[B]Long Island points of interest?[/B]

[NEK-ap24]

Are there any good spots to snorkel or dive to see aquarium fish around Long Island. I live in New England but visit LI from time to time.

I just saw a Short Big Eye(Pristigenys alta) in Coral Mag. (page 89) that is beautiful that they stated was a frequent summer visitor. I had also heard that Long Horn Cow fish pop up in the area from time to time, and I wonder if there are spots where it is most likely to view. If so, is it a common dive spot etc. (I am not SCUBA cert. yet, so I would have to hope to see something snorkeling for this trip...but for future trips it would be an incentive to get certified sooner than later.)

(as a side note, any must see LI live fish store recommendation would be appreciated as well.)

Thanks,

 

[NEK-ap24]

I read through the article that I mentioned and it went into more detail then I expected. I think I may give it a try this summer and see what is out there, If so I will post some pics of my finds.

I would still appreciate if anyone has any ideas for a must see live fish store in the long island area...I can't believe that there aren't some great stores to visit...I just don't know any of them (yet)

 

[jarrett shark]

Post it in this thread
There is some who collect in sept.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=156

 

[billsreef]

The best time for hunting tropicals on LI is August through October. Exact timing depends on water temps, how early they warm up, and how late they cool down. The south shore bays are best. The base of the Ponquogue Bridge can be snorkeled anytime, going out along pilings requires careful attention to the tide tables and slack tide. The inner parts of the bays are snorkelable at any time.

 

[NEK-ap24]

Post it in this thread
There is some who collect in sept.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=156

Thank you for this reference...one of the stickies there already was exactly what I was looking for!

The best time for hunting tropicals on LI is August through October. Exact timing depends on water temps, how early they warm up, and how late they cool down. The south shore bays are best. The base of the Ponquogue Bridge can be snorkeled anytime, going out along pilings requires careful attention to the tide tables and slack tide. The inner parts of the bays are snorkelable at any time.

Thanks for the tip Bill, my wife wasn't familiar with Ponquogue Bridge (just as well...If she was trolling the Hamptins for men she would never have settled for a poor sob like me )so we would have never found it without the referral! I will definately check it out.

 

[ackee]

Last September I did a couple of scuba dives at Ft. Wetherill in nearby Rhode Island. Very impressive number and variety of tropicals, including Tangs, Butterfyfish, Angels, and a Bigeye. The primary ingredients for tropical strays are structure and reasonably clear water. Late summer and early fall bring an amazing variety of juvenile tropicals floating up on the Gulf Stream to waters from NJ to Cape Cod. Some years are better than others, depending of currents, prevailing wind directions, etc.

I collect mostly in NJ. Sometimes local inlets have almost every boulder in the jetty covered with Spotfin Butterflys because of the cover and food the rocks provide. The tropicals tend to concentrate there because so much of the surrounding water is featureless sand bottom.

Cowfish, like the locally common Spiny Boxfish, are found almost exclusively in calmer water inside inlets and bays, in thick eelgrass beds. For that reason they are difficult to find while snorkeling or scuba diving. In my public profile I have photos of several Short Bigeyes and Cowfish I've caught here in NJ. Short Bigeyes are a fantastic fish.

 

[NEK-ap24]

My next LI outing is tenatively scheduled for the end of July... hopefully there will be some early juveniles swimming around, if not I will scout the area out and hopefully return in early Sept.

Cowfish, like the locally common Spiny Boxfish, are found almost exclusively in calmer water inside inlets and bays, in thick eelgrass beds. For that reason they are difficult to find while snorkeling or scuba diving. In my public profile I have photos of several Short Bigeyes and Cowfish I've caught here in NJ. Short Bigeyes are a fantastic fish.

I have my hopes up for a short Bigeyes, as he will be the final fish for my 225 set up. I already have a golf ball sized longhorn cowfish, though I must admit as much as I like my guy, the one in your photos has amazing coloration. Its a scrawled cowfish right? Different variety, shorter horns, but wow beautiful colors. The Alta in your photos is fantastic looking as well. I am looking forward to the chance to catch one. I almost purchased the Popeye bigeyes from DD on a few different occassions, but the tank wasn't ready or I had another fish in QT at the time. I think the idea of catching one on my own will make it a bit more special. (not that it needs it, I agree that they are an awesome fish)

 

[ackee]

No question that catching your own adds an enchanting dimension to fish keeping. I collect most of my fish and inverts, and have been doing so since I was a kid living at the Jersey shore, back in the 60s. Yes, that's a Scrawled Cowfish. They are the most common member of the Trunkfish family found here in New Jersey. There are a couple of others as well. Only juveniles, of course, and only when the water is warm. Most are about the size of a pea in early August, a marble or slightly larger by early September. A few get much larger if they survive into October. Live blackworms are the only food I've found that allows you to raise tiny trunkfishes fish to a more reasonable size.

Some years the inshore water stays warmer for a longer period, well into October if there are prevailing northlerly and NE winds. Westerly winds blow off the upper stratum of water creating an upwelling of colder deep water. I've sometimes found tropicals in mid July, but only when favorable NE winds warmed up the water by pushing in blue Gulf Stream water from far offshore. Most of our stray tropicals die within a brief period of a week or so every fall, as waters drop into the low 60s.

Bigeyes MUST have a good cave-like hiding spot they can call their own in order to do well. I start them with live brine shrimp and guppies, but they quickly learn to eat almost anything. Pellets moistened with Selcon are a typical favorite food. Bigeyes are individually unique, and quite intelligent. They have some odd habits that are interesting to observe. For example, older specimens will sometimes alternate gills when resting, breathing first only with one, then with the other. They observe humans and cats with great interest and, eventually, no fear at all. Most will learn to take food from your fingers. They are amazingly strong.

Their eye is very, very, delicate. Avoid netting Bigeyes because the mesh can damage their beautiful light-concentrating reflective eyes. The curator of a local public aquarium has killed a couple I've donated by netting them. It's impossible to explain anything to some of these professionals, who are convinced they know it all. They don't.

I assume you have investigated collecting methods. Those transparent monofilament nets sold as collecting nets are worthless for collecting fish that are not free swimming out in the open. Local tropicals almost always have to be gently eased out of protective cover. Soft vinyl nets with a screen bottom are best, and available on line. Get the deepest available. You can't actually 'net' these fish. They have to be frightened into your collecting net.

Good luck. Catching your own is well worth the effort.

 

[NEK-ap24]

Thanks for the tips, I have looked into things, yes, but would have fallen into the ignorance pitfall of assumptions...I assumed that a monofilament collection net would have worked well enough, I will have to check out the mesh nets you are talking about. Any suggested retailers? Also, (ignorantly) I would not have guessed that I was looking for something pea sized either. Truthfully I am not sure how big I expected them to be, but pea sized surprised me. How big do you guess the Bigeyes might be if I checked in early Sept. time frame (rough ball park)?

My main display tank absolutely has caves for him to choose from, and I will be sure to give him a couple options in his grow out tank too.

 

[ackee]

Nets: waternsports.com

Little trunkfishes and cowfish are best caught with a seine net pulled through eelgrass in bays and rivers near inlets in 3 or 4 feet of water. Most in august-september will be marble sized or larger. Pea sized are unusual, sometimes found very early in the summer collecting season. You'll catch other things seining as well, including Lookdowns and the occasional Short Bigeye, which frequently hide during the day in the very effective cover of thick weedbeds which also provide the shade they need when the sun is high. Lots of food there too, when they leave cover after dark to hunt down prey.

I usually catch Bigeyes using a hand net while snorkeling under docks and bulkheads close to inlets. They hide during the day, so you have to move slowly and look very closely and carefully. Most are between a quarter and a half-dollar in size, though I have caught a few both smaller and larger than that. The great majority are between one and two inches. I often find tiny Blue Angelfish in the same areas, and great numbers of Butterflyfishes, including Spotfins, 4 eyed, and occasionally a Banded BF or a Reef BF.

Bigeyes grow quickly. The nice one in profile in my public profile pics was about three and a half inches when the pic was taken in December of 09. It had been about an inch in a half long when I netted it less than 4 months earlier from under a rental boat dock within sight of the lights of Seaside Heights Boardwalk. It was almost 8 inches long 20 months later when I donated it to a public aquarium. They need room, but get along fine with other fishes. Their bodymass is substantial so they eat a lot of food and produce a lot of waste. If they are not getting enough food they quickly begin to looK emaciated. They have enormous appetites.

Collecting requires skill and patience, and careful planning to get the fish home in good health. I have an array of cooler chests, air pumps that run off batteries, standard house current and automobile electrical systems, and other support systems. I have brought fish back from 2,000 miles away from home, but I have been doing this for a very long time and am quite good at it after all these decades of collecting. The fish must have adequate clean water and be kept in well oxygenated water at a stable and consistent temp. They should be kept in the dark or in dim light, not fed, and not disturbed. It's requires a lot of effort and commitment.