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50 gallon Cape Cod deck tank


Zo0k365

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For nearly seven years I have kept a tank on my deck to put the different species of fish in. It used to be kind of a family experience but for the last couple years I have done all of it. It used to be that I would catch the fish and other animals in the beginning of the summer and release them at the end of the summer. Last year I kept some of the animals that i caught over the winter. Anyway instead of rambling on about the boring stuff i will just post pics.

 

So this was the 20 gal that i was using to keep some of the fish in over the winter. Nothing spectacular, but it was fine for it's applications. (sorry for the crappy pic)

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This is one of two anemones that i had caught and was trying to keep. Idk i just like this picture that i took.

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Here was the deck tank before it was filled (I get water, sand, and rocks right from the beach and estuary.)

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Right after the stuff was added.

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And here is the tank today

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Sponge ball

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Mottled skulpin

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Scallop

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A baby lumpfish (died awhile ago :( )

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This pic has a lot in it to talk about. First off you can see that i have a snowy grouper in there. yes the kind that lives in the gulf of Mexico. I caught it as a very small scared fish. it is a tropical fish and would have died over the winter if i hadn't caught it. It must have came over on the gulf stream. It was half an inch when i got it but now its around six (they get to like 100 pounds :eek: ) I may end up donating it to the Aquarium......

Anyway there is also a bit of codium covered in prey mantis shrimp (for my pipe fish)

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The pipe fish

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Mumichogs (flounder, bluefish, and grouper food)

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Lol i love this pic of the flounder

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Baby bluefish

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And some hard orange stuff that was covering a rock. It looked and felt the exact same as encrusting monti. I have no idea what it is.

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Cool! How do you control the temperature?

 

I actually don't really. The places that i catch most this stuff comes from water that hovers around 75 throughout the summer. It only has around six hours where there is direct sun and that is in the morning when it is cooler anyway. The tank generally stays around 72 because there is so much surface agitation even on days where its 85. On the days where it gets really hot i have frozen jugs of water in the freezer as a backup.

 

 

I know what big Blue Fish are like... You should keep a billy club by the side of the tank.

 

:)

 

Oh yeah! I caught a 15 pound one not too long ago which is the biggest one i have ever caught! Maybe if i get the chance i will post a pic of it. anyway the two in there are the Blues brothers. The flounder is a fluke so it's name is Luke the fluke.

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excellent tank. Too bad you have to tear it down every year but I guess that is half the fun, to have to build it back up next spring.

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Haha, thanks guys. Yeah I'm actually nervous about the flounder. I caught him at about 4" last year and he was in a 30 back then. Now hes about 12" and in a 50 gallon. I really don't want to let him go. At least he accepts frozen and live so he would do fine in the wild now. That reminds me, I should take some vids of feeding time.

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  • 3 weeks later...
Feeding vids. :angry:

 

Lol, currently the tank is being taken care of by my neighbor, Ed, at the Cape while I'm back here at school. I think next weekend I might head down for a little to get the stuff. I have a thirty set up with black sand i collected on the beach in my basement which will be their winter homes. But for now i have nothing to tell. I would have taken those vids but my camera is screwy and i just sent it back for repairs yesterday. I have no idea when Pentax will get it back to me. It had a big ol' blue line across the screen and in the pictures!

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Does the tank stilllook the same?

 

Sadly no. But that's half the fun. I re-do it every year. This year was one of the best though. My neighbor kinda went crazy on feeding while i was away though... I told him to feed them once a week because its getting colder and their metabolisms slow down. He's old... and he fed them every two days so the water is cloudy and the tank looks like $h!t right now. I'm actually at the cape right nowto pick them up so I'll be getting up early tomorrow to drive with the fish back up country.

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I Ate A Cake

Wow, I really like this tank. Great setup and theme - just like Cape Cod.

 

That is a really interesting Pipefish... how did you manage to catch that guy?

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Wow, I really like this tank. Great setup and theme - just like Cape Cod.

 

That is a really interesting Pipefish... how did you manage to catch that guy?

 

Do you go to Cape Cod? I'm glad you like it. You should see the males of that pipefish. In some areas while I'm snorkeling I will just spot them on the bottom. They are very slow when they think they are not seen and you can grab them with your hand.

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  • 2 months later...

lol holy crap you got a baby blue in there. That thing is going to eat everything when it gets bigger...even you jk but that's awesome man. I was going to keep one during this summer and was going to acclimate it for my tank, but I felt bad for my damsel so I dumped the whole thing

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  • 5 months later...

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