails are still kicking.

[mtc1966]

It's been 3 weeks since my haul and some of the macros have made it and all my snails are still kicking.

how about a pic of the macros that made it :wavehand:

[madlarkin]

Just as an FYI to the snails collected:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/mg/index.php

[gmate]

Just as an FYI to the snails collected:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-11/mg/index.php

Good read, thank you :)

[madlarkin]

Good read, thank you :)

No worries. I lurk around and have been very interested in this thread, kicking around the idea of a small cold water tank. Something about the snails had been bothering me, and I finally remembered having read that when browsing the same creatures being sold via Ebay.

[DrHarryLopez]

Excellent, I enjoyed the reading. I can't wait to go collecting or at least experience it!

[gmate]

Picking up more snails and macro on Wednesday. Oh yeah!

[Paul B]

Todays catch of amphipods. There were many more but my wife accidently kicked over the bucket on the boat and I had to chase them down on the carpet. For every one you see there are fifty babies you can't see. I collect every few days in the summer.



http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh270/urchsearch/Tank6612007.jpg

[suicideissleep]

I have had two crabs nine mussels twenty snails and millions of pods alive in my cold water tank for three months now the pods are just multiplying need something that eats pods now lol love how everything in this tank is off the shores we swim in. Worse part was I just scooped my cup with a 50 micron screen into the water and got a half inch of pods and I was were everyone was swimming and just thinking how many of these I swallowed over the years of swimming in the ocean lol but good times hope I can start finding more things other than hermits snails and crabs

[mtc1966]

too many pods wish i had that problem.

[AquaticEngineer]

I will be heading out to Long Island next year for a wedding, any chance some of you guys would want to get together and do some collecting?

[gmate]

I will be heading out to Long Island next year for a wedding, any chance some of you guys would want to get together and do some collecting?

You won't find anything too crazy, but I'm sure if you bump this thread in another year some of us would be down. I would!