Thanks Michael. I will derail a tad, but carry it over to Sam's thread after this post. Your tank is still beautiful, like a winter forest right before spring, and spring is only a couple days away. Life is there, it just is waiting for the right conditions.
It sure was! A jellyfish sting and crashing a moped couldn't keep me out of the water. Lol
I've got lots of pics and videos of the snorkeling in Curaçao in my build thread if interested.
Try to poach you away from Michael.
Or at least derail the thread
I admit that I haven't been on your thread in a while, but was watching it during your initial build stages. Wow, that rock wall turned out great! It was beautiful work before, but the way life abounds on it is amazing. I'll have to go back to where I last left off and catch up to see your pics. I see you're a Toyota man... FJ Cruiser Trail Teams addition here :bounce2: Nice work on those lights!
Your oyster reef tank seems like a cool idea.
Where does one primarily hunt for the blennies? How far inland?
How do you plan on collecting them? Slurp gun, dip net, barrier net?
Blennies are a tough one to collect!
Thanks, I hope it turns out as planned. The two blennies near me are found in the Chesapeake Bay and the saltier areas of the brackish tributaries. They prefer oyster reefs, but will hang out along any structures close to shore in the shallows during warm months, out deeper during cold months. You can catch them along undercut banks along shoreline reeds near beaches, around jetties, pilings, rip rap or piers. I live about an hour to an hour and a half from my closest collecting spots.
I have collected species other than blennies in a seine, but all of the blennies that I've caught so far have been with dip nets or aquarium nets. I'm not sure how much that I'll collect along oyster bars because they are really hard on equipment, razor sharp. For me to successfully collect in those areas, I'll need to use traps.
I've made traps our of milk crate style boxes that are weighted and contain faux oyster cultches or bottles, hiding spots for blennies, skilletfish and gobies. You simply pick up the trap (or haul it up with a rope) and the fish scoot to their hiding spots. Most of the time they stay in them when you pull the box out of the water. It is wise to have someone follow behind with a dipnet if you have company to help, especially getting the net under the box as it leaves the water.
I have yet to try a snorkeling using a slurp gun or a net. Visibility isn't all that great in the Bay and jellyfish during warmer months become a bit of a nuisance.
Another way to catch them is by microfishing with hook and line. I haven't done it, but I've seen others do it.
