Bellinghammer
Active member
When out playing on the shores of the Puget Sound I've noticed 1000's of copepods/amphipods running around under rocks and sticks. Anybody try to harvest these for their home reef tanks?
Puget Sound Copepods/Amphipods
- Thread starter Bellinghammer
- Start date
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sedrostyle
Well-known member
Following 
I'd like to know also I remember seeing a post about something like this a while ago
I'd like to know also I remember seeing a post about something like this a while ago
Peppie
Well-known member
I think that the water temp in the sound is to low for these critters to survive in our reef tanks. I think.
I use them for my Coldwater tanks and are a great meal for my fish. I don't even feed my fish directly anymore. But temp is a problem in a tropical reef tank, your looking at a 28-33 degree difference. Also the salinity is much lower when near the shore and even off shore. Any temperate marine animal close to shore is usually able to withstand some swings in parameters but prolonged temps may prove harmful. They may live long enough to be eaten but I'm not sure about the longterm viability.
tat2z_21
tat2z_21
I used to go out and pick them up and feed my fish. They loved them. My lion would track them and devour like a true predator. The ones with the red antennas were the best.
iroll253
Well-known member
You could feed them to the tank but you dont know what bacteria you are introducing to it and any of them they dont get eaten will not survive. Puget sound salinity is 27ppt reef tanks are 35ppt also the temp diff has already been mentioned.
Bellinghammer
Active member
Great!! Thanks for the insightful replies! I'm thinking about collecting a couple thousand and seeing if i can keep them alive in the cold water that I catch them in. Then slowly acclimating their temp and salinity in a quarantine tank to match my reef tank. The bugs I find at low tide are HUGE compared to the ones in my tank. It would be neat to culture them.....
mfinn
Surgeonfish
IMO that might not work. I think that they will reach the top end of their tolerance for warmer water and die at that point. I would guess that they would be able to tolerate 50-60 degree water, for a short time, being they live in tidepool areas that do have spikes in temp.
I think you could collect some and keep them in colder water until you add them to your tank and as long as the fish eat them with-in a few minutes it might work.
If you are successfull in acclimating them to a warmer temp, keep detailed records, cause I think there will be a long line of people that live near the sound, spending a Saturday or two down there collecting as well.
kevnkev
Dirona
Oceans are not the same everywhere. What would happen to your aquarium's inhabitants if you were to drop the temp to Puget Sound levels? Or elevate them by the same amount you're considering doing for these amphipods? How well would your corals and fish survive at 50 or 100 degrees?
Despite the extreme and lethal thermal stress you'd be exposing thousands of individuals to, amphipods are defined by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as "Unclassified Invertebrates." Harvesting them is illegal in this state.
From WDFW's fishing manual:
"UNCLASSIFIED MARINE INVERTEBRATES - ALL AREAS - ALL SPECIES - CLOSED"
Despite the extreme and lethal thermal stress you'd be exposing thousands of individuals to, amphipods are defined by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife as "Unclassified Invertebrates." Harvesting them is illegal in this state.
From WDFW's fishing manual:
"UNCLASSIFIED MARINE INVERTEBRATES - ALL AREAS - ALL SPECIES - CLOSED"
Bellinghammer
Active member
If I was to drop my temp to 50, obviously everything would die, but I'm guessing the copepods and amphipods would still be foraging... They're a lot hardier than a fish or coral. From Wikipedia, "Amphipods are found in almost all aquatic environments, from freshwater to water with twice the salinity of seawater." Of course there are 1000's of different species. I have personally seen the varieties in our aquarium survive for weeks without circulation, filtration, heaters, or even air bubbles as I was tearing down my tank and moving it across the United States.
Thanks for the WDFW info. Never crossed my mind. I have sent them an email to inquire about the legalities of collecting amphipods and copepods. Curious to see the response. Although all species of seaweed can legally be harvested year round, and there are always 100's of these little bugs on the seaweed that washes up on shore....
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mfinn
Surgeonfish
kevnkev
Dirona
Are you KIDDING me? What is the response of this forum when some idiot or crazy ex-girlfriend dumps copper in a LFS or private tank? Everybody gets all up in arms, and rightly so. But if not because of animal welfare then for what reason? Just like when people mistreat ponies or bunnies (or cattle or chickens if you want to stick with food animals) we should respond to the mistreatment of invertebrates.
Not at all to say that Bellinghammmer is setting out to torture amphipods, but he should be aware of the impacts of his actions. Collecting cold water animals to place in a warm water tank is simply a bad idea, regardless of the purpose of the animals.
kevnkev
Dirona
By the way, good on you for contacting them. I'd be eager to know their answer too as I bet a lot of folks here would be. I've found WDFW to be fairly responsive to inquiries so you should hear something back.
Freezing them is a good way to humanely kill them prior to feeding.
mfinn
Surgeonfish
NO I'm not kidding.
All he wanted to do was provide some fresh food for his fish and YOU make it sound like he was commiting some terrible act.
I am responding to this thread and not some other thread where something else happened.
Like I said it's fish food.
mfinn
Surgeonfish
AND he asked if it was possible.
And a couple people said they have done it.
I'd do it too if I had the time.
And a couple people said they have done it.
I'd do it too if I had the time.
Along the lines of what kev was saying I just bought two Catalina gobies from petco that looked in trouble (after negotiating the price that is). Not because I wanted more catalina's. I like em but didn't need more but I knew they would be dead soon sitting at 78 degrees. You can't mix Coldwater or tropical marine animals. That being said tigger pods are Coldwater pods that are put in reef tanks often and tangerine pods are also Coldwater pods sold to seed reef tanks. Neither variety are effective at living long in reef tanks but some people have had success with them. As for me both reproduce quite well in my Coldwater tanks. Reef pods by alga gen do well in my reef tank.
mfinn
Surgeonfish
That's pretty much what I was getting at in my first post.
The second paragragh in my first post was more wishful thinking
kevnkev
Dirona
I read my post again and mfinn's right, I do sound attacky. My apologies for that B'hammer. It seems like every 6 mos or so someone posts on here about harvesting Puget Sound animals and throwing them in their tropical tank, and it really frustrates me. While temperate pods may survive for a short time in tropical tank, that survival will not be a happy one.
The fact that they're for food shouldn't have any bearing on how they are treated.
The fact that they're for food shouldn't have any bearing on how they are treated.
Bellinghammer
Active member
Come on man. Do you realize how many creatures have been "tortured" to get the knowledge we currently have in this hobby. If you knew the actual survival rates of coral and fish harvested from the wild, or the techniques used you wouldn't be in the hobby. I'm just talking about bugs here. Amphipods are commonly known as sand lice. Not a big deal. Do you give your dog or cat medication for fleas, ticks, or heartworm? How dare you. They're all part of the life cycle too, and surely a required part of the big picture. OK, this is getting silly.
Back to the subject. I will surely share what the WDFW has in response. Regardless of their response I am going to collect as many as I can along with some seaweed. My plan now is to set up a spare 20gal in the garage. I figure the ambient temps in a garage this time of year are similar to surface water temps on the shore. Then add a heater and adjust the temp a degree a day. Should take almost a month to reach display tank temps. Any other ideas?
