The Great Pudget Sound Experiment!

[Ellylove]

Being so close to the sound (I'm about 6 min away from the water) I have this horrible temptation to go scavenge, find something awesome, and put it in my tank. Or at least find something that I can offer my fish as food. I know that many shrimp can acclimate to cold or warm water. Has anyone tried putting a local critter or plant in their tank? Would it be safe to offer my yellow tang some local sea weed? I know one person was using local starfish as harlequin food. Am I just crazy, or does anyone else have this urge to merge Hawaii and WA?

 

[Steve B]

i know a couple divers that own cold water tanks...i always thought it would look boring...but it is suprizingly colorful and there are some very cool corals and some pretty cool inverts and fish...

as for the cold to hot water swap thing...i would think almost nothing would live...but im no expert...and i havent tried...i have no idea if it would work...but if u try it...let me know haha would love to go find stuff to put in my tank...especially for free haha

 

[Ellylove]

Exactly! I've seen some really cool shrimp down there and I'm tempted to see how they would do in warmer water. Does anyone know the salinity of the Sound?

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

Bullheads can live Not pretty but i had one for many months like 15 years ago in 70s water, and some hermits too, shrimp may acclimate but i wouldn't trust high 70s temps.

 

[Ellylove]

Bullheads.. Interesting... Did you get it out of the Sound, or buy it?

 

[trido]

Shrimps may acclimate but due to the higher temps their metabolic rate will be through the roof greatly reducing thier lifespan. If they are able to acclimate to begin with.

 

[sgwill122]

I would guess most things you find in tidepools could tolerate room temperatures since the tide pools can get very warm on summer days. I am sure their lifespan would be shortened.

 

[Ellylove]

Good point about the tidepools getting warm. I'm wondering if it really would shorten their lifespan though. I get the point about "higher temp, faster metabolism, shorter life", but if they were in the wild, wouldn't it be harder for them to go from low temps to high temps to low temps instead of being at a warm, consistent temp? Also, they would be free from predators in a tank so their lifespan could actually be longer... It's too cold to do tidepooling right now anyways. : )

 

[MGDMIRAGE]

I would guess most things you find in tidepools could tolerate room temperatures since the tide pools can get very warm on summer days. I am sure their lifespan would be shortened.

That is where i got the stuff from many years ago low tide. And yes i'm sure they would probably have a shorter life since their metabolism is sped up so much more then they are used to, and the oxygen levels are quite less then they are used to.

 

[Ellylove]

Bullheads can live Not pretty but i had one for many months like 15 years ago in 70s water, and some hermits too, shrimp may acclimate but i wouldn't trust high 70s temps.

How well did the hermits do?

 

[nsamouroux]

Personally I wouldn't risk wild-caught livestock in your main tank due to risk of disease / predation. If you were going to set up a seperate system or a coldwater tank however, we live in the perfect area for it When I had a pair of harlequin shrimp in their own 30 gallon tank I did consider collecting starfish from the sound to feed them. I wanted to get one of those gigantic many-armed sunflower-looking stars in a crab trap or something when family would be out bringing in their crab pots and cut it up into chunks after freezing it. One of those huge stars would feed a pair of harlequin shrimp for almost a year.

 

[Ellylove]

Yeah, I don't want a cold water tank. I've just been tidepooling at Titlow and found really col half green shrimp and some neat hermit crabs and I was wondering if they would be happy in a tropical tank. Oh well.