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Cultivated Reef

Texas Jetty collecting(biotope)


spazizz

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I'm at South Padre Island for a few days. Ive been doing some collecting from the jetties but I dont know what is good and bad. Eventually Id like to put some of the algaes in my main tank. The anemones ive found are seperated for now. I dont really want to keep them if they might eat the peppermint shrimp Ive collected.

 

FTS

IMG_0230_zpsbuo5ccru.jpg

 

Right side

IMG_0232_zpsilgk7okn.jpg

 

Left side

IMG_0231_zps1vhxmepw.jpg

 

Algae in the middle

IMG_0233_zpstqgwnytq.jpg

 

Unknown Anemones 1

IMG_0238_zps1jlyziaf.jpg

 

Unknown anemones 2

IMG_0236_zps3rgrnols.jpg

 

Thanks for any help

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I think all the native anemones are pretty nasty. It might not eat the shrimp, but I would assume it's going to eat any fish it comes in contact with. Everything else should be fine. Just a word of caution, the wild peppermints seem to be much more likely to eat coral and opportunistically eat fish than many of the captive ones in LFS's. I do believe some locals here said they are the absolute best for aiptasia though.

 

Make sure you have the correct permit to keep any of this. We've heard some nasty stories of people being fined for collecting in port aransas without a permit. Not 100% sure, it might just be a fishing license, but TPW takes it pretty seriously.

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You just need a fishing license to collect, but make sure to observe any bans on certain species. And if you don't know if its banned or not, don't collect it.

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If i keep the anemones it will be in the biotope with only the shrimp, no fish unless I catch some thing cool that stays small. I do have my sw license btw.

I think all the native anemones are pretty nasty. It might not eat the shrimp, but I would assume it's going to eat any fish it comes in contact with. Everything else should be fine. Just a word of caution, the wild peppermints seem to be much more likely to eat coral and opportunistically eat fish than many of the captive ones in LFS's. I do believe some locals here said they are the absolute best for aiptasia though.

 

Make sure you have the correct permit to keep any of this. We've heard some nasty stories of people being fined for collecting in port aransas without a permit. Not 100% sure, it might just be a fishing license, but TPW takes it pretty seriously.

 

 

Can any on identify the algaes Ive collected, I only recognize gracilaria and ulva. I did see bryopsis at one point but I threw it back.

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I believe the red with straight growth is some sort of gracilaria. I had some on a few ricordea frags. It was a very slow grower. Didn't actually spread at all, just grew outward.

 

The scroll is Padina.

 

The blue'ish stuff looks like some sort of chondria or ochtodes.

 

I believe the bushy red stuff is asparagopsis taxiformis.

 

Yellowish orange one in front is sargassum.

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:) Every thing Ive collected so far has been from the jetty.

 

Ooh pretty! Love the variety of macros!
Did you collect from the shore or did you go further out?

 

 

 

Tomorrow is my last day, I hope I find some more cool stuff.

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Just arrived home in PA a couple of hours ago . 20 shrimps survived but I lost quite a bit. I ended up finding some nerites which is convienent since I lost my last one a week ago. I have this very pretty barncle that survived, it has colors like a blue clam. Pretty much all the pods I had died, hopefully some survived.

 

I also found some fiddler type crabs on the jetty which all survived the trip back home. They will go in their own little crab bowl.

 

Ill probably start a new tank thread once the tank is set up.

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For the aquascape I'm thinking about cutting up some old LR into blocks to make a miniature jetty. Or I could just do this "tower" which feels like every other reef tank Ive done. But the blocks could end up looking nothing like how I'm imagining it.

 

IMG_0255_zpsljfxead3.jpg

 

Ive been contemplating if I want to keep this a strict SPI jetty biotope or if I want to keep it as a Gulf of mexico biotope. If it's strict jetty biotope I wont add any new creatures but If I go with the GOM biotope I could add ricordea and other corals from the GOM(as long as the shrimp don't eat them).

 

Your opinions/comments are welcomed.

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most not all but most Peppermint shrimp collected in Texas will eat up coral ,that's why most LFS sell Florida Peps.

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So to better visualize my idea, I made a super mini practice jetty. Tiny tiny boulders measuring 0.5 inch to 1.5 inches. My idea would be to create these around 3-5 inches then pile them up like you were looking directly down the end of the jetty. It's not an exact replica of the jetty since the rocks are made from old LR instead of the granite type boulders that are used but the rocks will change colors and grow algae any ways.

 

IMG_0257_zpslynkpygn.jpg

 

IMG_0260_zpsomodm7r5.jpg

 

Here is link to google maps image of the actual jetty I was on. Link

 

 

 

Ive been back in PA for a few days now, but I did use that guide while down there. Some things I found weren't listed and there were things on the guide I didn't find. Thanks though.

If you're still collecting, here's the Houston guide to what to collect on the Texas coast.

 

http://www.marsh-reef.org/new-to-the-hobby/4748-what-collect-coast.html

 

 

 

The barnacles are nice but I don't feel like there is surface area to get a good amount of algae growth. I'm also using a 5.5 gallon tank now instead of a 2 gallon.

Surprisingly, I really like the simplicity of the holding tank you had setup...


How have I never seen this before. Great resource.

 

They are vicious creatures. So far they have devoured every type of food Ive given them . If I ever try corals they will certainly be disposable.

most not all but most Peppermint shrimp collected in Texas will eat up coral ,that's why most LFS sell Florida Peps.

 

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I actually used some dry jetty rocks I found at the Texas City Dike a year back and cycled them in water I removed during a water change. Had a small power head on it and left it running in the sun for about 3 weeks. Nothing grew on it or looked dead so I threw it in the sump. No issues at all. I like it because it was flat ,perfect for a zoanthid rainbow rock, I'll post some pics once I start placing the zoa frags on it.

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