Natural seawater tank build.

[426HEMI]

Loving this thread. In high school we kept tanks in our marine biology class and would dragnet at the beach and keep anything interesting going for study -- now I live 1.5 hours from the shore and, of course, the stuff you find in Long Island Sound isn't quite as cool as what you find in a more tropical area like yours.

Keep us up to date on the finds, this is a really interesting read.

I plan on keeping it up as long as I live her, really glad that the thread is enjoyed.

 

[BloopFish]

That's interesting, what's the reasoning behind it?

Hawaii is the one state that takes everything about the environment and especially ocean VERY seriously. They do NOT want more invasive species damaging our already fragile coral reefs. Hawaii is also very isolated, thus have many endemic species which are very important to protect.

 

[426HEMI]

Nowadays even collecting sand in large quantitis against the law unless its for cultural reasons.
Here is a link for more info:

Marine Invertebrates and Limu

Coral and Live Rocks Limu

dlnr.hawaii.gov

You can also look up HAR 13-95, HAR 13-91,HRS 171-58.5 and HRS 205A-44

Also a word of caution, being oblivious to the law cannot defend you in court. It is every person's responsibility to read about the laws of the ocean before entering it.

Thanks for the links.

I'm fully aware that ignorance is no excuse. As I said, I'll confirm if they are legal or not and dispose if they aren't.

 

[BloopFish]

Convex is what I thought, but wasn't able to confirm 100%. Keoki's site is simply invaluable for IDing critters around here.

Do you happen to have the relevant laws handy? What handbook do you use? I've been looking for one.

If they are illegal, I'll dispose (properly) of them.

John Hoover makes great books for fish and invert identification in Hawaii. His books are simply the best in that matter. Douglas Fenner also has an excellent book on the corals of Hawaii. John Hoover's books can occasionally be found being sold in Costco.

 

[426HEMI]

I would ask directly with the DAR. I don't want to give someone advice on something to do if laws have changed since then. For example, the law on collection of sand and corals is pretty recent. You used to be able to collect 5 gallon buckets of them every day.
The reason there seems to be (don't take my word for it at all) the ability for people to take zoanthids and palys is because they are not considered hard corals or black corals. They are more like anemones if anything. The problem is that you would have to scrape off the zoanthids off the rock in order to collect them without illegally collecting the live rock - I personally would interpret the scraping as damaging live rock... but its hard to tell because you are seemingly allowed to slightly scrape rocks for opihi. Please do your own research before doing anything like this or you can be breaking a law unknowingly.

Also a big warning. Palytoxins are well known in the hobby, and people often say they are rare... this really isn't the case in Hawaii. The native Hawaiians would use palytoxin from zoanthids and palys in tidepools to tip their spears to use against their enemies. Do to this, I'd say its pretty risky.

Not my first rodeo and I'm very aware of the dangers of palytoxin, I always take precautions when dealing with them.

Interesting point on the opihi, didn't think of that.

 

[BloopFish]

Thanks for the links.

I'm fully aware that ignorance is no excuse. As I said, I'll confirm if they are legal or not and dispose if they aren't.

You'll have to ask/call the DAR to confirm it. I am not currently aware of any laws that say the possession of soft corals such as mushrooms and gsp is illegal, just that the importation of them is illegal. Perhaps possessing it implies you have imported it, therefore it is illegal. Again, the DAR has a phone number and also a physical office in Oahu. They don't seem to answer voicemails too well and seem also to be too busy to answer the phone at times though.

 

[426HEMI]

John Hoover makes great books for fish and invert identification in Hawaii. His books are simply the best in that matter. Douglas Fenner also has an excellent book on the corals of Hawaii. John Hoover's books can occasionally be found being sold in Costco.

Appreciate it. I'd like to have a field guide to take with me. I can use my phone, but can be a pain in the butt when in the water.

 

[Mical]

I wish I had the luxury of going out my backdoor for water and inhabitants. You are definitely blessed. But if I go out my back door I have BRS ... lol and yes pretty much all shipping is overnight & free.

 

[BloopFish]

Appreciate it. I'd like to have a field guide to take with me. I can use my phone, but can be a pain in the butt when in the water.

Unfortunately the books aren't waterproof. The author also has a website that has an extended list of creatures. The thing about the book is that a lot of the species listed are quite rare or you have to dive deep to see them. They do make small laminated ID sheets for fish, personally think they're useless unless you don't know anything about any Hawaii fishes. Again, if you have trouble identifying something you can quote me in this post.

 

[BloopFish]

Also forgot to mention this, but the drupe is known to eat snails and worms. You may or may not want that in your tank because of that. I also do know that some species of drupes eat corals.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

Great tip, thanks! I do have access and will have to try that out. Despite my irrational fear of sharks.

you're opening page you mention going to tide pools looking for snails. And when we started 1983 at that time, to have pods in tank, either we ordered from Florida Aqua Farm or go to tide pools and gets some, our beaches cold water, so most pods wouldn't survive, but some did. Different times

 

[BloopFish]

you're opening page you mention going to tide pools looking for snails. And when we started 1983 at that time, to have pods in tank, either we ordered from Florida Aqua Farm or go to tide pools and gets some, our beaches cold water, so most pods wouldn't survive, but some did. Different times

There are so many diverse macroalgae that live in Hawaii and all of them are loaded with pods. Some grocery stores sell ogo (the real deal one - not the ones marketers slap the name to on any Gracilaria species to make it sound exotic) for the use for making poke or salad. They are mostly aquacultured these days and are also filled with pods. I've seen the aquaculture facility for micro and macroalgae in UH Hilo and it is very impressive. You reminded me of the time I bought some sort of salad made out of codium seaweed from an old Native Hawaii lady - it was amazing but I've never seen her sell any seaweed again after that. Even in Hawaii all the edible seaweeds in the ocean are dying out... people used to collect bucketfuls of ogo from the beach and nowadays you'd be lucky to find a golfball sized patch or a patch of melting ogo.

 

[SeaDweller]

wait... so you can go collect inverts; shrimp, crab, snails, etc but can't go collecting fish even if you're a local?

My buddy sent me videos of the local markets in Oahu where they sell naso tangs, achilles, unicorn tangs, for consumption. He actually sent me a video of his buddies grilling unicorn tangs...

 

[BloopFish]

wait... so you can go collect inverts; shrimp, crab, snails, etc but can't go collecting fish even if you're a local?

My buddy sent me videos of the local markets in Oahu where they sell naso tangs, achilles, unicorn tangs, for consumption.

Generally speaking, you can collect fish if the method of collection and the size of the fish is within regulation. I've personally spearfished before as a hobby. Favorite things to catch for eating was octopus and kole tangs.

 

[Dsnakes]

Very cool thread. Do you have a full tank shot?

 

[426HEMI]

I wish I had the luxury of going out my backdoor for water and inhabitants. You are definitely blessed. But if I go out my back door I have BRS ... lol and yes pretty much all shipping is overnight & free.

If you can't be near the ocean, then that is the next best thing for sure. That place rocks.

 

[426HEMI]

Unfortunately the books aren't waterproof. The author also has a website that has an extended list of creatures. The thing about the book is that a lot of the species listed are quite rare or you have to dive deep to see them. They do make small laminated ID sheets for fish, personally think they're useless unless you don't know anything about any Hawaii fishes. Again, if you have trouble identifying something you can quote me in this post.

Appreciate it, thank you.

I'll eventually start diving, made sure I bought a good mask and fins that I could use for SCUBA as well as snorkling.

 

[426HEMI]

Also forgot to mention this, but the drupe is known to eat snails and worms. You may or may not want that in your tank because of that. I also do know that some species of drupes eat corals.

Knew about them eating some snails, but not the corals part, I'll keep an eye out. Or let him just eat the illegal ones. :lol:

 

[426HEMI]

wait... so you can go collect inverts; shrimp, crab, snails, etc but can't go collecting fish even if you're a local?

My buddy sent me videos of the local markets in Oahu where they sell naso tangs, achilles, unicorn tangs, for consumption. He actually sent me a video of his buddies grilling unicorn tangs...

Recent changes in the law allow for killing the fish, ie spearfishing, but not live catching. It was aimed at large operations, but had the side effect of screwing the hobbyists.

 

[426HEMI]

Very cool thread. Do you have a full tank shot?

At the moment, no, I'll get one and post it in a bit.