amphipod Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 I keep a tank devoted just for them, they are quite pretty, but terribly invasive at times, especially when stressed. I feed mine a variety of foods like fish pellets, pond snails, chicken gravy, and whatever else they like, they are fun but they need tons of food to grow big quick. So if you aren't over feeding a tank they wouldn't be as bad as they would be for Sir feeds a lot, or the people suffering dirty tank syndrome. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 19, 2015 Author Share Posted April 19, 2015 Alright, hopefully they shouldn't be too bad then. I feed about as little as I can get away with, usually every other day or so. Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Alright, hopefully they shouldn't be too bad then. I feed about as little as I can get away with, usually every other day or so. are you a budget aquarist like me? Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Not typically, but sometimes. That's not the reason behind the feeding tho. I figure in a small tank like mine it helps to reduce pollution. I have no filtration at all bar live rock. Maybe I should tho? Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Not typically, but sometimes. That's not the reason behind the feeding tho. I figure in a small tank like mine it helps to reduce pollution. I have no filtration at all bar live rock. Maybe I should tho? lol I don't have a filter in mine and I've not ever had a marine crash yet lol. I have the variety of microfauna keeping my tanks salt and fresh running smoothly. Cool stuff I have come across from my budget tanks also lol. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Yea I have certainly seen some cool stuff in my little cube. It's why I find marine so much more interesting than fresh. We are a little restricted with what we can get here on nz tho. Like fresh water shrimp and emerald crabs being banned for example. How many tanks you got running? Link to comment
Tamberav Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 $20 a snail? Holy crap!! Are hermits cheaper? If so, I would get an army of those guys. Astrea snails like to fall on their backs and die, no way I would pay $20 for one and have it commit suicide. Mexican turbo's and margarita's are cool water species but they seem to mostly do just fine. Hopefully you can collect something yourself that proves to be as hardy. Otherwise, I use tuxedo/pin cushion urchins in tanks without snails (mantis tank) and they do a great job. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 $20 a snail? Holy crap!! Are hermits cheaper? If so, I would get an army of those guys. Astrea snails like to fall on their backs and die, no way I would pay $20 for one and have it commit suicide. Mexican turbo's and margarita's are cool water species but they seem to mostly do just fine. Hopefully you can collect something yourself that proves to be as hardy. Otherwise, I use tuxedo/pin cushion urchins in tanks without snails (mantis tank) and they do a great job. Thanks for the input! Yup the only snails available are Astreas at 20 each. I've already lost a couple. I bought a hermit the other week, but at 40 each I don't think I'll be buying a small army! I bought him mainly because I thought he looked cool and was something different to add to the tank. I'm hoping.to find some suitable snails, I've got no CUC atm apart from the hermit. My tank is.only a 16in cube so I'm not sure an urchin would be too suitable? Man, I really do envy you guys over there, with all your selection available. What do you pay for a snail or a hermit? Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I have 15 "tanks" some are just algae storage jars others have fish. There are more if you count terrariums. How many do you have? I have seen an average of $5-10 at the local fish store for hermit crabs and snails. But I have most my marine animals I keep coming direct from the wild free lol. Link to comment
Tamberav Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Thanks for the input! Yup the only snails available are Astreas at 20 each. I've already lost a couple. I bought a hermit the other week, but at 40 each I don't think I'll be buying a small army! I bought him mainly because I thought he looked cool and was something different to add to the tank. I'm hoping.to find some suitable snails, I've got no CUC atm apart from the hermit. My tank is.only a 16in cube so I'm not sure an urchin would be too suitable? Man, I really do envy you guys over there, with all your selection available. What do you pay for a snail or a hermit? 50 cents... unless you use reef-cleaners then its like... 10 cents with all the extras he sends. The LFS here wants $2 a snail which is too rich for my blood so I get them online. I would add a Tuxedo Urchin out of pure disparity to have some sort of CUC (if you can even get those there). They only grow to 2-3 inches. Just keep up on water changes as they eat a lot of algae so they poop a lot. You can feed it dried nori if you run out of algae. They are cool looking too. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 I have 15 "tanks" some are just algae storage jars others have fish. There are more if you count terrariums. How many do you have?I have seen an average of $5-10 at the local fish store for hermit crabs and snails. But I have most my marine animals I keep coming direct from the wild free lol. Wow, that's a few lol. Think the Mrs would kill me if I had that many. Only got the one cube atm. I had a 400l (100ish gal) discus tank along with a couple wee apisto tanks pre earthquakes. I lost the discus and half my apistos and sold everything off. Was at the start of last year I decided to get into it again but this time marine. So far, so good. Will upgrade when we buy our own house hopefully later this year. Already have the tank in the garage lol. Pretty keen to see what I can collect from the sea. Hopefully they last long enough to be worthwhile, no harm in trying anyway aye? Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 50 cents... unless you use reef-cleaners then its like... 10 cents with all the extras he sends. The LFS here wants $2 a snail which is too rich for my blood so I get them online. I would add a Tuxedo Urchin out of pure disparity to have some sort of CUC (if you can even get those there). They only grow to 2-3 inches. Just keep up on water changes as they eat a lot of algae so they poop a lot. You can feed it dried nori if you run out of algae. They are cool looking too. Wow! I knew we were getting ripped here, like we do for most stuff, but 50cents each vs $20? Wtf? Makes me wanna cry. I'll see if we can get them. Can't say I've ever seen 1, the only urchins I've seen are the black long spined urchins. Always keen to get cool looking stuff. Link to comment
ndrobey Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 New Zealand and Australia used to be one country. Is it easy to import saltwater livestock from Australia to New Zealand? Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Wow, that's a few lol. Think the Mrs would kill me if I had that many. Only got the one cube atm. I had a 400l (100ish gal) discus tank along with a couple wee apisto tanks pre earthquakes. I lost the discus and half my apistos and sold everything off. Was at the start of last year I decided to get into it again but this time marine. So far, so good. Will upgrade when we buy our own house hopefully later this year. Already have the tank in the garage lol. Pretty keen to see what I can collect from the sea. Hopefully they last long enough to be worthwhile, no harm in trying anyway aye? what do you mean pre earthquakes? Its amazing what wading off a boat pier with jars, net and or a snorkel can bring Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 New Zealand and Australia used to be one country. Is it easy to import saltwater livestock from Australia to New Zealand? Unfortunately not. Doesn't matter where from, the bio security laws are all the same. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 what do you mean pre earthquakes? Its amazing what wading off a boat pier with jars, net and or a snorkel can bring We had a a series of earthquakes that started September 2010 with the worst being Feb 2011. Killed 185 people and caused a ****load of damage. The discus tank ended up on the floor and I lost most of my other fish due to the 4 week power outage we had. Its not something I've done before, hopefully I can find a few types of snail I can keep. Getting pretty chilly about now though, not sure how keen I am on the wading part lol. Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 We had a a series of earthquakes that started September 2010 with the worst being Feb 2011. Killed 185 people and caused a ****load of damage. The discus tank ended up on the floor and I lost most of my other fish due to the 4 week power outage we had. Its not something I've done before, hopefully I can find a few types of snail I can keep. Getting pretty chilly about now though, not sure how keen I am on the wading part lol. that's some bad seismic activity how cold is the water now? Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 that's some bad seismic activity how cold is the water now? 55f atm, probably not too bad I guess. Fair bit lower than my tank tho Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 55f atm, probably not too bad I guess. Fair bit lower than my tank thoyou still have a chance of harvesting, just I wouldn't go wading in that cold of water, its a very unpleasant experience. I once was knees deep in water with ice on top and I couldn't feel my feet and was having trouble walking normal. But I've swam in 55 degrees its really cold and you actually will shiver of your under water, its not super fun. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 21, 2015 Author Share Posted April 21, 2015 you still have a chance of harvesting, just I wouldn't go wading in that cold of water, its a very unpleasant experience. I once was knees deep in water with ice on top and I couldn't feel my feet and was having trouble walking normal. But I've swam in 55 degrees its really cold and you acjtually will shiver of your under water, its not super fun. These were my thoughts, but thought maybe I was being a bit soft lol. What about around rocky headlands? Just need to find seaweed or kelp right? I know of heaps of kelp ridden areas just not sure how I'd pull it in. Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 These were my thoughts, but thought maybe I was being a bit soft lol. What about around rocky headlands? Just need to find seaweed or kelp right? I know of heaps of kelp ridden areas just not sure how I'd pull it in. definitely a good spot where the kelp is bunched or piled, if you can get a rake and net you are good to go. Rake for digging through kelp and breaking a little off and net for scooping up the pieces. Or if you decide to go "beach" walking you just need to find fresh washed kelp and start the search. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 definitely a good spot where the kelp is bunched or piled, if you can get a rake and net you are good to go. Rake for digging through kelp and breaking a little off and net for scooping up the pieces. Or if you decide to go "beach" walking you just need to find fresh washed kelp and start the search. Sweet, I'll give it a go in the weekend if the weather stays good. Definitely gonna be a cold winter. Real cold. Link to comment
dgphelps Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Just a note on majano, I have several in my pest tank and they tend to prefer snuggling up with the zoanthids. The zoanthids open just fine with no obvious distress when the anemone is around. Link to comment
tanked_kiwi Posted April 22, 2015 Author Share Posted April 22, 2015 Just a note on majano, I have several in my pest tank and they tend to prefer snuggling up with the zoanthids. The zoanthids open just fine with no obvious distress when the anemone is around. OK thanks. It must have come in on the zoa rock I bought. Will leave it alone unless it becomes a problem, it sure does look good Link to comment
amphipod Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Just a note on majano, I have several in my pest tank and they tend to prefer snuggling up with the zoanthids. The zoanthids open just fine with no obvious distress when the anemone is around. I think zoanthids may actually have stronger stings than majanos of I rember correctly. Sweet, I'll give it a go in the weekend if the weather stays good. Definitely gonna be a cold winter. Real cold. how cold does it get? Link to comment
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