Seeking Coldwater Marine Enthusiasts!

[Fish-Head Aric]

Yes, I know you're out there somewhere!

I'm searching for people interested in coldwater marine aquaculture.

If you have an interest, or anything to contribute, please fess up and jump in here!

I'm developing an MSN-based group website dedicated to the subject, and am pooling together a large variety of resources over the coming weeks to get this boat floating. For a rough, very rough idea and to watch it grow, check out http://groups.msn.com/DivingintoColdWaters .

Write me here, or write me at aric_001@hotmail.com for more information or to speak yer interest!

 

[gman52]

wat are some types of coldwater marine fish? or are there even any

arent barnacles and clams coldwater marine?

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

All sorts of coldwater fishes yes!

Where do you live? I am in the Pacific Northwest (USA) and remember my high school marine biology days. We gathered many many sorts of creatures at minus tides in the tide pools around Coos Bay, Oregon and other points south of there.

Some included a variety of sculpins, blennies, stickelbacks, small eels.... one of my favorites was a small type of flounder that was really cool to watch - required sand for it to be able to hide in. there has to be a good constant current for circulation of air. A lot of these creatures thrive because of the tidal comings and goings. As for invertebrates, the little rock crabs did pretty well, and is my current success. Certain sorts of shrimps were found as well. The thing about crabs is that they are explorers and will try and climb anything, thus I only have one survivor in the 10 gallon tank. I've also seen in my 10 gallon tank some "volunteers" that may have been plankton that have evolved into little shrimp-like dudes several millimeters long. I have several very, very small, tan-ish anemones with long stringy tentacles that hitch-hiked in on the rocks and mussel shells and seem to be fine.

The mussels suffered terribly and have given up, but the barnacles seem more hardy.

Don't do jellyfish in this sort of tank. Very fragile and require "no rough spots" or direct suction that will obliterate them.

Am working towards a bigger, custom tank now because I really do love the tidal creatures and want to recreate the tidal environment.

 

[Mako]

I do the same thing in South Carolina. Was fishing with my sister and her two sons last weekend and my sis actually caught a starfish, blew my stinkin mind! She was using a bottom rig for whiting, and the star wrapped around her bait shrimp, so I got a bucket of saltwater, put the battery-op bait airpump in it, and put him in my reef. Doing quite well. Eats like a hog.

Your barnacles won't likely fare well. I've tried them before, but there's simply not enough plankton in an aquarium for them. A month is about the best you'll see. That's also why the mussels died, as will nearly any shellfish like that. Great food for the animals though!

Your little plantonic shrimps are likely copepods or amphipods. I collect them at low tide by grabbing clumps of weed and grass from tidepools and swishing around in a bucket, I get hundred of them. Great fish food.



We have a couple neat anemones here in SC, none are colorful, but easy to find. One is about the size of a big meatball and has very, very strong stinging tentacles. It doesn't hurt humans, but it does stick to your finger very strongly. Kinda ugly though, brownish poop color.

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

When I stayed the summer in Seward, Alaska, the beaches were covered with dried out many-legged seastars, BIG ones like 2 - 3 feet across.

I found out they were caught by fishermen who bottom-rigged their bait. All ya had to do was tie off your bait above your sinker, but nooooo... people didn't seem to understand that. So, you'd be sitting awhile and find no action, so start reeling in and feel a massive dead weight. Sure enough, big ol' seastar!

And I caught a big sea anemone once as well. Why it wasn't secured to a rock I don't know.

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

I do the same thing in South Carolina. Was fishing with my sister and her two sons last weekend and my sis actually caught a starfish, blew my stinkin mind! She was using a bottom rig for whiting, and the star wrapped around her bait shrimp, so I got a bucket of saltwater, put the battery-op bait airpump in it, and put him in my reef. Doing quite well. Eats like a hog.

Your barnacles won't likely fare well. I've tried them before, but there's simply not enough plankton in an aquarium for them. A month is about the best you'll see. That's also why the mussels died, as will nearly any shellfish like that. Great food for the animals though!

Your little plantonic shrimps are likely copepods or amphipods. I collect them at low tide by grabbing clumps of weed and grass from tidepools and swishing around in a bucket, I get hundred of them. Great fish food.



We have a couple neat anemones here in SC, none are colorful, but easy to find. One is about the size of a big meatball and has very, very strong stinging tentacles. It doesn't hurt humans, but it does stick to your finger very strongly. Kinda ugly though, brownish poop color.

As for copepods and amphipods, I wasn't sure which they were so I like "shirmp thingies" fine.

Here's a shot of some of the Pacific Northwest intertidal life I am hoping to put to tank when I get the big custom job done.

The sea anemones can get very large, even up to the size of a dinner plate around.

 

[Decz]

theres not enough plankton in any aquarium naturally... i use a suppliment in my marine tropical and marine cold-water -- a product called "Liquid Life, bio plankton" it works great in all my tanks and the barnicles and shell fish have all been in there for close to a year.

 

[Fish-Head Aric]

Kewl!

Hey, would love to discuss this subject in depth with you. If you have MSN Internet Messenger you can add me - aric_001@hotmail.com .

I found that the barnacles really like the powdered turtle pellets, and also the betta flakes.

Am working on ideas for seeing if I can get a plankton gathering done by local boat-nuts in the Puget Sound. I have a plankton funnel net designed after one I used back in my school days in marine biology. Have an idea for trying a plankton tank in the works, too.

Look out fishies, Aric's gonna be experimenting again!