long Island sound

[DrChaos619]

Hello all,

I have the advantage of living really close to a body of water....unfortunatley its the long island sound. In past years, it wasn't the cleanest of marine bodies of water. Today I ventured down there and it hit me...

...why not use my own natural resources for a fuge?

Now, I am in the midst of creating a rather large acrylic sump that is going to have a fuge in its own chamber. One particular fuge substrate that stood out was miracle mud. In the sound and various beaches, there is an abundance of mud to be collected as well as various macro algaes and plants.

Now I am aware of the inherrent danger in taking things in the wild and using them in a home reef, so my question concerns how to properly prepare such things for home reef applications....if it is at all possible.

If these things are possible and the LI sound isn't a cesspool of everything evil, then there are alot of other things available to me that i would like to use.

But to sum it all up, is it possible to use my LI sound resources?

[ClamIAm]

One obvious issue is temperature. Long Island macroalgae lives in far colder water than your reef tank will be and thus likely wouldn't do well. The same can probably be said with anything living in the mud.

[Samala]

Temperature may not be a huge issue.. Ilyanassa obsoleta is sure to be found in the bay environment off LI, and is the ubiquitous 'black Nassarius' you often find in the trade. I personally dont feel they do well in reef temps.. but I'm frequently proven wrong when they breed in many tanks. Ulva will do just fine, and should be a frequent find, as would Gracilaria.

I would quarantine any of the macro in a totally separate system, freshwater dip to clean off large invertebrates (amphipods are likely) and then treat with possibly an antihelminthic for any inverts you cant see with the naked eye. Keep them for a few weeks and see if anything else crops up that you dont want. A form of Chaetomorpha or Rhizoclonium is also likely to be in the bay environments, look at the shore line on large pebbles.

>Sarah

[graveyardworm]

Paul B collects codium and other things there as well. I'm not sure if he's had any long term success with stuff he's collected but you could ask.

Here's a thread about his tank. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=727454

[greenighs]

I believe all submergent seagrasses are protected in the LI sound, as in, you need special permits to collect them.

[Samala]

Ah, good catch 'Ighs! I think we're stressing macroalgae for a fuge here, but the eelgrass (the seagrass up in LI) is protected and will not do well in reef temps. Tends to be just outside of the zone they can adapt too.

Macroalgae.. I'm not sure if you'll need a saltwater fishing license or not. Some states list it under take limits, some dont. Best to check. :)

Ohhh, I'm not sure I'd use the local mud. I do not use my local mud (Delaware Bay) because of the past history with oil spills, pesticides and other contaminants that I didnt want to add to my aquarium. I did use mud collected from bay systems in Florida, which is likely to have some contaminants itself, and have had good success with that. Its really about your comfort level and how much risk you want to take with your overall system.

>Sarah

[DrChaos619]

thanks guys. Yes in my travels i've seen literally thousands of black Nassarius all around. Because they're so abundant, it'd be alot better for me to go out and collect 90 or so instead of paying 2$ a piece.

does anyone have any resources on them?

and thankyou for the link, graveyard.