Louisiana Coastal Biotope

[Goods]

I live in Louisiana and was thinking it would be interesting to set up a biotope tank with native coastal species. I was thinking of using a 20g aquarium I have laying around the house now.

 

RIght now, I was thinking maybe some crabs and shrimp but I'm not sure what else I to put in it.

 

Anyone have any ideas/ suggestions?

 

Also right now, this is only an idea. I have no plans of doing this for a while.

[ednangel]

check your coastal and enviromental rules or your thread is going to be trashed by a bunch of guys over wether you can or can't collect. What's the average high and low temps for where you live?

[Goods]

I can collect most fish and invertebrates (obviously nothing endangered or threatened) with a saltwater fishing license. Also, the average high is around 91.1 degress and low 43.4.

[gabe_j]

any chance you can find me an allagator snapping turtle? i'll be in La around welsh area

[Lalani]

Where do you plan on collecting? Just curious.

[yardboy]

It's a worthwhile project. Even knowing you can collect there will be those who say you shouldn't. Somehow it's okay when you pay someone to do it, rather than do it yourself.

I'd advise against the temptation to collect any of the numerous damselfish that are so aggressive they are easy to catch. They will cause many fish to jump out of your tank as a result. In the summer you will get many tropical drifters, butterfly fish, tangs, etc. that are cool, but I'd suggest mostly gobies and blennies as the most likely to succeed.

Check hard substrate for specimens. Concrete or wood pilings, rip-rap, sunken boats. there wil be anemones of many kinds (including aiptasia!), sponges, tunicates. Caution with crabs as many are opportunistic feeds and like nothing better than caged critters they can catch and eat! Some hermits work out okay.

Brittle stars, cucumbers, some others I can't think of now!

[Gunbeaux]

watch out for the Hermit Crabs you can catch almost anywhere around here ( I live in Venice ) they eat anything including coral. but are good for a fish only tank. Once I put a small stone crab in a tank with some barnicals and some of the redish clams that attache to Oysters. next morning all I had was shell all over the tank and a Fat Crab. I will be following this also as I have a extra tank or 2 laying around.

[AquaticEngineer]

Make sure and carry a copy of the current Fish and wildlife regulations pertaining to what you are collecting stating that IS legal for you to do what you are doing.

 

I had a local in Lincoln City try and tell me it was illegal for me to collect starfish, I busted out my guidelines printed straight from ODFW and put him in check

[animalmaster6]

Sounds like an awesome tank! I hope you decide to set it up.

 

+1 to making sure the hermit crabs are at least fairly safe. For ID'ing hermit crabs use this site http://www.recif.be/article/hermit.htm. If you find the idea use scholar.google.com (this google feature only searches PDF's). PDF's usually list their natural diet.

[Goods]

gabe_j- Welsh is a little far away from where I am but one shouldn't be hard to find. I used to catch babies in ditches after a rainstorm when I was younger.

 

Lalani- My family takes trips to Grand Isle every so often and they were thinking of doing it again this summer. The whole idea for this tank came about when they told me about the trip. I'm not sure if this is even a good place to look. If you have any other suggestions, let me know. I live near New Orleans.

 

I didn't realize that many tropical species (especially some of the fish listed above) could be found at any time in Louisiana.

 

Thank you all and please keep up the input. This idea is only in the preliminary stages, and I'm still trying to figure out if I can do it.

[C-Rad]

There is a large public aquarium in New Orleans. I'll bet they have a few tanks designed to showcase local animals, so the next time you're there, maybe you can find the tanks, take some pictures, and get some ideas. Their gift shop is also likely to have a book or two about local animals or local tide pools. They won't tell you much about how to keep these animals, but they might give you a good idea of what's available. If it really is legal to catch and keep local animals, you might be able to ask around and find someone who works there and is willing to teach you about how to keep local animlas, what not to do, etc.

 

the average high is around 91.1 degress and low 43.4

There's really a 48 degree swing in temp? Yikes! I wonder what animals can put up with that.

 

Make sure and carry a copy of the current Fish and wildlife regulations pertaining to what you are collecting stating that IS legal for you to do what you are doing.

This is very good advice. I collect tide pool animals in California, and since very few people do it, most law enforcement people (park rangers, lifeguards, cops, and maybe even game wardens) are unfamiliar with the laws, and many regular beach goers mistakenly assume that I am breaking the law. It's very nice to be able to defuse a conflict by calmly and politely producing proof that you are being legal, and avoid the hassle of having to appear before a judge to show the same proof. For the same reason, I've found that the only reliable way to know what the law actually says is to read it for yourself (if you think you are capable of fully understanding it). Dept of Wildlife and Fisheries officers know all about the normal stuff, but almost nobody collects aquarium animals, and I've found that, in California, when asked, they almost always say "it's all illegal". Cops don't like to say "Golly, you got me, I just don't know". Read the published regulations, and make sure you understand everything, then be ready to explain what you're doing.

[Goods]

C-Rad- thats the average low in winter and the average high in summer. Also, I mentioned earlier that a fishing license was needed. This is for shrimp, oysters, and crabs. I can't seem to find the regulations on small fish (those not used as a foodsource) or any of the other animals mentioned.

[BLoCkCliMbeR]

nice, a crude oil biotope. cant wait to see it

[C-Rad]

C-Rad- thats the average low in winter and the average high in summer. Also, I mentioned earlier that a fishing license was needed. This is for shrimp, oysters, and crabs. I can't seem to find the regulations on small fish (those not used as a foodsource) or any of the other animals mentioned.

You won't find laws telling you what is legal. Laws tell you what is not legal - and everything that is not illegal is legal. Therefore, unless there is some law that says that you can't take a certain fish, or whatever, then you can. It's important to read the whole regulation booklet, and look for any law that might apply to any animal you want to take. For example, in California there is a law listed in the regulation booklet that says that it is illegal to take any fish away from the ocean alive. That one little sentence makes it illegal for me to catch any fish and keep it in my home aquarium, but it doesn't mention any particular species of fish, and it would have been easy to overlook. Read and understand the whole regulation booklet.

[myatt]

Don't know if there's something similar near you (surely there is at Tulane, maybe?), but here in Ocean Springs, Mississippi we have a branch of the university with a great marine research lab. Incidentally, I taugh high school in Biloxi, and before we built a new school north of the bay, we were only a block from the beach. The marine biology teacher often took students to the beach on collecting expeditions. He always had neat critters in his tanks - it was a sweet set-up.

 

Looking forward to following your progress. I've thought often of doing something similar, but limiting myself to a fairly narrow biotope to keep things manageable....even a paludarium set-up could be really fun based on local flora and fauna. Do your research - can't wait to see what you come up with!

[d'Espresso]

mr myatt? what did you teach in high school before?

[myatt]

My specialty is French, but I'm also certified for art and English, and over my career, I taught a few other subjects, too.

[d'Espresso]

do you happen to know a BUI in your classroom back in 2000-2003

[jfw602]

You can always check with the local shrimpers they have a heap of bi-catch soemtimes with seahorses sculpins wrasse whatever they would have it, cause of the destructive way in which they indiscriminantly harvest.