Pseudosquilla question

[hurricanes944]

hey everyone i will be going to the keys for spring break with a freind of mine and we are intent on catching another Pseudosquilla ciliata(my freind caught one down there last time), but his only stayed alive for a few weeks due to bad water conditions. i was wondering how deep should the sand bed be? i have heard people say 7-8 inches but i thought that was a little much, but i may be wrong. any suggestions?

 

[Gonodactylus]

If you want the animal to dig its own burrow, the sand would have to be stabilized by roots, worms or some binding agent. They can't dig a true burrow in typical fine aquarium sand. They will dig under rocks, but usually onl a cave and as they continue to excavte, it frequently collapses. I prefer to keep P. ciliata in artificial burrors in only a 3 inch sand bed.

Roy

 

[hurricanes944]

ok thank you Dr. Roy

 

[Wocka]

man i wish i could go on the adventure to catch one.. that would be sweet! how do u find them?

 

[hurricanes944]

Last time we were down there we were snorkeling around the dock of this hotel called Hawks Cay on Duck Key before Marathon. We were just waiting on the dock looking in the water at about 4 oclock and there is is, 3 pseudosquillas walking around, one black one green and one sandy colored(the one he caught). it was a really cool expeiracne. We are going to attempt the same strategy this time and even do some night wading for some other little creatures. Last time we were down there we caught many coral banded shrimps, many pistol shrimps, a small goby, an extreamly tiny barracuda mesuring only 2 inches, what we thought was a cuddle fish or maybe a small squidd, and many octopusses, also some small inverts like urchins. we let the sqidd and octopusses go and kept the rest. they all lived for quite a long time.

 

[rwhhunt]

how big did the barracude get?

 

[hurricanes944]

he got to about 7 inches. i kept him in a 10 gallon because i had nowhere to keep him. he lived for a little over 6 months