Subsea Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 http://marineplantbook.com/marinebookpadina.htm This is what I saw by the square yard on 2 ton boulders south of Corpus Christie. Aransas Pass is the funnel which drains a large ecosystem of inland bays and estuaries. As members of the Austin Reef Club, this was our first collecting trip as a club. It was fun, but don't do in in July. Totally tooooo hot. Most members caught pepermint shrimp at night. With a powerful beam, you will see eyes looking back at you. I would not put my hands in the water to catch these guys. There are other things in the water that can sting and bite. http://blogs.laweekly.com/squidink/2010/04/farmers_market_red_ogo_seaweed.php If you reached in and got this, then you did very good http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_robin Because of the heat, I rose early to do scouting at the jetties that formed the channel known as Aransas Pass. Many fish are caught here. Anglers without the resurce of large boats have an opportunity to catch blue water fish from land. This is were two local reef hobby clubs have a collection field trip. For me, never again in the heat of summer. As I gazed across the channel, the early rays of light were cancelling out the erie glow of yellow from the sodium vapor lamps that lined the 1/4 mile jettie that protrded in the sometimes angry waters of the Gulf of Mexico. It was a good day. Not a breeze stired. The often turbulent Aransas Pass looked like a mirror as it reflected the glory of dawn. The effect was two mirrowed domes, each as an alternate side of the same picture. It was fleeting, for thirty seconds I was rewarded with the beauty of nature as only she can provide. The dawn. Anyone that has fished or hunted knows that the dawn is where the action is. I had come here to catch fish. The incoming tide had momentarily stalled, thus the mirror surface on Aransa Pass. Then just as the tranquility of dawn had taken my breath away with its own beauty the instint of the hunter rose. I noticed a swirl in the water, a telltale eddy current was left as I caught a flash of white. There were big fish in the water. If you want to catch a big fish, then use a little fish for bait. I cast my 2lb test ultra light into the shallows and allowe the spinner to drift into the dark, the first shafts of morning sun reflected on the gold spinner. Presentation is the single most important thing in fishing. If it doesnot look like food, they will not strike. I felt the slight bump, with 2lb test, the sensitivity is inhanced. As I continued to reel in, I did not feel the small fish that had grabed my gold spinner. It was Sea Robin. I have never had a predator fish like this before. I have had Robin for nine months. I usually feed him once a week. He is the slickest stealth predator that I have ever observed. Some mollies that I use in maraculture operations provide high protein diet from grazing macro and micro algae. I removed three Silver Mollies that had been adjusted to marine strenth three months earlier. These were second generation marine mollies and had been in tanks with tangs and drawf angels. The alpha male upon seeing Sea Robin did not seemed concered. Robin was all of 3". These marine mollies grow almost triple what I see in the freshwater displays and were 3" as well. My day larborer and I watched as the alpha male displayed breeding teritatorial behavior toward Sea Robin. Robin missed on the first strike. To my amazement the cocky alpha mollie came back again to taunt Robin. As I drank from my frozen mug of beer, I missed the lighting reflex of Robin. I had seen it many times before, Robin does not miss strikes very often. If Robin misses his strike, he will go hungry. I hope that some enjoyed my dauble into narrative writing. If the tread title says Musings, be sure it is included in a book that I have started writing, Red STick. It follows my life, 80 % true, with embellishments. I am a Cajun storyteller. My all time hero is Justin Wilson. Besides being a Cajun humerist, he was a very good cook. Two very important traits to me. La bonne temps roulee, Patrick Link to comment
rO.oster Posted March 1, 2013 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I recall Aransas NW refuge as being absolutley beautiful. Hot, but beautiful. We saw a few whitetail, feral hog, and alligator. The abundance of different terrain and micro haitats was stunning! Great imagery and storytelling, it took me back to our trip there! Link to comment
Subsea Posted March 1, 2013 Author Share Posted March 1, 2013 The clam in your signature is stunning. Is it in your tank? Patrick PS. Thank you for the compliment. I try to paint with words. Link to comment
keydiver Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I've grown padina quite a bit, and it really likes strong light and flow. It's local down here in Miami, every spring patches of it cover rocks on the coastline, in very shallow water. It like the wave action that it gets right up at the shore. Blue scroll is an awesome species of padina with a bright blue pigmentation that I've also grown successfully. It's much less calcified and likes lower flow. Link to comment
Subsea Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 I've grown padina quite a bit, and it really likes strong light and flow. It's local down here in Miami, every spring patches of it cover rocks on the coastline, in very shallow water. It like the wave action that it gets right up at the shore. Blue scroll is an awesome species of padina with a bright blue pigmentation that I've also grown successfully. It's much less calcified and likes lower flow. Blue scroll is actually what I collected. It was paced within 8" of 400W of MH at 14K kelvin. My hat is off to you. It did not work for me. Patrick Link to comment
keydiver Posted March 2, 2013 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Here's what it looks like when it's grown out a bit, it starts to make some awesome spiraling patterns Link to comment
Subsea Posted March 2, 2013 Author Share Posted March 2, 2013 Some kind of gorgeous. What is the red stuff? Also, what is that dark blue/ purple with tight knit carpet? How much light are you using? Link to comment
keydiver Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 the red is some type of calcified scrolling algae, it's pretty sweet, but I haven't found a positive ID for it yet. The purple mat is blue ochtodes, but it's ina low flow area so it has a different growth pattern than most ochtodes sp. you see. These were all grown under a 70w 14k metal halide pendant about 12 inches from the surface, and about 14-15" from the blue scroll itself. Link to comment
Subsea Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 Blue ochtodes in low light growing conditions Link to comment
keydiver Posted March 3, 2013 Share Posted March 3, 2013 are you sure that's not a chondria sp.? How brittle is it? ochtodes sp. should crumble pretty easily under pressure, whereas chondria has a more rubbery texture to it and should be able to sustain pressure. Link to comment
Subsea Posted March 3, 2013 Author Share Posted March 3, 2013 are you sure that's not a chondria sp.? How brittle is it? ochtodes sp. should crumble pretty easily under pressure, whereas chondria has a more rubbery texture to it and should be able to sustain pressure. It moved some when pressed. It is somewhat stiff but not brittle. Thanks, I will look it up. Link to comment
jersey Posted March 9, 2013 Share Posted March 9, 2013 Hey keydiver, when it gets warmer are you going to put up some of that red scroll? It's pretty cool looking like a scrolling martian rose. Link to comment
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