wierd behavior
- Thread starter summer_rain
- Start date
summer_rain;815623; said:
I personally do not agree with wild collections either, not only are you depleting natural sources, but also potentially exposing disease and parasites to your fish/inverts at home. I know there is a thrill in snorkeling/diving and capturing your own stock, but think first about the environment you are captivated by, before you think of personal gains. I am not about to preech, LOL, I simply know the importance - and the struggles of conservation. If you do decide to continue to collect, there are a few things you should prepare for...
1. Make sure you have tanks available at home to serve as holding/Q. tanks, you do not want to add wild specimines straight into your tank.
2. Be aware that artificial sea water doesn't hold a candle to natural sea water, so to reduce shock, you might want to consider collecting as much seawater as you can for such holding tanks, with each animal collection, and slowly, over the weeks of Q'ing the wild stock, replace the sea water with your artificial water when you do water changes, to allow the stock to adjust, trying to match parameters as closely as possible. If not, be prepared to use the drip method of acclimation for several hours to slowly acclimate, however here you run the risk of shock.
3. When collecting, any professional who has worked in the field can give you a list of "MUST HAVES"... But those items are essential because mainly of the animals we collect, why we are collecting them, and how far we have to transport. There are several high-tech mechanisms we use which is not manditory for you to use in order to have a productive collection (Procudctive meaning basically, among other things - your stock survives!). In fact, to save you the headache and money, there are several SIMPLE ways to re-create your own homemade LSTS (Life Support Transport System). Now don't use my abbrieviation as law, we call these by SEVERAL names, LOL so don't get confused - they all surve the same purpose, no matter the name, or how complext the devices OTAY!! LMAO..
If you have a large backseat (preferrably some type of SUV with a rear cargo area), then when you intend to collect, you will need a few things:
1. Large Rubbermaid Container (you can get these very large, at most retail sites such as WalMart)
2. Your BASIC travel kit to include : Nets, hoses, airstones, Sub Heater, Stock bags, conditioners, flashlight, etc., etc. You do not need a full blown kit like the one I carry, simply because I am assuming you would be transporting much smaller animals, and for the most part, much shorter distances, so with that in mind, certain things I carry - such as sedatives, is not necessary for you, LOL. stick to the basics you know might come in handy.
3. A battery powered generator (or better yet, one which runs off of your car battery, through a cigarette lighter)... You can find either of these typically at any hardware store such as Home Depot or Lowes. Some are reasonable and some might cost you, but you need one.
4. Unless you want to devote this vehicle to collections, then I can assume you do not have a mounted transport unit in the back of it huh?? LOL with that in mind, you need to think of the DIY solution, which is cheap, easy, and removable. Some simple ways to restrain cargo is by using either sealed utility ropes (much easier to work with than un-sealed), or strong bunjee cords.. or however you spell that! LOL. You will need to make sure not only your cargo, but ALSO your eqipment is restrained from significant movement, so you might have to get creative and a little crazy with the wrapping, but it should not be hard - and using a container, such as a large rubbermaid, which has handles on it, is always helpfull for looping ropes.
When it comes to monitoring your water, I won't go into that because I doubt that would be a large concern for your domestic trips, if you are interested in how we do, Myself or Matt would be happy to fill you in I am sure, but for now, I will skip that because it requires explanations of the eqip., which can get lengthy.
Your main focus would be on the temperature of the water, and the oxygen levels. You can get an o2 reader, but those aren't cheap, and unless you have a way to inject high levels quickly (such as using Co2 as we do), then it wouldnt do much more than stress you out while driving should it dip into the red zone. I simply suggest keeping the airstones in all 4 corners of the container for lift, and a powerhead attached to the side for surface agitation. For the temps, just adjust your sub heater to that of the water at the time of collection, in order to keep it stable through transport.
** NOTE: IF the tables were turned and you needed to keep the water cold rather than warm, obvioulsy using a chiller is not practical for many hobbiests, so one simple way you could keep the temps down would be to pack bags of ice along the bottom, OUTSIDE of the container. And to keep it shaded as much as possible... But you would STILL need to monitor temps to make sure they did not RISE OR FALL too drastically.
Educating yourself on particular species PRIOR to collection adventures is key as well. Either way you look at it, I don't agree with private collections from the wild, but like I said, I am not going to preech, and no matter my personal opinions, my information will always be objective. I just realised I have been rambling so I am going to stop for now, LOL, hope some of this helped, and just let me or any of us know if you need more info -k-!!!
http://www.homedepot.com
http://www.Lowes.com
I used a 120 volt dc to 120 ac car power adapter to transport my blue throat trigger from Virginia to Texas via automobile ride, it worked great as I just plugged in an air stone and used a tupperware pitcher wrapped in a towel for the drive, we stopped overnight in a hotel and I took my baby in and used the regular plug and he made it fine and is now happy in his huge tank.
