Puget Sound Copepods/Amphipods

[sedrostyle]

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.

Agreed fish and wild life are getting a little out of control. But that is a whole different subject. I'm sure they will call it as it is and say no harvest. Them and the PITA organization is really taking protection to extreme measures.

Hopefully your pod trip works out for you. Have you ever thought about feeding a tang some local seaweed or do you think it wouldn't be clean enough from the shores.

 

[tat2z_21]

I have had hundreds of them, in a ziplock bag full of sand. They survive for weeks. I was not gathering them to keep in the tank they were simply food.

 

[kevnkev]

WDFW is operating under a precautionary approach, not an extreme approach. They don't have the resources to adequately manage every species, so they are forced to focus their efforts on just the most targeted species. Prohibiting harvest on unmanaged species is a conservative way to make sure they're not overharvested. Pressure your lawmakers to better fund WDFW if you want to see more realistic management of those species.

As for algae for your tang, I'd say look for bull kelp blades. They are the least chemically defended alga we have. There's the common sea lettuce, which lots of things seem to eat, but I've heard it uses dopamine as a defense (stoned tangs?). You can sometimes find Porphyra, which is what they use to make nori, but it's much less common.

 

[sedrostyle]

I will have to google pictures of those algeas and see what I can find. Another thing with fish and game and this state is the discover passes you now have to have to even get close to the ocean
Its funny we fisherman have to buy a fresh ad saltwater license ontop of that pass.
I'll have to make a trip to the beaches and see what I can find for food.

Stoned tangs. Lol. I bet the tang police would love that. I wonder what their limit would be with the new 502

 

[poulsbomsc.org]

Another idea on this is doing a plankton tow. We do this at the center to feed our Jelly fish and other filter feeders. I've been checking them out under the microscope and am going to do some comparisons with reef food, like phytofeast and other products. it's a ready source if you have the proper equipment. I'll see if i can't get some observations of coral eating it, or not as the tropical tank gets up and active.

 

[Airphotog]

Just a thought. Years ago I took a hand full of the little rock crabs that you find under rocks in Puget Sound and just dropped them in my reef to see what would happen and they acted like they were dropped into boiling water for a while. The next day they were foraging around the tank and lived until I put them back in the Sound. You may be able to slowly acclimate the pods to warmer water considering in the summer at low tide I have seen them swimming around in at least 80 degree pools. As stated before the temp does not stay there but the swing from cold to warm and back is pretty darn fast.

Brian....

 

[sedrostyle]

ooo ooo anyupdates on WDFW

 

[Bellinghammer]

No surprises from the WDFW....



Thank you for your e-mail correspondence to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
Your best source for information on licenses, daily limits, season, restrictions, etc. would be the 2012/2013 Fish Washington Sport Fishing Rules regulation pamphlet. This pamphlet is full of a lot of useful information, such as license fees for both resident and non-resident on page 6. This publication is formatted with the regulations for Coastal Rivers (new section this year – in green), followed by the Puget Sound and Straits Rivers, then Westside Rivers, Westside Lakes, Eastside Rivers, Eastside Lakes, Marine Area Rules and finally Shellfish/Seaweed Rules. There is also a list of the 6 Regional offices that are located throughout the state, with addresses and phone numbers included, on page 1.

Clint, very good question and thank you for asking, but the short answer to your inquiry is yes, as these critters are not listed under the definition of either fish or shellfish, they would most definitely fall into the category of Unclassified Marine Invertebrates. This means that they would also be closed to any & all harvest, both recreationally and commercially.
As per the Shellfish/Seaweed Species Rules, page 131 of the regulation pamphlet (bottom of the page) states for Unclassified Marine Invertebrates: ALL AREASALL SPECIESCLOSED, and instructs potential harvesters to: “See definition page 11.” As per those Definitions of Terms used throughout the pamphlet, page 11 defines Unclassified Marine Invertebrates as follows: “Unclassified Marine Invertebrates - Invertebrates not listed in the shellfish definition, such as snails, nudibranchs, shore crabs, graceful crabs, sand dollars, starfish, white and red sea cucumbers, limpets, chitons, etc. Also, page 128 of the regulation pamphlet states the following: An unclassified marine invertebrate is any shellfish species not defined as shellfish on page 11. Examples include: shore crabs, graceful crabs, sea stars, sand dollars, moon snails, shore snails, marine worms and nudibranchs. No harvest allowed.
If you do not have a copy of the 2012/2013 regulation pamphlet, you can respond with your surface mailing address and we would be happy to send one to you, or with your internet capability, you may view/download the WDFW online pamphlet at the following web address: [url]http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regulations/[/URL].

Please make sure you check for emergency rule changes before you harvest as follows:

Fishing Rule Change Hotline at (360) 902-2500 Shellfish Rule Change Hotline at 1-866-880-5431 Or, try our new searchable emergency rule link off our website at: [url]https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/index.jsp[/URL]

Additionally, for shellfish, make sure to call the Dept. of Health Marine Toxins PSP Hotline at 1-800-562-5632.

If you have further questions, please email again or call (360) 902-2700. Our Customer Service hours are 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

We hope this information helps.

Sincerely,

Fish Program

 

[Bellinghammer]

I've been collecting seaweed legally instead. There are a bunch of Amphipods and Copepods on the seaweed that washes up on shore. So far the little critters are loving their new home in my garage.

 

[Bellinghammer]

Another idea on this is doing a plankton tow. We do this at the center to feed our Jelly fish and other filter feeders. I've been checking them out under the microscope and am going to do some comparisons with reef food, like phytofeast and other products. it's a ready source if you have the proper equipment. I'll see if i can't get some observations of coral eating it, or not as the tropical tank gets up and active.

That's awesome! Do you have to have a special permit to do a plankton tow? I'd be interested to see how that works.

 

[iroll253]

Come on man. Do you realize how many creatures have been "tortured" to get the knowledge we currently have in this hobby.

That is why a passed course on aquarium keeping should be required to buy such marine or freshwater life. Im a little tired of seeing people kill mass amount of fish because of their ignorance of keeping salinity ect.. I see it all the time on craigslist. Those will not survive your tank no matter how you try to acclimate them. Inverts such as pods are actually more sensitive to water quality i believe then fish.

 

[Bellinghammer]

Those will not survive your tank no matter how you try to acclimate them. Inverts such as pods are actually more sensitive to water quality i believe then fish.

Respectfully disagree. Pods are super hardy, and can survive parameter fluctuations that fish and coral would never tolerate.

 

[pandora32]

Im not an expert nor am i taking sides. With that said, the law is the law. So jarvesting them is a no no in this state. Id think collecting seaweed and having some pods make it to your tank would be a thin line if you got checked. Just my 2¢. As for feeding the fish pods, whats the difference between going out to the store, buying them live, then feeding your tank with them? $20 bucks? I dont see a problem with collecting them, just to feed the tank every once in awhile. Not to populate it. Oh. Ive gone down to the water (is my backyard) and gotten a piece of the green, red, and yellowish brown seaweed. All my fish, including 3 tangs, stayed on the other side of my tank. Wanted nothing to do with it. Actually, now that i think of it, i believe they were staring at me as if to say "get that #$%& outta here!"

 

[Bellinghammer]

the law is the law. So jarvesting them is a no no in this state.

True. And I respect the law, but prefer to use a common sense approach. It is legal to harvest hundreds of thousands of dungeness crabs and salmon from the Puget Sound every year. Unfortunately to be on the safe side the state lumps ALL OTHER MARINE INVERTS in to one category and protects from harvest because there isnt enough man power to regulate collecting of such species. Nor is there an industry for pods that would require harvesting regulation. I'm probably one in a million people that collect pods for my saltwater reef tank. Not a big deal. There are literally 100's of these things under a single rock. It's the equivalent of outlawing mosquito collecting in my opinion.

I've successfully cultered phytoplankton, rotifers, brine shrimp, and now having very good luck with big ole juicy Puget Sound pods!

 

[Bellinghammer]

Pod Update: The survival rate in a 5 gallon bucket in the garage has been so good that I tried a new experiment with these amphipods. Over 24hrs ago I was out collecting another batch of seaweed covered in Puget Sound Amphipods. When I got home, I took a gallon of my 35ppt, 78 degree tank water and put some cheato and a bubbler in it. I then added 30 amphipods that had just been caught in 5ppt, 45 degree water. (i collect them from a river delta where freshwater is pouring in nearby resulting in very low salinity.) 24hrs later not one dead pod. They are all climbing around in the cheato ball! These pods are easily twice the size that I have seen in reef aquariums and my fish love them! Now If I can just get the the pods to reproduce and multiply in captivity. Shouldn't be hard to do.

 

[iroll253]

Like i said im not sure about their sensitivity. Not saying you cant do it, I mean who really cares if you take a piece of seaweed with pods on it lol. I just really find it hard to believe long term success is possible since the difference in environments are so dramatic. Plus im always worried about my amphipods munching and or irritating my high end zoas. Had to get a wrasse to take care of that issue.

 

[pandora32]

Great! Keep the updates coming. Ive been looking down at the water the last few days and keep going back and forth on whether or not to go podn and give the fish something large to chase around. I might go "seaweeding" saturday.

 

[Bellinghammer]

Great! Keep the updates coming. Ive been looking down at the water the last few days and keep going back and forth on whether or not to go podn and give the fish something large to chase around. I might go "seaweeding" saturday.

First I throw chunks of seaweed in my bucket, even though there aren't usually many pods on it. I have the best luck at low tide in sandy areas. Pick up a stick or rock that would normally be under water during the high tide and there are literally hundreds of large pods squirming around. I've even found thousands of pods under driftwood on the shore above the water line! It's kind of fun, and my fish love them.

 

[mfinn]

Maybe try a little bit of Phyto Feast and some type of vitamin/hufa or selcon in the bucket.

 

[aaron1987]

Keep us posted! I've got no shortage of pods at the moment but its good to know there might be a ready source close by if I ever needed more!