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Coldwater Livestock from my night collecting trip.


AquaticEngineer

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AquaticEngineer

VIDEO I took of some of the new stuff

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Highlights were lots of Bay Pipefish and a perfectly sized juvenile Octopus. Theres a 50/50 chance its a baby giant pacific octopus, since theres only 2 species of octopus found up here.

 

Caught a couple pounds of little 1" -2" shrimp also, most of which became food but at least half of them found a good hiding spot or buried into the sand.

 

For size reference of the Octopus, thats a 2 liter bottle cap in with him where his dinner is hiding ;) Other that him missing one leg he's in perfect health :D

 

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AquaticEngineer
haha thats sweet i wish i could do that. cant wait to see the pictures. do you just walk by the tide pools or how do you find them?

 

There was a -1.5 tide last night so the bay we went to had pretty much drained out which let us walk really far out into the bay. Got our chest waders on and dragged a 4'x8' minnow seine through the sea grass beds.

 

The Octopus we happened to find while flipping rocks looking for gunnels when the tide started to come back in. I saw him dart out from under the rock and I told my buddy to freeze and let the sediment settle back down. Once it settled, I put my hand in the water and he crawled right onto it :D

 

I guess I must be a cephalopod wisperer, lol.

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Very cool!

 

I keep bimac octopus in my cold water tank, and I can give you a couple of pointers about your octpus.

They don't like bright light, so you might not want to keep him on the shelf with your giant green anemone. Octopus are sensitive to low oxygen levels (they die easily in low oxygen) so a better ventilated container would be a good idea, although isolation is probably a good idea, because they generally eat whatever doesn't eat them, except sea stars, anemone, gorgonians and urchins. A "critter keeper" with a few rock in it for hiding might be a good way to keep it for a while.

 

If it's a GPO, you'll have issues when it gets large enough to eat your kids, bit if it's an "East Pacific red octopus" (O. rubescens) then it won't get too big. Some say they are nocturnal, but some say otherwise. They have a reputation for being aggressive, and some people have had very bad reactions to the bite. Check out Tonmo.com for details about keeping octopus.

 

Here are some links to opinions about their bite:

http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/octobite.php

 

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php...ull=1#post99891

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AquaticEngineer
Wow so jealous of those pipefish!

 

Most of them are already eating frozen cylclop eeze too :D Havnt seen any of the Tubesnouts eat yet though :(

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AquaticEngineer
:o Woah, a red gunnel? waaant

 

I also caught the same species in a bright green :) Just haven't been able to get a picture of them yet.

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Where did you go collecting? I really was planning on tagging along for this trip to get my tank started but me and the wife were both sick. Next time you go out collecting, I must go!

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AquaticEngineer
Where did you go collecting? I really was planning on tagging along for this trip to get my tank started but me and the wife were both sick. Next time you go out collecting, I must go!

 

I really want to go on either 11/26 or 11/27 at night. There is almost a minus 2 ft tide both nights. The wife was pretty ticked off about me getting back at 2 am last time, so I dont know if I can make it happen.

 

If you wanna drive, I got all the gear ready to go ;)

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I will be out of town for that tide so hopefully another one. I need to get all the equipment and see how its done. Where have you been collecting at?

 

Those pipe fish are awesome!!! I really want to catch some of those.

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AquaticEngineer
I will be out of town for that tide so hopefully another one. I need to get all the equipment and see how its done. Where have you been collecting at?

 

Those pipe fish are awesome!!! I really want to catch some of those.

 

If you want some pipe fish you can have some of mine, I have like 30 at least ;) I'll show you the spot when we go out. It doesn't have to be done during a minus tide, but the low tides make it easier to get around and allow access to more locations is all.

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I'd love some pipe fish. I need to prep my tank for critters a little more first. I went and collected some substrate and rock but it wasn't close to enough. I need to get some more first. Any good places you recommend for getting rock and substrate? The place I got it from was not fun at all.

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AquaticEngineer
I'd love some pipe fish. I need to prep my tank for critters a little more first. I went and collected some substrate and rock but it wasn't close to enough. I need to get some more first. Any good places you recommend for getting rock and substrate? The place I got it from was not fun at all.

 

Depending on what you want for substrate, I have a couple buckets of beach sand here and a cooler worth of 50 cent sized polished rocks I collected from the jetty. I also have a bunch of larger dried rock boulders that didnt have a lot of life on them I wasnt able to fit into my tanks. If you mix up a bucket of new salt water and bring it by I'll trade you for a bucket of cycled water also.

 

Your more than welcome to any of it you can use.

 

I'll be home all day today if wanna swing by :D

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Depending on what you want for substrate, I have a couple buckets of beach sand here and a cooler worth of 50 cent sized polished rocks I collected from the jetty. I also have a bunch of larger dried rock boulders that didnt have a lot of life on them I wasnt able to fit into my tanks. If you mix up a bucket of new salt water and bring it by I'll trade you for a bucket of cycled water also.

 

Your more than welcome to any of it you can use.

 

I'll be home all day today if wanna swing by :D

 

Shoot me your number, I might be able to make time later this evening.

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AquaticEngineer
wow, this is awesome! Some amazing finds. I miss living in the west coast. Not that Miami is bad.

 

Told ya, the DOA needs to open. :)

 

The DOA will be having a public viewing on the 19th of this month :D

 

Its my birthday on the 19th and I offered to host the local marine aquarium clubs monthly meeting at my place. I figure what better way to spend you birthday than talking about your fish tank to people who actually want to hear about it ( unlike my wife :lol: )

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The DOA will be having a public viewing on the 19th of this month :D

 

Its my birthday on the 19th and I offered to host the local marine aquarium clubs monthly meeting at my place. I figure what better way to spend you birthday than talking about your fish tank to people who actually want to hear about it ( unlike my wife :lol: )

 

First happy pre-birthday.

 

It's my sister I drive crazy with fish talk. She hates it. Must find husband in the hobby. LOLOL

 

Tell them to buy you fish-related presents. :)

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AquaticEngineer
First happy pre-birthday.

 

It's my sister I drive crazy with fish talk. She hates it. Must find husband in the hobby. LOLOL

 

Tell them to buy you fish-related presents. :)

 

Some people offered to bring me frags from their tank, but all I have is coldwater now. :( Maybe they can bring me frozen food :lol:

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