Yesterday morning at 6:15 I walked down to the beach with a bucket. I knew it would be low tide at 7:30 and I was early but thats when I do my morning walks. I also like to watch the sunrise before the rest of the world gets up and I get back home when most people are still sleeping.
The tide was somewhat low and there were exposed rocks at the shore so I decided to try to collect.
The first rock I lifted surprised me with hundreds of amphipods which I quickly swirled in a bucket of sea water. Then another and another. In 5 minutes I had thousands of amphipods and I assume millions of "free" copepods along with healthy mud full of bacteria.
I strained out most of the very fine mud and seaweed but kept everything else. I put it all in a small container and submerged it in my tank. I did that because I didn't want all the rocks and gravel I collected, just the bacteria and pods.
For hours they left the container and darted all over the tank. I also "shot" a bunch of the larger, "breeder" amphipods with eggs into my reverse undergravel filter where they will spawn. Even though these amphipods are from New York, they continuously spawn in my tank. I still find them from last year under the rocks. They make excellent scavengers and fish food and the bacteria keeps the tank healthy.
I took pictures and video's but I can't access those on this computer. When I get a minute, I will download them. I also twisted my ankle yesterday helping out a friend and between that and my broken shoulder, it takes me a little time to do some things right now.
