Large holding tank (pool) input needed?

[TurboGuru]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12645296#post12645296 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WarDaddy
Joe I think what is confusing me is this...

It appears you have a desire to catch all your fish in a single 2 day trip. I think what you should be looking at is catching a couple fish a trip, and spread that capture out over 20 trips.

Go all over Florida and capture from different areas. There is much diversity between Jacksonville, Miami, Key West, Marco Island, Tampa, Pensacola.

Our plan was to capture what we could on our 2 day trip, your right. We are just trying to have a sound plan to get them home and keep them alive and safe. It may take us 20 trips to catch everything we want, i doubt the fish will willingly come along if we ask them to (I wish it were that easy.) We have found several sites that we want to collect from that have a wide diversity of animals. (I once saw an astrea snail the size of a grapefruit! Not that I would want him in my tank, just an interesting find.)

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12645296#post12645296 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by WarDaddy
when you say, I want to have a 1800 gallon set up, I want to catch 80 fish in 2 days, but I only have 200 gallons of display, I hear, I am going to sell to you!

Do you understand what I am saying? Collect slowly, target exactly what you want to add to your tanks, and go get them from all over the state. That will really fuel the stories you have to tell when people look at your tank.

Oh I got that goby off key west, great dive site, then we spent 2 days on Duval street, I think, I can barely remember...

I'm sorry that I came off that way. our reason for the 1800gal pool was the $100 price tag for the immense volume of water it provided. I do understand what you are saying, I tend to be very ambitious in my endeavors. On a funny note, I don't think the goby would survive the 2 days while we were out drinking on duval street, so we would drink first and then come home with what we thought was a goby that had bigger teeth and ate all of our other tank inhabitants. :lol:

Thanks,
Joe

 

[TurboGuru]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12645324#post12645324 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Rhyno79
I commend you as well turboguru for pursuing this endeavor. I have wanted a tank large enough that I can swim and interact with my fish. I know thats not what you are trying to do, but it is close. I may be interested in collecting with you.

I don't think I would want to swim in the pool with the fish, (especially if I took home a killer goby LOL.)

If you have a Scuba cert. and a SW fishing license I would love to have you along. Maybe you could help out with the trip cost. Our trip is not going to be for a while but you are welcome to come. PM me your info and I'll let you know when we are going on our trip.

Thanks,
Joe

 

[colaman555]

I am having to agree with Wardaddy on this. I feel it is an over kill on what you what to collect for your personal tank. I think its great that you want to collect your own fish for your PERSONAL tank but not on the level that your talking about . Start small, see what survival rate is so can make adjustments

 

[REEFING_FIEND]

why is he gonna drive 4 hrs for 2 fish? he wants to be able to catch everything he wants and hold it in a large tank so he can add them one by one to his diplay tanks

 

[kybreos]

dude, its gonna cost you almost 400 bucks just for the salt.

 

[kybreos]

which will be cheaper than the gas to go get NSW...

 

[kybreos]

plus if youre gonna make the sw, after you realize getting NSW is inconvenient and more expensive your gonna end up wasting 6000+ gallons of drinking water, 3 to 1 ratio for RO, for a "temporary" setup. That kind of thinking is what causes this hobby to get a bad name plus more regulations being created to keep people from doing things.

 

[REEFING_FIEND]

now that i think about it, is not even a good idea

 

[colaman555]

is there an alternative reason to this whole set up??

 

[WarDaddy]

Buy fish and dive for fun?

Seriously, what I am suggesting, is that if you are a diver, you will want to set up dive trips all over the state. You are going to want to see different places, different things. Make part of that series of dive trips collecting something for the tanks. Think of it as a replacement for that shot glass collection. No need for the Jacksonville shot glass when you have that sweet, what ever fish you caught.

I am suggesting that collecting for the tank is a great idea, but going out and doing the I am filling all my takes on this one weekend approach is going to end poorly. Take your time, and make it a long term project, not a weekend boondoggle.

 

[sweetdreamfiji]

I have visited commercial fish collectors who used five gallon buckets (old salt buckets) as their holding tanks with an airstone for water circulation and oxygen supply. No other filtration was used. I think they did a 50% water change every day and did not feed the fish for 4 or 5 days after collection to keep the bioload down. Most commercial collectors feed very little or not at all to minimize bioload. You can keep a lot of gobies and small fish in a 5 gallon bucket. The larger angelfish or other large fish would require a bigger tank, say a 20 gallon rubbermaid container. Fish can be kept for a few days in a tank that is much too small for them to live in for a long time. Just look at the fish in the LFS where they are usually overcrowded and in too small a tank, but only until they are sold (not to mention the shipping bag they live in for a day). Angelfish will fight if more than one is in a bucket and I imagine tangs will also fight. Groupers will eat smaller fish. Sometimes they will eat fish as big as they are. Be careful what you mix together. Once the fish have pooped out the food they are caught with the bioload goes way down and most or all of them could be put into your tank without crashing your tank. If you have never collected before it in unlikely you will catch enough fish to need such a large holding tank.

Make a list of the fish you want and why you want them. Everyone finds that there is a strong urge to overcollect and take fish that you do not really want because you can catch them. Or you might catch 20 hogfish when you only wanted two because they are easy to catch. My dive buddy is always giving me fish he spears because he really doesn't want them. I never spear anything and have as much fish as I can eat. It is usually a good plan to catch less fish the first try so that you can work out any problems. You could do a one day trip for example. If you have 80 fish and the holding system doesn't work as you thought they will all die. If you only have five you can always just put them in your tank or do massive water changes. You also might want to take 5 fish and 15 snails, I think the limit is twenty organisms. Snails are easy to catch so you don't come home empty handed. If I caught five small fish, two gorgonians, a sea anemone and 10 snails that would be a good day at my house. I could put all of them straight into my 100 gallon tank.

I might be interested in collecting also, send me a pm when your plans firm up. I have heard of a couple of places where you can collect from shore, but I haven't dove there yet.

I think your idea of collecting your own fish can be done. Keep planing so that you eliminate as many mistakes as possible. Start small and work up. I don't think the swimming pool as holding tank is very practical (The filter probably has copper in it) and I think a suitable holding system can be put together cheaper another way.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[mrferrit]

If you are planning on putting live rock in that large of a tank how many ponds are you looking at ?
there would be another large investment since you cannot collect rock.

also if its a QT tank what happens if you get ich or bugs it would take gallons of chemicals to treat (which is what a qt was for i think)

 

[TurboGuru]

Based on the responses we have recieved, we have decided that our intended course of action is not one we should persue. We appreciate everyones input and have taken all views into consideration. A sincere thanks to those who specifically offered input to the true subject of this post, your information made a great deal of influence on our decision.

We may during our dives collect 1 or 2 fish/ inverts/ etc... but obviously the need for a holding tank is no longer nessicary. When we plan our next dives we will contact those who have expressesed interest in diving with us.

Thank you all again,
Joe

 

[mrferrit]

id like to dive also so if ya ever need another buddy id be down for it also
i dont have much salt water experience but quite a bit of cavern so let me know also

 

[Acolin]

good advice Fiji Mike (thought you were a teacher?)
yes, Life Oceanic
even pool needs water changes, so why not do massive water changes on the established tanks with the new fish?
bet you don't get 20 nice fish on your first attempt
often wanted to do an outdoor SW pond (plumbed to the indoor tank)...