Logistical Question - Liverock/Livestock Collection

[lifeoffaith]

I will be travelling to Daytona Beach and then Orlando in November, and we also go nearly every year. I'm wondering if there is a company that takes hobbyists out to collect their own tank inhabitants and then will ship whatever you collect home for you? I could also plan on taking a large cooler and bringing them back, myself, but I'd be concerned about stressing out the animals too much. My van does have a 12V power outlet in it, so I could potentially run a heater and air if I needed to, and we are planning on doing a straight through the night drive home.

The other thought I had was picking up some of the great live rock from one of the suppliers down there to save myself on shipping. This might be a better idea for this trip anyway because I have yet to set up my 90 gallon or my 75 gallon, and the only tank I currently have running is my 24 gallon that has been running for roughly 2 years. How much am I going to save myself though if I do pick up rock down there?

Also, are there any companies open to the public down there that go out and dive for livestock to sell?

 

[SaltySully]

Most if not all collectors wouldn't do that, too much liability.

 

[albano]

Make sure that you know and understand what is legal under Fla. laws, or you may have an 'extended' stay there!

 

[lifeoffaith]

Yeah, I'm looking into that as well. I know that you can't just go dive in and take whatever you want. That's why I was hoping to go out with a professional. I don't really want to go full on diving (I have zero experience), more shallow snorkeling with a shallow jog to the bottom if I see something to go after. I'd be pretty happy (although not quite the same) too if I could just go visit a large wholesaler/retail store that has a ton of selection from local waters.

 

[Ron Reefman]

What kind of stuff do you think you are going to collect? There aren't that many things you are going to want from local Florida waters that you can't buy pretty cheap at the LFS in Grand Rapids.

There isn't much reef type stuff in shallow water near Daytona Beach and trust me, other than in a store or a theme park, there's no sea life in Orlando at all.

If you want to snorkel shallow water and collect stuff, go to the Middle Keys or Lower Keys. But be prepared to get it home yourself.

BTW, in November the water in Florida starts to get pretty cool. Bring a wetsuit.

 

[C.Eymann]

Only thing I can think that will get you on board a collecting outing is $$$, If I were a collector in FL and you wanted to "tag along" Id expect a $200-300 charter fee at least and If shipping you these same animals you collected I would expect to be paid the going rate of each animal. Basically, what you would pay online + the 200-300 charter.
PM me I might still have contacts in one of my old phones for collectors like Ira from above the reef, sea dwelling creatures etc etc. that might be interested in your proposal.
Bottomline, money talks.

 

[lifeoffaith]

What kind of stuff do you think you are going to collect? There aren't that many things you are going to want from local Florida waters that you can't buy pretty cheap at the LFS in Grand Rapids.

There isn't much reef type stuff in shallow water near Daytona Beach and trust me, other than in a store or a theme park, there's no sea life in Orlando at all.

If you want to snorkel shallow water and collect stuff, go to the Middle Keys or Lower Keys. But be prepared to get it home yourself.

BTW, in November the water in Florida starts to get pretty cool. Bring a wetsuit.

Yeah, I was more thinking south west Florida. I know I'd have to make quite the drive from Orlando, and I know there is nothing in Orlando other than stores (which I will probably check out for the fun of it, not to buy anything). I was thinking about doing a charter fishing expedition (private charter not the 100+ people all dropping their lines into the water which I've done before), but I'd much rather collect some of my own stuff from shallow waters and just see it all in person. What about just collecting live inverts and stuff from the beaches? How much is the license to do that for the week I'm in Daytona? In the past I've seen brittle stars, hermit crabs, urchins, snails, macro algaes all sorts of stuff like that on the beach/in the surf that I'd be interested in for sure (this was mostly SC, but I've also found some of that stuff on the beaches in FL). But then I'd also be worried about the drive home. I do have some power in the car for some minor electrical stuff as mentioned above, but any fish would have to be pretty small if I were to find any of those to collect and bring home with me and I would just be wondering about the long drive and if it would be ok for the organisms or if I'm just going to end up killing them. THAT I don't want to do. Do you know if there are any snorkel companies that take the public out and offer wetsuits to rent, or do they pretty much quit their expeditions when the water starts getting cold?

 

[lifeoffaith]

Only thing I can think that will get you on board a collecting outing is $$$, If I were a collector in FL and you wanted to "tag along" Id expect a $200-300 charter fee at least and If shipping you these same animals you collected I would expect to be paid the going rate of each animal. Basically, what you would pay online + the 200-300 charter.
PM me I might still have contacts in one of my old phones for collectors like Ira from above the reef, sea dwelling creatures etc etc. that might be interested in your proposal.
Bottomline, money talks.

I wouldn't be opposed to the $200-$300 charter fee necessarily. I think I'd probably end up getting scared away by the cost of shipping the organisms though, particularly if it is feasible to transport them in the van with me. That's the biggest question I guess. Again, I can run some electrical stuff such as air stone, powerhead, heater if a large cooler would do the job to transport them and I'm not going to have a bunch of organisms die off on me.

 

[albano]

...and I would just be wondering about the long drive and if it would be ok for the organisms or if I'm just going to end up killing them. THAT I don't want to do.

You'd be better off, asking your LFS owner if you could 'net' out some fish/ inverts from his tanks... You'd still be able to tell your friends that you caught them yourself!

 

[lifeoffaith]

You'd be better off, asking your LFS owner if you could 'net' out some fish/ inverts from his tanks... You'd still be able to tell your friends that you caught them yourself!

LOL, not the experience I'm going for, but thanks! My LFS can get pretty much anything I ask for, so it's not like I'll be finding anything I can't get at the LFS, just would love the experience of catching a bunch of stuff myself. Oh well. So much for that idea.

 

[C.Eymann]

You'd be better off, asking your LFS owner if you could 'net' out some fish/ inverts from his tanks... You'd still be able to tell your friends that you caught them yourself!

:lmao:
+1. Lots of hassle with little reward

 

[Ron Reefman]

:lmao:
+1. Lots of hassle with little reward

That's for sure. Snorkeling in the Keys is great and there is a lot to see. I do some collecting, but I'm only a 5 hour drive from home. Getting live stuff back to Michigan in your car would be a huge hassle. You'd need filtration and/or water changes.

 

[mcgyvr]

Just place an order with tampabaysaltwater and pick it up on your way home..
Saves a ton on shipping and simply amazing rock,etc....

You need to go way out (miles) in Daytona to have any sort of acceptable visibility..

 

[lifeoffaith]

Just place an order with tampabaysaltwater and pick it up on your way home..
Saves a ton on shipping and simply amazing rock,etc....

You need to go way out (miles) in Daytona to have any sort of acceptable visibility..

I wasn't planning on Daytona, I'm staying there for the first of two weeks I'll be down there, so it wouldn't be the best idea to take anything from there back home as it would be holed up in a bucket or cooler for a week in Orlando before we even left for home. I was more thinking southwest Florida, and would be making a special trip down there if I were to do it at all.

I did talk with tampabaysaltwater about picking up some rock, but he suggested I just have it shipped. I really want some of his rock, but can't justify spending $90 just for the shipping on 50 lbs. I figured if I had a large cooler and a powerhead, I could get it all home with zero to minimal dieoff, but he didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I did talk with tampabaysaltwater about picking up some rock, but he suggested I just have it shipped. I really want some of his rock, but can't justify spending $90 just for the shipping on 50 lbs. I figured if I had a large cooler and a powerhead, I could get it all home with zero to minimal dieoff, but he didn't seem to think that was a good idea.

Unless you plan on driving straight through from Tampa to Grand Rapids, I'd agree with them. When I moved from Columbus, Ohio to Naples, Florida I did 3 round trips in 3 weekends going non-stop each way all 3 trips. But I was younger then! :lolspin:

 

[lifeoffaith]

I do plan on driving straight through, however I would probably be picking up the rock the evening before we leave in the early morning hours.

 

[billdogg]

In the early 90's I was dating the owner of our LFS. We were down in the keys for a week of diving and spent a day out with one of her suppliers on a collecting trip. It was all done by snorkel. We spent ~10 hours out on the water, and while he collected a significant number of fish, our combined total for the day was 0. You have no idea just how hard it is to catch a tiny fish in a great big ocean with nothing but a net.

Did I have fun? Heck yes. It was a great time and I learned a lot (like why those little fish cost so much at the LFS) Would I do it again? Yes, just for the fun and adventure.

We did manage to catch a few fish in tidepools later in the week and brought them back in 5g buckets with battery airstones, but it was nowhere near cost effective.

 

[Ron Reefman]

billdogg, I keep finding myself agreeing with things you say here at RC.

You are very right about trying to catch fish in a net! It can be really hard in an aquarium, just imagine how much harder it can be in an ocean that doesn't have glass corners!!! That's why I have virtually given up trying to catch fish... in a net... in the ocean.

 

[billdogg]

Thanks Ron!

 

[lifeoffaith]

I've decided to just pick up some live rock from TBS. I may have some die off, but there will be more life in the rocks than anything I can get locally, even if I do have some die off. I will do everything I can to keep it all alive.