Marteen Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 very nice. I wish I had a tidepool biotoe now! Oh just an FYI if you don't hyperventilate yourself before free diving it lowers the risk of shallow water blackout significantly. Hyperventilating doesn't help either it just tricks your body into thinking it has more oxygen delaying your breathing reflex but not actually lowering your CO2 levels, which is what causes you to black out. Link to comment
Markushka Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I live about an hour west from the coast, two or more when there's traffic, and even then the closest seawater is new york harbor, not something id particularly like to go swimming in. I could do freshwater but thats not that interesting anymore. I'll make my way west again sometime, and then I'll probably stay. I think i'm gonna be tagging along with this thread. Keep up the good work. Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 very nice. I wish I had a tidepool biotoe now! Oh just an FYI if you don't hyperventilate yourself before free diving it lowers the risk of shallow water blackout significantly. Hyperventilating doesn't help either it just tricks your body into thinking it has more oxygen delaying your breathing reflex but not actually lowering your CO2 levels, which is what causes you to black out. yep yep, so I've heard. I'm trying to be as safe as I can. Thanks. I live about an hour west from the coast, two or more when there's traffic, and even then the closest seawater is new york harbor, not something id particularly like to go swimming in. I could do freshwater but thats not that interesting anymore. I'll make my way west again sometime, and then I'll probably stay. I think i'm gonna be tagging along with this thread. Keep up the good work. Well yeah, snorkeling in new york harbor doesn't sound like much fun. Thanks for the compliments. Link to comment
C-Rad Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I live about an hour west from the coast, two or more when there's traffic, and even then the closest seawater is new york harbor, not something id particularly like to go swimming in. I have a cold water biotope tank too (southern California), and I live about 45 minutes from where I like to collect. I would urge you to not let the distance be a deal breaker. The problem for me wasn't the drive time, it was the time wasted by needing to make many trips because at first I didn't know where to look, or how to catch and transport what I wanted for my tank. Eventually I got smart, and found a local to show me the ropes. I suggest that you use various internet forums to find someone who does live at the coast, and who has spent lots of time in tide pools (or docks) and can tell you, or show you, exactly where to find, and how to catch, lots of cool critters. then in just one or two trips you'll have a whole tank full of great stuff. For this to work you'll need to do your homework about a lot of things to avoid having stuff die on you. This is true for any aquarium, but it is extra-double-plus true for a cold water biotope where you introduce a lot of different animals all at once. Do your homework, and a plan for: 1) Maintaining water temp and oxygen level during the trip home. 2) Letting your tank fully cycle before you add lots of animals, and making sure that your biofilter can handle the load. Cold means slow, my tank took six months to fully cycle (and a year before the deep sand bed was able to pull out the nitrates) 3) Knowing which animals are compatible and which are not. 4) Staying within the law. A $400 fine can really ruin your day at the beach. 5) Doing water changes. You'll almost certainly need to mix your own, but have that all worked out so that it's not to big a hassle, because after dumping lots of animals in your tank all at once, you'll probably need to do lots of big water changes until things stabilize. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I live about an hour west from the coast, two or more when there's traffic, and even then the closest seawater is new york harbor, not something id particularly like to go swimming in. I could do freshwater but thats not that interesting anymore. I'll make my way west again sometime, and then I'll probably stay. I think i'm gonna be tagging along with this thread. Keep up the good work. +1 to the above (not the quote ) I live about 5 hours away from the coast, it is worth it. My tank may not look that amazing but I have it stocked with just one (my first also) trip back with stuff, if you can go for it. Hey Jamie have you found an ID for that little goby looking fish? If you have sorry I just like looking at the pics in your thread lol... Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 yep, it's a baby red irish lord, Hemilepidotus hemilepidotus And distance can be a barrier, but it doesn't have to be. It just depends on how hard you're willing to work to get the things you want. When I started, I knew absolutely nothing about care for cw animals, where to collect, and consequently, my tank was lame, things died or did poorly, etc. But given time, things have gotten better. It just takes lots of patience, and lots of research. Look up things like "tide pooling new jersey" or "shore dives in new jersey" and you should find something that can give you a start. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Its a red irish lord? Awesome, I catch those things every once and a while (when they are usually over a foot long) and they taste good lol. He looks like a neat little inhabitant, hopefully he doesn't start to eat all of your inverts. Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 Yep, they get to be 20 inches. He's only about 1.5 inches right now though, so I'm not worried. He can eat surprisingly big things though. Yesterday I saw him inhale a mysis shrimp that was 3/4 inch long. He vacuumed it up so fast it was ridiculous. Definitely a little ambush predator. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 If you ever find another let me know, or a Grunt Sculpin, they would be some neat tank inhabitants. Thats good hes eating, when he gets bigger you can try krill Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 yeah, grunt sculpins are pretty sweet. The way I caught this guys was completely ridiculous. I had been diving down and looking for stuff on the rocks with my collection bag around my wrist. I found something interesting, a starfish maybe, and put it in the bag. I surfaced and then looked in the bag to see my starfish, and low and behold, there was a little fish in my bag. As I was swimming around, I must have been dragging the bag over the rocks, and this little guy got scooped up by accident. Best accident ever, as far as I'm concerned. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Weird but sweet lol. Wow thats some good luck, this really makes me want to start diving, I bet I could find some pretty cool stuff if I tried. As always, I envy you Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Hey, you're the one with a cabin on Puget Sound! Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Ya true, its five hours away plus a ferry ride though. I still want some strawberries from you if you have any extra, I have some clams lol. Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have a few. Most of the extras are promised to Lani, but I can certainly spare some more. I'd love a feather duster. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Haha most are connected. I have one that is blackish thats not connected. I might be able to get you one this fall though, I think I am heading up there again, I love the blue/green and red ones, and they are everywhere. Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 Disaster! Today I wake up and look in my tank. All seems well. Then I notice that my little tidepool sculpin, which I had been keeping in a sort of critter-keeper refuge, appears to be dead. Indeed, he has the wide-open mouth common for fish that die of hypoxia. I pass it off as nothing, but just as I'm leaving I notice something else. My new adorable baby irish lord on his side on the bottom, also dead, also looks like hypoxia. Jim is out and seems fine, the big sculpin is nowhere to be seen. All invertebrates are fine, looks like nothing ever happened. My first conclusion was power outage. all the pumps shut off and the water warmed for a little while, and oxygen levels dropped. But none of our clocks reset, so that can't be it. I did notice last night that there was very low flow in the tank. I fed it late, so I turned off the filter and left it off for the night. I've done this before, without consequence, but this is the first time since I got the new livestock. There is a MJ 1200 in the tank that runs during the day, but turns off when the lights go off, so this wasn't running either, but again, this is how it always is. The only difference I can thing of is that the little container the little sculpin was in was blocking the inflow from the chiller and diverting the flow down, so that there was no surface agitation. There isn't much in the way of surface agitation any way, but maybe it was enough to make a difference. :sigh: I'll go drop a little mysis in the tank to see if the sculpin comes out. If not then I'll have to take apart the rock structure and find him. Link to comment
Lalani Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Oh no.... I'm sorry, Jamie. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 Edit: Let me know if you need anything in your tank held for a while, I will give it back, just trying to help out. Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 thanks guys. The big mossy-headed sculpin is confirmed dead, I haven't fished him out yet, but I can see him way in the back of the tank, I may have to move some rocks around to get to him. Jacob - don't worry about it. What's dead is dead, and what's alive is perfectly happy, so nothing needs relocation. Thanks though. What a weird way to lose animals. Has anyone heard of tanks suddenly becoming hypoxic before? I'm wondering if maybe there's a better explanation. It certainly makes sense as a reason that only the fish died though... I guess things could be a lot worse. I feel bad, but it's not like everything died - that would suck. Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 Could it be nitrate levels? I assume you have done all of those types of tests though. Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 Haven't tested anything yet, but I think the inverts (hermits, porcelain crab, starfish) would be hurting if that was the problem. I mean, if they were high enough to kill fish (which is really high) they would have killed other things too. Link to comment
Jamie Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Disaster aside, I decided that it was time for some night time pics. Unfortunately, camera battery died, so didn't get much, but a few good ones. I got all excited with the meteor shower and long exposures, and went out to see what I could get. Not much, with Portland light pollution. And the tank Link to comment
Hoonie778 Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 I really enjoyed your pics. I've never seen white urchins before! Crazy awesome! Link to comment
Jacobnano Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Bummer about the light pollution, I really like your nems haha Link to comment
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