Littlefish Posted December 26, 2023 Share Posted December 26, 2023 My son and I watched the sunrise at Venice Beach day after Christmas. Drove down for the sharks teeth but found the winds had covered them up and deposited thousands of sponges, sea fans, and tunicates torn loose over the holiday. He made an Xmas tree out of them and a piece of driftwood. 5 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Zenzo Posted December 29, 2023 Administrators Share Posted December 29, 2023 Cute and creative! Happy Holidays! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefish Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Here is the latest score from South Lido. We 3 siblings put my 30 + y.o. canoe in to explore mangrove tunnels before the guides/tourists arrive at 9. 50 ft from shore found a nice stream of water between my feet coming from the back. I cut the back end square in my late teens and have patched it several times as I let it get borrowed and it gets drug through shell and gravel. A 10 y.o. patch had failed, so we loaded back up and went to the beach. Threw this orange tunicate looking thing in the water then changed my mind and wanted to try it in the tank but it never washed back up. Found my best critter yet, a red decorator crab. He has an orange sponge and twig of macro algae on his back. $50 + online when available. He was on his back and barely moving when I saw him, and lost a leg when I put him in the bucket. Not sure if it was the cold water, being beaten against the shore/shells, or if he got stepped on (lots of tourists). By the time I got home he seemed recovered and had burrowed in the red macro. There was pbly a 10-15° difference between tank and Gulf water, but I put the macro in there and he seems ok. Will give him a chance he didn't have on the beach anyways. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefish Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 I can't seem to add video on this site, but here are 2 pics of the primordial soup swimming in my nsw after a 50% water change. I've never seen so many creatures, from single dots slowly moving to what looks like speedy gonzales versions of brine shrimp that can easily swim against the filter output nozzle stream. Must be a part of the tide/moon/winter cycle that causes a number of fish or organisms to spawn. The water was harvested at sunrise and temp. acclimated in the house for 24+ hs in buckets with no circulation. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefish Posted March 10 Author Share Posted March 10 Seashell/feather hunting in P.J.'s 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefish Posted August 11 Author Share Posted August 11 Here is the little red decorator crab, 8 months later and 3x the size. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefish Posted August 11 Author Share Posted August 11 This was the scene when I went to get nsw for a w/c for my nano reef. Turtle eggs everywhere and stinky dark water, 1 week post-Debby. Found some nice sponges for decoration after cleaning and drying. At home these tiny crabs came jumping out when washing with freshwater. The kids love them. We had to move to grandma's due to sewage flooding in the rental 2ndary to the county not maintaining check valves in the sewer system. The 10g will be downsized to a 3g fishless and run with an airpump for rv living next year. The most successful vase reefers use airpumps with no stone and the airline cut at an angle for maximum bubble size. Look up "Maritza the reef vase" if you are interested in seeing something amazing. I'm thinking the coop battery backup pumps would be perfect for this style of reefing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woowala Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 That is quite excellent (not the hurricane part). Have you had any trouble with pests? Do you filter the seawater or anything or just let it sit and allow anything that dies right away to settle out first? Do you always collect at the same time of day? I bet if you went at night when the zooplankton migrate up you might get some crazy stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littlefish Posted August 11 Author Share Posted August 11 Hi, I go Sunday mornings at sunrise bcs that is the only "me time" for this family man. I've never filtered and want the phytoplankton, etc. I kind of follow the Paul B idea (he's on r2r if he's still alive) and don't quarantine, etc. I've had times where it was a soup of barely visible things zinging around. In theory you could get bryopsis, etc, but Julian Sprung thinks all tanks have spores of it, it just comes down to husbandry. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woowala Posted August 11 Share Posted August 11 It's probably worth the risks anyway in a small tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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