OnlyGenusCaps Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 On 10/18/2021 at 5:45 PM, eatyourpeas said: Lots of Dungeness crabs in the water 👅🦀 A West Coast treat I miss dearly. Maryland can keep their blue crabs (I lived there for years), and the spindly legs of king and snow crabs can't compare. Dungeness is perfection in my book! 2 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 On 10/18/2021 at 7:03 PM, OnlyGenusCaps said: 👅🦀 A West Coast treat I miss dearly. Maryland can keep their blue crabs (I lived there for years), and the spindly legs of king and snow crabs can't compare. Dungeness is perfection in my book! They are yummy! I thought of your algae tank while I was out in the ocean. There is an area where the water comes into a cove full of Madrona trees, and as the tide was coming in, there was this mass of algae that looked like the film in your post. I did not have my phone with me so could not take a picture for you. Will try tomorrow and see if I can catch it again. It was stunning! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 I have to admit I don't go tidepooling as often as I should. Perhaps it's that it reminds me of work too much be we truly are spoiled over here on the west coast. I enjoy seeing people freak out on social media over alien creatures in the tidepools. Or seeing a king-of-the-salmon on the news as *giant sea serpent washed up on beach* catchy but once you have been on deep-sea trawlers they become common place I love the antique look of the hutch under your tank! Are those barn door cabinets? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 On 10/18/2021 at 7:29 PM, Biotope Biologist said: I love the antique look of the hutch under your tank! Are those barn door cabinets? That is a cheap particle board cabinet found on Amazon, then we rebuilt it from the outside in to reinforce it and make sure it could handle the weight. Lots of 2x4 that you cannot see. I painted the outside to look like an old farm piece of furniture. It was originally very light grey but I really liked the sliding barn door. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09DSW1DSW/ref=sbl_dpx_living-room-tv-stands_B099PTS51Q_0?th=1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Streetwise Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 I fell in love with tide pools on Rexhame Beach in Marshfield, Massachusetts. I was amazed at how much life was in each pool next to the rocks. You could follow the tide and find all sorts of cool stuff! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 (edited) Changes to the tank today... 200+ krill were added... as food. They are very goofy and cute with their googly eyes and riding the current. Also, a couple of mussels, and The Acrobat was quick at giving me the hand as signal to stay away from them: Found a shrimp moult while looking for the algae pool for @OnlyGenusCaps: And here is the low tide/high tide of the algae, as promised (now I can picture only pupfish!): It was a beautiful day! Edited October 19, 2021 by eatyourpeas 4 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 I went out to the shore to gather some rocks and driftwood for my upcoming puffer tank. I took some time examining all the potential hard shelled food sources for a Green Spotted Puffer. Tiny shore crabs, snails and whelks and dogwinkles are abundant. If the fish goes for these I’ll have an easy time keeping teeth trimmed. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OnlyGenusCaps Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 Wow, that is amazing! I have colleague that works in the sub-Antarctic forests in southern Chile. There are spots there where there is so much rain and mist that the predominant ground cover in the forests is algae (eat your heart out Olympic Rainforests of Washington!). Your photo of the algae climbing up the woody vegetation reminds me of a sunnier version of that nearly alien landscape from a world away. Thanks for sharing that!!! Also, see my latest post about the pupfish and algae. The combination might not be working out. ☹️ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 20, 2021 Author Share Posted October 20, 2021 On 10/19/2021 at 5:47 PM, Patrick_G said: I went out to the shore to gather some rocks and driftwood for my upcoming puffer tank. I took some time examining all the potential hard shelled food sources for a Green Spotted Puffer. Tiny shore crabs, snails and whelks and dogwinkles are abundant. If the fish goes for these I’ll have an easy time keeping teeth trimmed. That is wonderful! You'll find a free supply of free food, and don't forget the pods! Lots of them hiding in the sand and algae! On 10/18/2021 at 7:48 PM, Streetwise said: I fell in love with tide pools on Rexhame Beach in Marshfield, Massachusetts. I was amazed at how much life was in each pool next to the rocks. You could follow the tide and find all sorts of cool stuff! Massachusetts has such beautiful spots full of marine life! I used to go diving off Magnolia, great wall full of aquatic life, day and night! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 On 10/19/2021 at 7:12 PM, eatyourpeas said: That is wonderful! You'll find a free supply of free food, and don't forget the pods! Lots of them hiding in the sand and algae! Yeah, I did forget, but there are tons of pods! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 (edited) The morning drama today: Of the 200+ krill, only eleven were in the tank this morning! The sculpins were not particularly fat, and I do not believe they are night feeders. The sump had maybe ten or so, all alive, so in the tank again they went. The Acrobat is not fast enough to catch them. Oooohhhh, not just Ursula Flerken, but the other anemones may have gotten a nice dinner last night! Wow! I guess I was underfeeding... 😳 Edited October 21, 2021 by eatyourpeas 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 I also have been noticing Number one spending a lot of time guarding a "cave" under an oyster shell. I have no idea about the breeding season for these sculpins, so will need to read about them tonight, with a cup of hot spicy Mexican chocolate. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 On 10/20/2021 at 6:10 PM, eatyourpeas said: The morning drama today: Of the 200+ krill, only eleven were in the tank this morning! The sculpins were not particularly fat, and I do not believe they are night feeders. The sump had maybe ten or so, all alive, so in the tank again they went. The Acrobat is not fast enough to catch them. Oooohhhh, not just Ursula Flerken, but the other anemones may have gotten a nice dinner last night! Wow! I guess I was underfeeding... 😳 Anenomes are all gut! You would have to have a particularly heavy hand to overfeed them! 😋 Last night was a full moon alot of our PNW friends breed around the lunar cycle as the tide pull is the strongest and the creatures from the deep come up to feed. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 That could explain why the birds were going crazy! Lots of edibles in the ocean. The view from the ferry was incredible, with many flocks going in and out of the water finding fish. I am now seriously thinking I am underfeeding! No krill left in the tank, but everyone else looks happy. No drama this morning! I did add the ACO powerhead to create an insane amount of current, and they are all happy riding the new waves. I aimed it at the skimmer so the bubbles get pushed around covering more tank area. We'll see how it goes. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted October 21, 2021 Share Posted October 21, 2021 On 10/18/2021 at 4:45 PM, eatyourpeas said: Thank you all for your continued encouragement. I really like the little glimpse this tank gives me into the nearby ocean. Nature is just doing its thing here. I am the student, she is the wise teacher. I feel spoiled because I can stare at this tank for a long time and notice minute changes, moments of predation, moments of glory. I could not enjoy those if I was diving, as I would run out of air judging from the amount of observation time it takes to experience most events. I set out earlier to find some more rockweed and the water was littered with crab bits. The drama was going on in nature as well. Lots of Dungeness crabs in the water, about 5-6" in shell size. I found the rockweed and brought home a whole bag of crab claws full of meat. Fed some to the critters and froze the rest. My guess is the herons had feast this morning during low tide, and/or seagulls. All the bodies were emptied out but the limbs were not. Maybe too much work for too little meat. I am now wondering if I am feeding enough. I fed the critters this morning, but as soon as all that crab hit the tank water everyone went bananas! I just cracked the claws and threw them in shell and all. Wow! Normally peaceful sculpins were furiously tearing at the meat, but not being aggressive towards each other. It was incredible! Sorry I do not have pictures of the water scene, but I do not take my phone with me when I go in the water. But I do smell like crab, ask my husband! 😝 How do you determine if you are feeding enough, or too much, or not enough? If I feed the endlers in the turtle pond to the point that they are never really hungry, they breed like crazy and I see poorer genetics. If I feed the exact same amount, regardless of the number of fry, they will predate on the fry. If I feed somewhere in between, the endlers are happier, the genetics look best, the reproduction rate is manageable, and the nitrates stay under damaging levels, even when Karma eats the majority of the plants. Karma, of course, is the predator that drives the genetics in the turtle pond: fast, intelligent, and not very big... but able to work together. In Puget sound, there are much larger predators that keep the population in check. If not for the larger predators, the available food would keep the populations in check, and smaller predators would be more efficient. So I guess, ultimately, you have to decide which parameters you want to work within. Are you going to rerelease any, if they breed to large a colony? Or do they need to maintain livable parameters and numbers with minimal intervention on your part? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 Post krill coma... 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 21, 2021 Author Share Posted October 21, 2021 On 10/21/2021 at 4:22 PM, Torrey said: Are you going to rerelease any, if they breed to large a colony? Or do they need to maintain livable parameters and numbers with minimal intervention on your part? Absolutely not! Nothing that is in the tank can be released back to nature. I am not sure what the capacity of the tank is. I thought there were like 10 or 15 sculpins until I fed recently and counted 30 not including Number One. I don't think they are breeding, as they are still young and some barely starting to show adult coloring. As far as feeding, parameters are great and I still do water changes periodically. The v-sump is doing an amazing job at keeping the water clean and clear. I do not think I will be adding any new critters, unless something amazing happens to cross my path. I do feed daily, but not stupid amounts. They clear it all out in less than five minutes. I am still learning. As critters disappear, I will take that as a sign of serious underfeeding. There is no aggression except from the Kelp crabs, but it is not their fault, they were drawn that way. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torrey Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 On 10/21/2021 at 5:33 PM, eatyourpeas said: Absolutely not! Nothing that is in the tank can be released back to nature. Back in NC I volunteered with the Museum of Natural History, and some animals were rehabs that were able to be re-released into the wild. Specifically, an obstinate octopus comes to mind. I doubted that you would be releasing anything, however, after the massive die-offs due to the heat dome, anything is possible. WA DF&G may have asked you for help. It's been good to hear the fish making it past the dams and breeding in their traditional breeding grounds again. I hope that the PNW can recuperate from the fires and the heat. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChemBob Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 On 10/21/2021 at 6:22 PM, Torrey said: Karma, of course, is the predator that drives the genetics in the turtle pond: fast, intelligent, and not very big... but able to work together. I'm assuming Karma is the turtle? What kind? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 22, 2021 Author Share Posted October 22, 2021 On 10/21/2021 at 8:52 PM, Torrey said: Back in NC I volunteered with the Museum of Natural History, and some animals were rehabs that were able to be re-released into the wild. Specifically, an obstinate octopus comes to mind. I doubted that you would be releasing anything, however, after the massive die-offs due to the heat dome, anything is possible. WA DF&G may have asked you for help. It's been good to hear the fish making it past the dams and breeding in their traditional breeding grounds again. I hope that the PNW can recuperate from the fires and the heat. I think an affiliation with such an organization would be the only way. My initial attempts to make contact directed me to website/questionnaires and a maybe "we'll contact you if we need more information". I should keep trying. There is an octopus not far from me. He truly has a very untidy front yard in front of his den (of course my tank is starting to look like that with the crab bits left all over the place!). I truly love octopuses but could never dream of having one. Space constraints, a safe tank to prevent escapes, and they are illegal to keep anyway. The Seattle Aquarium has been extremely helpful in advising, but I do not want to be a nuisance by bombarding them with too many questions. So far the ocean seems to be operating at healthy levels, but I am no expert. I go pretty much everyday when time allows and observe the ebbs and flows trying to learn the habits of its inhabitants. I try to avoid humans as they seem to be the most aggressive species when I am out there. 🙄 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.B Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 What a fantastic project, I love the development. Curiosity with commitment. Do you dive or snorkel the Sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) On 10/23/2021 at 5:51 PM, J.B said: What a fantastic project, I love the development. Curiosity with commitment. Do you dive or snorkel the Sound? Thank you! I did both, but now I do not dive due to a spine injury. I am seeing an interesting organism coming out of the red algae, and only this algae, especially during feeding time. They can reach several inches, but when there is no more food, they retreat/disappear. Are these some kind of detritus worms? I think this red succulent algae is an annual and do not know if it is related. I can't find any information on it. @Biotope Biologist, please help? 🙂 Edited October 24, 2021 by eatyourpeas 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 Found three new baby anemones in the tank today. No, not Ursula Flerken species (I do not think I can handle another one!), but the aggregating anemone (Anthopleura elegantissima), which means I am either underfeeding, or there is too much food in the tank. Ursula Flerken has made herself tall again, so I am assuming some large crab bits will make themselves visible by tomorrow morning. She put out two small lower claws today. And this little guy has grown into a handsome Mr. Bliss! I believe him to be a plate limpet (Tectura scutum), and he has been diligently cleaning the tank from diatoms. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eatyourpeas Posted October 25, 2021 Author Share Posted October 25, 2021 This just made me wonder what Tolkien would have come up if he had had an aquarium... Oh, the possibilities of amazing worlds and characters dwelling in the depths of a glass box. 😳 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biotope Biologist Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 On 10/24/2021 at 10:04 AM, eatyourpeas said: Thank you! I did both, but now I do not dive due to a spine injury. I am seeing an interesting organism coming out of the red algae, and only this algae, especially during feeding time. They can reach several inches, but when there is no more food, they retreat/disappear. Are these some kind of detritus worms? I think this red succulent algae is an annual and do not know if it is related. I can't find any information on it. @Biotope Biologist, please help? 🙂 That looks very similar to the tentacles of a spaghetti worm? The body of which is usually burrowed into the sand. They are very timid and sensitive to vibrations so even approaching the tide pool or tank will cause them to retreat back into their burrow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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