Do you all have a saltwater forum anywhere?
nm
Saltwater fishes
Started by
Guest_netmaker_*
, Feb 07 2008 09:07 AM
29 replies to this topic
#2
Guest_mikez_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 09:45 AM
No saltwater forum as of yet.
There is a lot of landlocked midwesterners here so maybe hasn't been much demand.
I am an old salt from way back and have had at least one saltwater tank for close to 20 years. All my saltwater fish are hand collected by me so would be relevent to North American Native Fishes. I've been saving up pics and stories waiting for the right moment to post.
Maybe if enough interest develops a salt forum will be added. In the mean time I'm sure no one will object to relevent saltwater topics in the General Discussion forum.
There is a lot of landlocked midwesterners here so maybe hasn't been much demand.
I am an old salt from way back and have had at least one saltwater tank for close to 20 years. All my saltwater fish are hand collected by me so would be relevent to North American Native Fishes. I've been saving up pics and stories waiting for the right moment to post.
Maybe if enough interest develops a salt forum will be added. In the mean time I'm sure no one will object to relevent saltwater topics in the General Discussion forum.
#3
Guest_netmaker_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 11:27 AM
I'd like to see some discussion on saltwater fishes and such.
BITD (Back in the Day) none of us ever thought to take pictures of any of the strange and interesting things we saw. I like so many , thought it would go on forever.......we were so wrong!
Sawfish
Ocean Sunfish
acres of big bull reds (spotted red drum) rolling around near the Mouth of the Mississippi
schools of mullet so thick you were scared to run through them for fear of damaging your prop
elvers in the Big rivers
3 lb. croakers on a regular basis
Channel mullet (robar)...I think you all call them whiting?)
Big sharks....really big sharks......... Tigers, Makos, Blues and Hammers......and lots of them
flounder, big door mat size, pouring out of the Ship Channel on a strong winter Norther' .....right on the surface of just below it
My interest today is the Dead Zone in the Gulf. It is growing. Can't just tell the Midwest to stop farming, but something has to stop it.......if left unchecked it could set off a nasty chain reaction.....or so I am told by some.
Anyway, maybe we can stir up some discussion.
nm
BITD (Back in the Day) none of us ever thought to take pictures of any of the strange and interesting things we saw. I like so many , thought it would go on forever.......we were so wrong!
Sawfish
Ocean Sunfish
acres of big bull reds (spotted red drum) rolling around near the Mouth of the Mississippi
schools of mullet so thick you were scared to run through them for fear of damaging your prop
elvers in the Big rivers
3 lb. croakers on a regular basis
Channel mullet (robar)...I think you all call them whiting?)
Big sharks....really big sharks......... Tigers, Makos, Blues and Hammers......and lots of them
flounder, big door mat size, pouring out of the Ship Channel on a strong winter Norther' .....right on the surface of just below it
My interest today is the Dead Zone in the Gulf. It is growing. Can't just tell the Midwest to stop farming, but something has to stop it.......if left unchecked it could set off a nasty chain reaction.....or so I am told by some.
Anyway, maybe we can stir up some discussion.
nm
#4
Guest_fishlvr_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 04:24 PM
I'd like to see some discussion on saltwater fishes and such.
BITD (Back in the Day) none of us ever thought to take pictures of any of the strange and interesting things we saw. I like so many , thought it would go on forever.......we were so wrong!
Sawfish
Ocean Sunfish
acres of big bull reds (spotted red drum) rolling around near the Mouth of the Mississippi
schools of mullet so thick you were scared to run through them for fear of damaging your prop
elvers in the Big rivers
3 lb. croakers on a regular basis
Channel mullet (robar)...I think you all call them whiting?)
Big sharks....really big sharks......... Tigers, Makos, Blues and Hammers......and lots of them
flounder, big door mat size, pouring out of the Ship Channel on a strong winter Norther' .....right on the surface of just below it
My interest today is the Dead Zone in the Gulf. It is growing. Can't just tell the Midwest to stop farming, but something has to stop it.......if left unchecked it could set off a nasty chain reaction.....or so I am told by some.
Anyway, maybe we can stir up some discussion.
nm
I'm kind of interested, as my dad has kept saltwater fish for years. I've been wanting a native saltwater tank, but we don't go to the beach much anymore. I used to have a filefish species of some sort and a pipefish that I caught when we went to Panama City, but that's pretty much it as far as natives. I did get a TON of small hermit crabs and fiddlers in Florida one year. That was when I was more interested in inverts than fish.
Could you explain the "Dead Zone"? I haven't heard anything about it.
#5
Guest_Newt_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 04:36 PM
I'm kind of interested, as my dad has kept saltwater fish for years. I've been wanting a native saltwater tank, but we don't go to the beach much anymore. I used to have a filefish species of some sort and a pipefish that I caught when we went to Panama City, but that's pretty much it as far as natives. I did get a TON of small hermit crabs and fiddlers in Florida one year. That was when I was more interested in inverts than fish.
Could you explain the "Dead Zone"? I haven't heard anything about it.
The dead zone is an area in the Gulf of Mexico just south of the Mississippi delta that is nearly devoid of life and has been expanding recently; it has been blamed on all the industrial and agricultural pollutants that are poured into the Mississippi and its tributaries.
#7
Guest_netmaker_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 07:47 PM
Fishlvr
I am not nearly qualified to tell you about saltwater tanks and such. There are numerous folks here who know every little detail about that.
What I can say is that some salties can be rasied in very fresh water if you lower the content sloooowly.
Sheepshead
Spotted red drum
Southern flounder
Bay Wiffs (spelling??)
black drum
......and oysters...in fact I used to keep a 50 gallon tank and I used oysers to help clean the tank. A big 'un can filter 55 gallons of water a day, 24 hrs. day...non stop. * You still need bio filtration though.
Sea horses and pipe fish can be gotten with a dip net if you can find a big ol' chunk of sargasso seaweed floating near the break water and scoop it up.....there is usually all sorts of critters hanging on in there.
But as discussed.....KNOW YOUR LAWS FIRST ABOUT COLLECTING THESE....
nm
I am not nearly qualified to tell you about saltwater tanks and such. There are numerous folks here who know every little detail about that.
What I can say is that some salties can be rasied in very fresh water if you lower the content sloooowly.
Sheepshead
Spotted red drum
Southern flounder
Bay Wiffs (spelling??)
black drum
......and oysters...in fact I used to keep a 50 gallon tank and I used oysers to help clean the tank. A big 'un can filter 55 gallons of water a day, 24 hrs. day...non stop. * You still need bio filtration though.
Sea horses and pipe fish can be gotten with a dip net if you can find a big ol' chunk of sargasso seaweed floating near the break water and scoop it up.....there is usually all sorts of critters hanging on in there.
But as discussed.....KNOW YOUR LAWS FIRST ABOUT COLLECTING THESE....
nm
#8
Guest_netmaker_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 08:03 PM
There are in fact something like 20 coastal dead zones...
Though I haven't been part of the discusison...I can almost assure everyone a saltwater forum has been discussed.
Besides the ones overseas, could you tell where the others are inside the US territorial waters?
Thank you
nm
#9
Guest_mikez_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 08:47 PM
There are dozens of suitable saltwater aquarium fish available to dipnetter, seiners and especially snorkelers on the east coast. Only a few dedicated northern species require water cooler than room temperature. A surprising number of tropical coral reef fish are available, in season, as far north as Cape Cod Massachusetts. Lots of temporate species range south into waters that commonly reach mid 70s F. Tide pool species often spend a good part of summer in temps as high as 80F, even in New England.
In other words, many can be kept at room temps and most can be kept with a heater in the low 70s.
Here's a teaser to get peoples' interest. All the following fish were hand caught by me, usually snorkeling, sometimes wading, all in coastal waters of Rhode Island. All are proven suitable captives and most were kept together in unheated or low heat community tanks.
In other words, many can be kept at room temps and most can be kept with a heater in the low 70s.
Here's a teaser to get peoples' interest. All the following fish were hand caught by me, usually snorkeling, sometimes wading, all in coastal waters of Rhode Island. All are proven suitable captives and most were kept together in unheated or low heat community tanks.
#10
Guest_ashtonmj_*
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Posted 07 February 2008 - 08:58 PM
Dr. Robert Diaz at VIMS has done some recent work detailing locations of dead zones but alot of governmental agencies also monitor them. Annual, periodic, and episodic, dead zones range from Texas all the way up Cape Cod and exist in SoCal and Puget Sound. I think in one report he identified 40 something dead zones.
#11
Guest_Mysteryman_*
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Posted 08 February 2008 - 03:14 PM
Things have recently completely changed, but at the Gulfarium where I used to work, all of our exhibits were natives-only.
Sixteen large to huge marine tanks, all filled only with local..everything. It was quite a sight, and highly unusual. I really wish they had kept it that way with the remodeling, but now they have a new guy who just had to go and change things after 50 years.
Anyway, to put it mildly, I really enjoy native marines, and count myself very lucky to live where such a wide array of them are easily found. There are plenty of other species available in other areas, of course, and Washington & Oregon have some mighty fine stuff indeed. Even New Jersey has tropicals in the summertime, along with a lot of really cool locals that are certainly not found much farther south. After a big coastal hurricane, you never know WHAT you'll find, but you can bet it'll be something you otherwise never see, so be sure to make the trip. ( you also find old gold dubloons washed up onshore; they look black )
Sixteen large to huge marine tanks, all filled only with local..everything. It was quite a sight, and highly unusual. I really wish they had kept it that way with the remodeling, but now they have a new guy who just had to go and change things after 50 years.
Anyway, to put it mildly, I really enjoy native marines, and count myself very lucky to live where such a wide array of them are easily found. There are plenty of other species available in other areas, of course, and Washington & Oregon have some mighty fine stuff indeed. Even New Jersey has tropicals in the summertime, along with a lot of really cool locals that are certainly not found much farther south. After a big coastal hurricane, you never know WHAT you'll find, but you can bet it'll be something you otherwise never see, so be sure to make the trip. ( you also find old gold dubloons washed up onshore; they look black )
#12
Guest_rainbowchrome_*
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Posted 11 February 2008 - 06:39 PM
I'd be interested in saltwater discussions.I live onthe Alabama gulf coast and have kept saltwater fish for years.I also keep brackish and freshwater fishes.In summer it would be possible for me to catch sailfin mollies,flagfin shiners,and spotfin butterflyfish during the same day.
#13
Guest_netmaker_*
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Posted 12 February 2008 - 04:50 PM
It was many years ago I was with some marine bios from a midwest college on a collecting trip offshore Dolphin Island. We trawled up the largest Leatherjacket I have ever seen, about 5".
Well........... one of the bios just had to show off to the other 2 and he touched the "spine"........
It actually knocked him out in about 3 minutes....by the time we radioed in to the CG for medical evac, he came back to.....he was numb amd "DUMB!"!
I've been spined by one at night while working on a Skimmer boat...........caused my left arm to go numb from the wrist to the shoulder............ouch! those little critters are nasty!
Well........... one of the bios just had to show off to the other 2 and he touched the "spine"........
It actually knocked him out in about 3 minutes....by the time we radioed in to the CG for medical evac, he came back to.....he was numb amd "DUMB!"!
I've been spined by one at night while working on a Skimmer boat...........caused my left arm to go numb from the wrist to the shoulder............ouch! those little critters are nasty!
#14
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Posted 12 February 2008 - 05:07 PM
It was many years ago I was with some marine bios from a midwest college on a collecting trip offshore Dolphin Island. We trawled up the largest Leatherjacket I have ever seen, about 5".
Well........... one of the bios just had to show off to the other 2 and he touched the "spine"........
It actually knocked him out in about 3 minutes....by the time we radioed in to the CG for medical evac, he came back to.....he was numb amd "DUMB!"!
I've been spined by one at night while working on a Skimmer boat...........caused my left arm to go numb from the wrist to the shoulder............ouch! those little critters are nasty!
CORRECTION:
I meant to say it was almost 15"......nothing scientific about the measurement because when the guy got stuck, he dropped it over the side. It was definitely a fully mature fish and then some.
Commercials often told us that they caught really big 'uns offshore certain times of the year.
Anyway, not as nasty as a Stargazer........
#16
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Posted 12 February 2008 - 10:21 PM
Well Irate........I'm not a bio but I've been picked and pricked enough by an assortment of shallow and deepwater critters to know that the ocean holds some strange mysteries for us .
Back around '72 my buddy was stabbed by a 200 lb. ray. It wasn't as bad as what happened to Steve Irwin, but his leg and lower torso were swollen to 2x the normal size and he was running 104 fever by the time we got him back to the dock in Bayou Dularge, La.
I thoroughly respect what Mother Nature has lurking in the depths.
But of ALL the critters I have hauled up from the depths, this is the absolute one you don't walk away from...............
[attachment=5594:P0003339.JPG]
2004 I think, Lakshadweep Sea
We'd catch a few of these every time we hauled back....... they were mostly alive and the Tamil fishermen would just catch them and flip them back overboard........
Back around '72 my buddy was stabbed by a 200 lb. ray. It wasn't as bad as what happened to Steve Irwin, but his leg and lower torso were swollen to 2x the normal size and he was running 104 fever by the time we got him back to the dock in Bayou Dularge, La.
I thoroughly respect what Mother Nature has lurking in the depths.
But of ALL the critters I have hauled up from the depths, this is the absolute one you don't walk away from...............
[attachment=5594:P0003339.JPG]
2004 I think, Lakshadweep Sea
We'd catch a few of these every time we hauled back....... they were mostly alive and the Tamil fishermen would just catch them and flip them back overboard........
#19
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Posted 13 February 2008 - 01:38 AM
Hope I don't sound dumb with my limited knowledge of marine life but WTH is that? I'm guessing a sea snake? But then it sorta looks like it has fins or that is camera blur. I've heard they have very potent venom but seldom are people bitten(unless you are extricating them from a net ofcourse).
#20
Guest_Mysteryman_*
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Posted 13 February 2008 - 09:36 AM
Yes, seasnake.
They're not so bad unless it's mating season, and then you're in big trouble. They get ill-tempered, and they swarm in dense numbers and can't be avoided.
Seasnakes do look a bit like they have an eel-like fin, but on closer inspection you'll see that it's not a fin, but a very laterally flattened tail made for swimming. You won't outrun them... no way...
They're not so bad unless it's mating season, and then you're in big trouble. They get ill-tempered, and they swarm in dense numbers and can't be avoided.
Seasnakes do look a bit like they have an eel-like fin, but on closer inspection you'll see that it's not a fin, but a very laterally flattened tail made for swimming. You won't outrun them... no way...
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